[Athen] Pointing Magnifier software provides improved click targeting

[Dan Comden]

Hello ATHEN

A student here in the AIM research group has developed a neat little
application for Windows that can significantly improve mouse click
accuracy for computer users with physical impairments.
I recently gave it a try and am impressed with this early effort. I
think it may also be useful for some with low vision or other computer
use challenges that make it difficult to find/target clicks.

Here is a quote from his professor along with a link to download the (free) app:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wanted to point you to an assistive technology that we in my lab
(AIM Research Group, http://depts.washington.edu/aimgroup/) have
recently developed. It is called the Pointing Magnifier and may be
useful for people with motor control difficulties who use a mouse,
touchpad, or trackball to point. The idea is simple, yet we’ve never
seen a commercial product that does this (we may have missed one).
Essentially a large area cursor becomes the mouse cursor, and it can
be made bigger or smaller depending on a user’s level of control. Once
the user clicks, everything beneath that area cursor magnifies
considerably, making all the targets bigger. Then the user clicks
inside it on the target they want. Thus, we’re trading one click for
two, but both clicks can be much less accurate than with a point
cursor. Our studies show it performs much better than the point cursor
for many people with motor impairments.

 Have a look! I wonder whether you may know students who might find it useful!

http://depts.washington.edu/aimgroup/proj/ptgmag/

-- 
-*- Dan Comden                       danc at uw.edu
    Access Technology Center   www.uw.edu/itconnect/accessibility/atl/
    University of Washington      UW Information Technology