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The purpose of this tool is to assist the user by proposing words while
typing, a bit like smartphones do. It can be trained with a
dictionary, a text file but also learn from user inputs over time.
A package for OpenBSD is on the tracks.
# Installation
This program requires ibus to work, on Gnome it is already enabled but
in other environments some configuration are required. Because this
may be subject to change over time and duplicating information is bad,
I'll give the links for configuring ibus-typing-booster.
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# How to use
Once you have setup ibus and ibus-typing-booster you should be able to
switch from normal input to assisted input using "super"+space.
When you type with ibus-typing-booster enabled, with default settings,
the input should be underlined to show a suggestion can be triggered
using TAB key. Then, from a popup window you can pick a word by using
TAB to cycle between the suggestions and pressing space to validate, or
use the F key matching your choice number (F1 for first, F2 for second
etc...) and that's all.
# Configuration
There are many ways to configure it, suggestions can be done inline
while typing which I think is more helpful when you type slowly and you
want a quick boost when the suggestion is correct. The suggestions
popup can be vertical or horizontal, I personally prefer horizontal
which is not the default. Colors and key bindings can changed.
# Performance
While I type very fast when I have both my hands, using one hand
requires me to look the keyboard and make a lot of moves with my hand.
This work fine and I can type reasonably fast but this is extremely
exhausting and painful for my hand. With ibus-typing-booster I can
type full sentences with less efforts but a bit slower. However this
is a lot more comfortable than typing everything using my hand.
# Conclusion
This is an assistive technology easy to setup and that can be a life
changer for disabled users who can make use of it.
This is not the first time I'm temporarily disabled in regards to using
a keyboard, I previously tried a mirrored keyboard layout reverting
keys when pressing caps lock, and also Dasher which allow to make words
from simple movements such as moving mouse cursor. I find this ibus
plugin to be easier to integrate for the brain because I just type with
my keyboard in the programs, with Dasher I need to cut and paste
content, and with mirrored layout I need to focus on the layout change.
I am very happy of it. |