Palm and Pocket PC Alternative input

Palm and Pocket PC Alternative input

There are some text entry programs that have been designed for both platforms that may improve text input via the specific onscreen keyboard.

FITALY onscreen and stamp Keyboard (Shareware)

FITALY is an alternative onscreen keyboard layout, which has been designed to reduce finger or stylus movement. The most frequently used letters are placed in the centre with the others placed logically around them. The key arrangement is called Fitaly because that is the word, which is spelled out, by the second row of the keyboard. There are two versions available one for older monochrome screen Palms and the Pocket PC operating system, where the Fitaly keyboard appears as an onscreen keyboard. The other version is known as 'Fitaly Stamp' as it can be used with a printed copy of the keyboard placed over the graffiti area. This helps those who need constantly reminding of the keyboard layout..

It is said that using Fitaly will reduce the amount of finger and hand movements required to enter text when compared to the standard onscreen keyboard. However, the keyboard requires some practice to increase familiarity but on testing it is clear much greater speeds can be achieved due to its better ergonomic design. This text input would suit those who are dextrous but cannot remember the Graffiti or other alphabets in order to use letter recognition systems.

A review of Fitaly

 

The JISC TechDis Accessibility Rating's

Application	Pocket PC (PPC) or Palm OS.	JISC TechDis Accessibility Rating (0-5)
Graffiti	Palm	1
Onscreen keyboard	Palm	2
Virtual keyboard	Palm	3
Graspeedy	Palm	2
Grafaid	Palm	2
RealEcho	Palm	4
KeyboardBee	Palm	3
Jetkeys	Palm	3
Silkyboard	Palm	2
Messagease	Palm	3
Tealtype	Palm	3
Your print	Palm	2
Jot	Palm	3
Tealscript	Palm	4
My Script	Palm	2
Onscreen Keyboard	PPC	3
Transcriber (all versions)	PPC	5
Dasher	PPC	1
Fitaly	Palm & PPC	4

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Links within the section

Palm graffiti and enhancements
Palm onscreen keyboard enhancements
Alternative text input methods for Palm OS
Alternative Handwriting recognition for the Palm OS
Additional Hardware
JISC TechDis Accessibility Ratings Explained