Design of an intelligent interface to standard PC applications which maximises the ability of the disabled user

Abstract

The paper reports on work on the design of speech and switch-driven interfaces. It presents a design for a generic user-interface management system (UIMS) which allows the user access to any PC application via both speech and switched input. This generic UIMS allows an instantiation of an interface which is tailored to the requirements of a particular individual, and which can, if necessary, be changed over time as his/her condition changes. Interaction is aided by a knowledge of the user's requirements at the task level, drawing on interaction history and the knowledge of the application gained from a generic task model. A user-oriented task model is derived during the interaction, thus providing enhanced performance over time.