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