About myself

My name is Matthew Turk and I suffer from a condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy presenting with extremely weak muscles. This means my mobility is very limited and I am confined to an electric wheelchair. Due to these limitations obviously I cannot participate in normal activities, I’m sure Arsenal wouldn’t appreciate tyre marks from my electric wheelchair on the Emirates pitch. With special adaptations and programs I can however regularly use my computer and spend most of my time on there. Playing games, writing and chatting to my friends are my adventures in cyberspace. Everyone loves the Internet. 

I can see you…

In today’s society nearly everyone uses some sort of instant messenger. There are far too many to mention and there are even websites for when you cannot connect and you can use their service instead. We have video conferences, can send pictures around the world and keep in contact with family using a simple little device – a webcam. True, they are optional and may not be necessary but they certainly enhance the communication experience. Being able to see the person you are typing to is wonderful because it adds a sense of realism, you’re seeing how they react to a sentence rather than just seeing a reply. Some of my friends all around the world have a webcam and it is great being able to see them. The quality of the image is almost life like and if the Internet connection is fast, you are seemingly “chatting” in real time. I used to have a webcam but unfortunately it broke, and despite jokes I certainly didn’t run over the wire. Recently I decided to buy another especially as the technology has improved over recent years.  

…can you see me?

I made a point of researching the available models and reading the specifications as I don’t like diving straight into a purchase. Without digressing too much, I was sensible about it and made sure my selected webcam was going to be suitable and compatible with Vista. For the purpose of the rest of this article, I shall call it “A”. “A” looked great, sat nicely on top of my screen and was ready to be used. The installation process went without any problems and it even connected to the USB port smoothly. I signed on to MSN, turned “A” on so a friend could see me, the connection was established, straight away there were pink and green lines appearing over the image. While the thought of Mr Blobby can be entertaining, I wouldn’t want friends thinking I am his cousin. I tried “A” with different people but the problem persisted. It was becoming very annoying, the problem shouldn’t have been happening.  

A reminder

Now, as you read this next section please keep in mind my muscular limitations – I use an on-screen keyboard to type. I just click the letter with the mouse and it appears.  

Software conflict

I tried so many things to get “A” working properly. I uninstalled and reinstalled the software, downloaded the updated drivers, I even tried a different USB port but nothing worked. I was getting extremely frustrated because I don’t like anomalies, things that happen without a reason. Just in case I was doing something wrong, I closed everything down and asked my Mum to try it herself. I was not using the computer so my keyboard was not open. She signed in to MSN for me, started the webcam…there were no lines at all – perfect image. This couldn’t be right so I asked her to try again and exactly the same clear image occurred. I asked her to try once more but this time with my keyboard running and the problem reappeared, lines all across the image. There appeared to be a connection between the problem and my keyboard running simultaneously. As a precaution, I opened Microsoft’s own on- screen keyboard (found in either accessories>accessibility or accessories>ease of access) and the problem still occurred. I was relieved as the issue still arose with software running developed by the world’s leading software creator – Microsoft.  

The more you see the less you know

I decided to contact “A”s Customer Support, explain the problem to them thinking that because “A” was their product they would be extremely helpful and suggest a resolution. Two emails between each other, and following their advice with no success, they said it was a problem with my software and they couldn’t help any further. From the tone of the email they weren’t too interested in researching it either. So, in effect, they were saying that Microsoft’s software was incompatible with their product. Somehow I don’t believe Microsoft would have allowed that to happen. I knew that “A”s creators would have helped, I saw that I was wrong. I was faced with the dilemma of having the lines or not opening the keyboard and not communicating. I decided to take it back to the store, who were extremely helpful, and I exchanged it for a different make of webcam (“B”) and it worked perfectly, no problems at all with my on-screen keyboard (and also Microsoft’s on-screen keyboard) running simultaneously.  

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal

The above line is from the American Declaration of Independence and I feel it is appropriate to this article. That sentence means everyone is the same, have the same rights, privileges and should not be limited in any way. This example regarding the webcam shows that even in today’s technological development and message of equality, companies are unwilling to spend a little more time and money testing that their product is compatible with software used by the disabled. There are so many other issues that can be encountered and it isn’t just with webcams, it can be anything computer related. Sometimes the minority, the “different” people are still ignored.  

Your experiences

So what do you all think? Have you ever found a piece of hardware/software that was incompatible with software used by the disabled? Do you feel that companies could do even slightly more to ensure these problems don’t arise? All comments are welcome.