Evaluation of keystroke savings across five assistive communication technologies

Abstract

This investigation assessed the written keystroke savings of five available assistive communication technologies (ACTs): E Z Keys, Predictive Linguistic Program, Words Strategy, Write 100, and a generic encoding technique. Each ACT was used to type 20 written expository texts composed by nondisabled individuals from four grade levels (4th, 8th, 12th, and college). Evaluation of keystroke savings revealed significant between-ACT differences in keystroke savings across devices for all typed text, typed text contained in an ACT's lexicon and spelled text, as well as differences in the vocabulary coverage of each ACT. Between-grade differences in keystroke savings were not generally noted. Results are discussed in regard to the utility of keystroke savings for clinical evaluation and communication device development.