Thiings thus far that I have found exceptionally difficult with a hook for a right hand:

• Soaping my back and armpits.
• Keeping my bathrobe closed. (Ah, but hookable fabric loop on one end of the robe belt does wonders!)
• The knfe-and-fork method of eating things.
• Typing letters on te right-hand side of the keyboard.

I'm sure I'll have more when I'm done breakfast and actually try o go place and do thing.

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2, 5, and 6 seem to be very directly relevant to people with different dexterity abilities:

1: Principle One: Equitable Use

2: Principle Two: Flexibility in Use

Very important. Rather than assuming that everyone will use their rights hands, can we accomodate left-handed users with the same design? Users who can push, pull, or lift only very light loads? People who can't extend or bend their arms? Instead of a design that requires two hands, can we have a design that requires only one? None at all?

3: Principle Three: simple and intuitive

4: Principle Four: Perceptible Information

5: Principle Five: Tolerance for Error

Very important. Obvious benefits to interface design with digital systems. If a system has failsafes for when users press the wrong button, it means we all do less damage when we press the wrong button, no matter where we are on the spectrum of ability.

6: Principle Six: Low Physical Effort

Extremely important for the dexterity continuum. Having to lift excessive weight, perform repetitive tasks, and deal with poor ergonomics can make little problems into burning debilitating pain.

7: Principle Seven: Size and Space for Approach and Use

Am I missing important applications of the others? 

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What design concessions (not universal designs) are made for people you think of thatwith manual dexterity disabilities?

Forks in Chinese restaurants.

UVic lets students with (registered?) disabilities take exams on computers rather than with pen and paper.

Operating systems typically have some accessibility features that would fit the bill. StickyKeys in Windows XP, f'rex.

Automatic doors are intended to help both people with manual dexterity disabilities and mobility disabilities. (We were noticing the other day that UVic's brand-shiny-new Engineering building doesn't have automatic doors or door stops at its lecture halls, which surprised us. Most of the older buildings don't have automatic doors on inside doors, either, but you can just make 'em stay open so everyone can go in and out with equal ease.)

Speech recognition systems sometimes are, but are perhaps closer to the ideal of universal design, as they are intended to be useful to anyone, anywhere on the manual dexterity spectrum.

What else? 

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My interpretation of the continuum of functioning is kind of like a scale from one to ten.

 

10 - Never have any problems performing tasks with my  hands, as in never dropping a thing, never fumbling. Essentially, an unattainable ideal.

9 

8

7 - Experience no major difficulties, the occasional butterfingers moment, but never really think about my own dexterity.

6

5 - The occasional difficulty, maybe due to cold temperatures or extensive repetitive motion like writing or labouring. Like, hand cramps when I'm done with an exam.

4

3 - Definitely conscious of the limits of manual dexterity, perhaps due to physical conditions that make repetive motion/temperatures painful after not a huge amount of use.

2  

1

0 - Have no use of  my hands.

 

 

Personally, I'd put myself in the middle of three and four. Most days are four days, where occasionally my hands will get sore after a lot of typing or writing, but there are other days... hoo boy. I've got tendonitis in my right wrist, which effects my ability to write legibly for any length of time. I noticed problems developing when I was in grade 12, writing practice provincials; went to the doctor, he put me on daily Advil and some vitamins. It got a little better, stopped noticing it. First year of university, really only bothered me during exams. I went home for the summer and worked four months as a bank teller, and really noticed it in second year. Too much repetative stress from the job definitely made my life a little harder, and as the years progress it gets worse and worse.

Now, in my fifth year of university, I can no longer take useable notes by hand. I really heavily on my laptop just to keep up in class, and type mostly with my left hand. But there are still somedays when I wake up, and can't perform simple tasks without considerable effort. I have a brace that I wear during the worst of the times, but while it saves my wrist by keeping it immobile, it strains the muscles in my hands, which means nasty muscle cramps. Sometimes, after exams, I get really bad muscle knots in my right hand. Which suck, a lot. I've also noticed a decline in strength; I used to be the one who opened all the jars back home (when my brothers weren't around, of course), but now I have to use all the little tricks and secrets, or just pester someone else. There are days I can't even open pop bottles without considerable effort.

 But does it affect my life? Sure it does, but only some aspects. 95% of the time I'm perfectly functional, it's just those other 5% of days that really suck.

 

 

So, my question to y'all in hopes of generating discussion... where do you place yourself on my little scale? The definitions are also open to discussion if you disagree, or wish to amend them. I know Fraser and I just had a little argument about ambidexterity.... 

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Just to get all our creative juices flowing...

 

What do we think about pirates? 

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