Some pupils will find the left and right buttons built into rollerballs, joysticks and mice difficult to use. Although the addition of an external switch is a popular solution for some pupils this may still prove unsuitable. At this point it could be worth trying a dwell delay.
The mouse dwell is a feature of Clicker 4 but if you think it is suitable there is software available that will allow mouse dwell across the whole of Windows.
With the feature enabled there is no need for any switches or left-clicks at all. As long as the user has the ability to hold the mouse steady for a second or two then Clicker will make the selection for them. The mouse doesn't have to be held absolutely still as is shown in the example below, just as long as the cursor remains within the borders of the cell for the duration of the 'dwell time'.
In this example we can see that no clicking nor switch use is required to select words from the grid. The pupil is simply pausing the mouse cursor in each cell, until Clicker registers the word.
This pupil is using a BigTrack rollerball but the dwell delay will work with any mouse, joystick or rollerball and is particularly well suited for headpointers.
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In order for mouse dwell to work you will need to set it up, though you should only have to do this once for each user. Make sure Clicker is running and that you are logged on as the person you want these settings to affect.
Go to the Options menu and click on User Access.
This should bring up the Access dialog box. Under Access Method simply select Mouse Dwell. Although you can now click OK to start using the mouse dwell feature you might want to consider setting the timings.
If you would like to alter the length of the dwell required to activate the cell then click on the Timings tab. The Scan or Dwell Delay alters the amount of time for which your user has to hold the cursor over the cell. A setting of 10 is default and on my computer this is about half a second. The dwell delay will need to be fine-tuned for your user.
If your pupil constantly selects cells accidentally then the delay will probably need to be increased. However the longer the value is the longer it will take them to use the software. Also some pupils may find it difficult to hold the cursor steady for longer periods. Getting the right balance here is essential if you want to be successful.
A useful feature of Clicker is the ability to 'trap' the mouse, joystick, rollerball or headpointer inside the grid area so that the user can't accidentally click anywhere else on the screen. See my a step-by-step guide to setting up Mouse Trapping.
Now go back to Clicker Access Methods Contents or move forward to Method 4: Using a touchscreen
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