Mobile phone users are all fingers and thumbs

SOFTWARE ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED to help disabled PC users can be used to quickly correct the type of errors we all make on our mobile phones, apparently.

Boffins at Manchester Uni reckon that when people use mobile phones, they tend to make the same or similar mistakes made by physically handicapped computer users.

Pressing the wrong keys, pressing the same key repeatedly by mistake, clicking the screen multiple times in error and making mistakes when trying to drag and drop information are all things mobile users and handicapped PC users have in common apparently, although plenty of bureaucrats - especially in government offices - seem to fit the bill too.

The study, Reciprocal Interoperability between Accessible and Mobile Webs, carried out by researchers at the uni’s School of Computer Science, established that typing and 'mousing' on mobile phones makes even the most able bodied among us act physically impaired.

Senior boffin, Dr Yeliz Yesilada, noted "These types of errors have been a big problem for physically impaired users for a long time". Fellow researcher Tianyi Chen, piped up that in recent years, "solutions have been built to help disabled users and it is hoped these solutions can now be applied for the benefit of mobile phone users".

Software available for disabled computer users, which automatically corrects typical erroneous commands and other common mistakes, can easily be adapted to mobile phones, the researchers reckon. For example it may stop you accidentally deleting a text you just wrote or dialing random numbers in your contacts by sitting on your mobile - again.

Chen said: "By using solutions developed for disabled users we can help handset manufacturers, such as Nokia and Sony, to reduce the time we all spend correcting errors on our mobiles". µ

L’Inq
Hero