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.
Adaptive Firmware Card turns an Apple II or IIe into a special communication computer that handicapped users can access from any single switch device.
What can it do? When activated, it is a keyboard emulator, creating letter, numeric, or punctuation displays on line 23 of the monitor. The user can choose the order of the letters (e.g., by frequency of use), the speed of the scan, and which 40 words to store in memory for easy access. There is even a paddle simulation mode for games.