Adaptive Firmware Card Information GS WorldView Fall 2002 Support software: AddaptiveFirmwareCardDisk_sdk.zip at http://www.apple2.org.za/gswv/a2zine/Misc/ (originally from Bart, Keeper of the Network from Heck) Info Snips from the Net ref: http://www.mncdd.org/learning/TEXT/GT064.txt Adaptive Firmware Card- The adaptive firmware card will convert any standard software program so that it can be controlled by a single switch or the unicorn board (a touch sensitive tablet), thus giving people with physical handicaps access to many computer programs. The adaptive firmware card includes a slowdown mode so that games can be played by people with delayed responses. It is inserted inside the computer. The card is available for the Apple IIe, IIGS, and II+ computers. The adaptive firmware card must be "PROGRAMMED" to work with a switch or Unicorn board (a touch sensitive tablet). It can be programmed to give a "SCANNING" array to any program, and will allow any program to be controlled by a single switch. The alphabet or specific command symbols appear at the bottom of the screen. When the command that the child wants lights up, he/she must activate a switch to give that command to the computer. The child must be able to see the letters on the screen (which are quite small) and understand the connection between the switch, the letters, and the program. Available from Adaptive Peripherals, 4529 Bagley Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98103, (206) 633-2610. Unicorn Board The Unicorn board works in conjunction with the firmware card. It is a touch sensitive tablet that takes the place of the keyboard. The amount of contact time needed to activate the board can be altered so that various children can use it. Keyboard letters can be substituted with pictures on this board. It can be used with any piece of software. It must be "programmed" to work with specific programs. Unicorn Engineering Company, 6201 Harwood Avenue, Oakland, CA 94618 (415) 428-1626. _______________ Using the Adaptive Firmware Card with BEX* by Bruce McClanahan ref: http://personalpages.tds.net/~ti51/new86.htm [Editor's note: We ran an article about the Adaptive Firmware Card in our November-December 1988 issue. Because of changes in the technology, we thought it appropriate to take another look at the Adaptive Firmware Card.] I teach at the Washington State School for the Blind, where we have adopted BEX as our standard word processor for the school. As at other residential schools around the country, we have a number of multiply handicapped students. Many of these students, whether because of difficulty controlling their hands or because of cognitive disabilities, cannot use the standard computer keyboard. Starting this year, we have been using the Adaptive Firmware Card as a tool to allow more students to use the computer. [*Note: BEX (BEX 3.1 from Raised Dot Computing) is a word processor for Apple II computers (enhanced 128k //e, //c, IIc+, IIgs) that can create large print, Braille, or synthesized speech output. Large print can appear on the screen or compatible dot-matrix printers. BEX can translate standard print files to grade 2 Braille, or back-translate grade 2 Braille files to print. (Also see TranscriBEX**.) ref: http://www2.edc.org/NCIP/library/vi/input.htm ref: http://www.duxburysystems.com/ (now featuring more modern products-- e.g. MegaDots-- for PC)] Introducing the Adaptive Firmware Card The Adaptive Firmware Card (AFC) is a circuit card for the Apple IIe or the Apple IIgs that allows someone with limited mobility or control to use the keyboard. The card has 9 separate systems for redesigning or replacing the standard keyboard. Using some of these systems requires additional specialized equipment. Of the 9 separate keyboard systems provided by the Adaptive Firmware Card, two are most useful for use with blind students and Echo speech. These are Morse Code and the Unicorn Keyboard. Morse Code can be done either with one switch or with two switches. With two switches, one switch is used for dots, and the other for dashes. The Unicorn Keyboard is a large keyboard with 164 squares. Each square can be assigned by the Adaptive Firmware Card to any Apple key or key combination you want. It is my own experience that kids with normal intelligence work best with Morse Code. They can achieve satisfactory typing rates. Two kids at our school can use Morse Code. They are both able to use the regular keyboard, but not accurately. In a three-hour session, the kids learned how to use the Adaptive Firmware Card with Morse Code. For those with mental impairments, the Unicorn Keyboard is better. It is slower, but the kids can hunt for the braille labels. Once our students are up and running, they use BEX unattended. Students with physical, mental, and visual impairments are using the Unicorn keyboard and are productive. We have also used the Unicorn Keyboard to introduce computers to our early elementary students before teaching them the standard keyboard. Even when they need considerable assistance, the younger kids can get an appreciation for using the computer which they might not get otherwise. Installing the Adaptive Firmware Card The Adaptive Firmware Card must be placed in slot 5. It does not work in any slot other than 5. On an Apple IIgs, slot 5 is usually reserved for the smart port (3.5-inch disk drive controller). However, You can put the Adaptive Firmware Card in slot 5 and still set the control panel's designation for slot 5 to smart port. This lets you use both the 3.5-inch disk drive and the Adaptive Firmware Card at the same time, both ostensibly through slot 5. Configuring BEX You do not have to do anything special when configuring BEX to tell it about the Adaptive Firmware Card. When configuring, answer No to the question, Do you have a remote keyboard? Answer Yes to the question, Do you want Echo speech? Configuring the Adaptive Firmware Card Configuring the Adaptive Firmware Card is considerably more difficult than configuring BEX. While the manual for the card is thorough, I am glad that I took a course on the device at the State Resource Center for Adaptive Technology. The staff had a number of technical problems in getting things going. The Adaptive Firmware Card has a setup program for configuring the card. You have to tell the card what input method you are using (Morse Code, Unicorn Keyboard, or one of the 7 other techniques). You also have to tell the card that you want speech. For whatever keyboard technique you choose, you can designate the resulting keystrokes and what is spoken for each unique entry. For example, the Unicorn Keyboard has 164 different squares. One square is designated for a capital W. I tell the setup program that when this Unicorn key is pressed, the resulting keystroke is to be a capital W, and that the system should not say anything. I do not want the Adaptive Firmware Card to make the Echo say anything for the W key because BEX will say the appropriate thing when a W is pressed. After I program the Unicorn keyboard to cover all the keystrokes found on the Apple keyboard, I can get fancy. I can designate a key on the Unicorn to result in the keystrokes space, dollar sign, p, space, and tell the system to say paragraph when that key is pressed. This makes it easier for a kid to understand what is happening in the BEX Editor. As with BEX configurations, you can set up a series of named setup files in the memory of the Adaptive Firmware Card. You can even have a default setup. Once you have created a default set up for the Adaptive Firmware Card, the Apple gets its input from the system you have designated as soon as you turn on the Apple and press the carriage return key. While you are using the Adaptive Firmware Card, you may want to issue a direct command to it to change its operation. These direct commands start with control-A. When you simply type the desired command on the Apple keyboard, it usually does not cause any problems, except in BEX's Editor. In BEX's Editor, control-A is the command to advance the cursor. To issue an AFC command from BEX's Editor without moving BEX's cursor, type { O} followed by the control-A command, and then press the carriage return key. Control-S O tells BEX that the text which follows (up to the next carriage return) is for output to another device only (and not an Editor command). At this point, setting up the Adaptive Firmware Card is not accessible to blind staff. You do not get Echo speech for all configuring the steps. Using the Echo with Textalker-gs might make this process more accessible, but we have had not had a chance to try this yet. Obtaining The Equipment The Adaptive Firmware card is available from Don Johnson Developmental Equipment, Inc., P.O. Box 639, Wauconda, IL 60084; (708) 526-2682. The current model number is G32e. This model works on an enhanced Apple IIe and on the Apple IIgs. It costs $520. An enhanced Apple IIe has a newer ROM than the original Apple IIe models had. If your Apple IIe is not enhanced, then you cannot use the G32e. On an unenhanced Apple IIe, You can use the C40 model of the Adaptive Firmware Card, which costs $400. The G32e has more memory than the C40 (32k instead of 12k), operates faster, and can emulate mouse or joystick operations (which the C40 cannot do at all). The Unicorn Expanded Keyboard is also distributed by Don Johnson Developmental Equipment. It costs $350. For Morse Code, you connect a switch to the Adaptive Firmware Card. You can use any switch that has a one-eighth inch mini jack. Don Johnson Developmental Equipment sells a plate switch as well as an LT (Light Touch) switch, both for $46. I use a Left/Right rocker switch that costs $70. It is set up so that pushing one side makes dots, and pushing the other side makes dashes. This means that the user does not have to hold down the switch for a specified period of time to make a dot or a dash. Don Johnson Developmental Equipment has an introductory video that can be borrowed; call for details. In addition, a larger series of training videos is under production. [**Note: TranscriBEX for the Apple II is an add-on feature for enhancing word processing, braille translation and braille formatting capabilities of the BEX product. Features include: automatice braille page numbering; running heads; literary format prose; poems and plays formatting; foreign languages are represented in Grade 1 braille; tables and other columns. Creates large-print output on the screen. Translates print files to Grade 1 or Grade 2 braille and supports braille output to every braille embosser on the market currently. Can back translate Grade 2 braille files to print. ref: http://www2.edc.org/NCIP/library/vi/output.htm ref: http://www.duxburysystems.com/ (now featuring more modern products-- e.g. MegaDots-- for PC)] _______________ Video Tapes about using the Adaptive Firmware Card Below is a sample listing of places offering instructional video tapes on setting up and using the Adaptive Firmware Card Very likely, most school districts will be connected to a Regional Resource Center which will lend out one or more tapes about using the card. http://www.ttac.odu.edu/Library/av.asp?SectionID=AV&SubID=24 AVO170-D "Adaptive firmware for the Apple II GS" http://www.wati.org/ResourceMaterialsVideoTapes.htm 60343 "Adaptive Firmware Card for Apple IIGS" http://www.thecenterweb.org/starnet/starnet2/resources/videoweb_1Page2.html AT-1.2V "Special Friends and Computers: Switch Use and the Adaptive Firmware Card" (15 min.) http://www.ndipat.org/products/videolib/videolib.htm "Adaptive Firmware Card For IIGS" (57 min.) 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