Learn a New Language for the New Year

I love the idea of inclusive design rather than accessible design because it casts a wider net.  Language, for example,  gets overlooked because a lot of us born in Canada get by with our mother tongue. I don't think we appreciate the hard work that comes with mastering a language as well as the barriers. Imagine trying to explain medical conditions, legal and financial issues in Mandarin?

I think, now, more than ever is the best time to learn a new language. For one, it provides a little bit of understanding for what our New Canadians go through. It's also good for our brains and the apps that are available now make langauge even more ....accessible ;).


My background is European and I took a Mandarin course in 2000. Mandarin is very different from English :) . It is character not alphabet based. There is a phonetic alphabet, pinyin, to help you with the sound of the characters but,  if you read books or newspapers you, essentially, need to memorise the characters. This was my hurdle. Luckily Toronto had many Chinese signs and even newspapers, but if I didn't know the characters it was very hard for me to find their meaning in the dictionary. Also, phrases were very hard to grasp. For example, the Chinese character for "big" means something completely different if it is placed with other characters.


Fast forward to today, my child and I are both learning Mandarin. But now, we have YouTube to help us sing "ba luo bo" :).  I can use Google Translate with my pinyin keyboard to help me figure out Chinese phrases as well as their pronounciation. I can take out a Chinese book from our Toronto libraries (btw thank you Toronto libraries :)) and use an OCR app to obtain the meaning as well as the pinyin.


With the tech that we have today, I actually feel there is a chance that I, or maybe my child :) can be fluent in Chinese. But for now, the journey is an enjoyable one and maybe this could be your new year's resolution.

Spelling, Parents and Computers

There is a lot of "writing" in our little digital world. This is daunting for a lot of my students who are starting their computer voyage later in life. Most of them were not born in Canada. They speak English very well but, they never had a need to write English formally. Therefore, they are anxious over all the spelling and grammar mistakes that they are going to make.

I wanted to share with you some of the things we discuss in class to help my students get more comfortable and confident with computers and "writing" :). Perhaps, this may be something you can use for your parents if you suspect that this might be the reason for their resistance to computers.

1. The most common complaint I get is, "How can I search on the Internet if I can't spell?"  In response, I demonstrate to them how Google is very good at predicting search queries -- even misspelled ones:). The students are very impressed at Google's predictive powers and by how little is required to enter for a query.
2. I  show the students that it is possible to use the computer and surf the Internet in their native language.
3. We discuss spell check and the visual cues for misspelled words like the squiggly red line :).
4. I show my class that most of us in the digital world are bad spellers and have committed terrible acts against grammar (including me :))  and any email sent by them will be accepted with love and without judgement by their family members :).

Communicating Medical Info to the Hard of Hearing

 My mom is hard of hearing. When  my mom has a doctor's appointment, I act as the doctor's translator. I translate his/her medical mumbling terminology to .. English :).

As I took my mom to the Herzig Eye Institute,   I was pretty much shocked when my services were not needed. My mom understood the doctor with little help from me.

Here are some of the techniques he used

1. Face to face: The doctor spoke directly to my mom.  For people who are hard of hearing, it is easier to understand someone when they speak face to face.

2. Enunciation: The doctor spoke loudly and clearly.  No mumbling :).

3. No Medical Jargon: The doctor spoke to my mom in words she could understand.

4. Pamphlets Pamphlets Pamphlets :  The doctor had written information about her condition. This is great for the patients' family who can not attend the appointment and for the patients themselves.

 The doctor at Herzig Eye used simple techniques that I think all doctors should consider. The hard of hearing population is on the rise and it is within their right to expect doctors to provide accessible care to them including effective communication.

Typing with a Touchpad: A Senior's Perspective

Imagine typing your email and not knowing if the next word that you enter will appear at the end of the last line or in some random spot on the page. The problem is that as you type you touch the touchpad. This moves the cursor to another part of the page along with the words :).


To not be  able to type where you want to type is a very frustrating experience and it is shared by some of my students who have laptop keyboards with touchpads.


If your loved one already has this issue with their laptop here are some workarounds.


Workarounds

1. If they are not using the touchpad at all (i.e using a mouse), then you can disable it.  http://www.pcworld.com/article/241048/how_to_disable_your_laptop_touchpad.html
2. You can try connecting a USB keyboard. This is especially useful if their laptop keyboard is small and the user finds it hard to type on.

If you are looking to buy a laptop for your loved one and they need to use a touchpad  then buy one where the touchpad supports palm rejection. This eliminates the movement of the cursor while the user types 

Some things to Consider when Buying a Kindle Reader for your Parents

My student approached me during a computer class to help show her how to use a Kindle Reader. The version she showed me is shown below. It is a Kindle Basic that uses a 5 way Controller to navigate. There were some interesting points of usability from a seniors perspective that I wanted  to share.

Kindle with 5 button controller

Senior Usability Pros

• The Kindle is ready out of the box. You do not need to connect the Kindle to a computer prior to use. It comes loaded with some books and a dictionary. The only thing you need to do is charge it. (Please note power adapter sold separately grrr )
•  The price is affordable :)
• The screen is readable. There is no apparent glare.  The text is sharp :).

Senior Usability Cons

• Navigation on this Kindle can be challenging because of the Controller. The arrow buttons are very thin and may prove difficult if the person fingers are not flexible or rigid
• The keyboard button is not very intuitive and requires the person to select letters using the Controller which can be difficult from the above reason.
• My student was able to charge the Kindle. However, the connection from the Kindle to the USB plug is narrow and may prove difficult for unsteady hands.
• Power Adapter sold seperately :(
• Overall  interface not very intuitive

Kindle has many other versions to consider for your parents or grandparents like a touch screen. If it is possible, have your loved one try the e-reader first and see if it is usable to them.

If you need further help in buying mobile devices, computer or any other tech devices for your parents or grandparents please contact us at info at 2jour dot com or www.2jour.com

In Your Face Computer Lessons : Baycrest Terrace

I love teaching at Baycrest Terrace. They have an amazing computer lab. However, the lab is located  at the end of a long hallway far from the lobby where the residents socialise. It is intimidating for a lot of people to make that first step to learn computers and because the lessons are off the beaten path we weren't reaching these people.

Wi-Fi Thursday started when I noticed Baycrest Terrace had Wi-Fi in the lobby. The idea was for residents to come down to our booth with their notebooks and we would help them resolve  issues they may have with their computer. I would also bring an iPad and notebook for those who did not have a computer. Thanks to a very supportive Recreational Director, she put in the legwork to help get Wi-Fi Thursday up and running.


So far it has been a huge success. Residents are getting the help they need with their notebooks. We are also impacting seniors who have no computer exposure by showing them how to use the iPad. The transformation is quite remarkable. Within minutes, the most stringent computer self doubter is converted into a computer believer after navigating the iPad and being blown away at how easy it is.

I call this direct interaction In Your Face Computer Lessons. It has a great impact for our senior population and it can be easily set up in any retirement home or public/private community centres. Please contact 2JOUR at info at 2jour dot com for more details.