Left Handed Support for PDA's?

Skuld-Chan asks: "I'm left handed - so is about 10%-15% of America (depending on what statistic you look at). Is there a PDA out there that has left handed support? I have a Compaq Ipaq and the problem is I have to reach over the screen to grab scroll bars - thus obstructing what I am viewing. My brother has a Palm 7 and he says it doesn't have left handed support either. I think it would be easy to impliment - just reverse all the scroll bars and I'd be happy (the menu items happen to be on the left - just the right place)." You would thing things like this would come out in the usability tests. For those of you lefty's out there who work with PDAs on a semi-daily basis, what do you do to work around this problem?

Comments

LeftHack for Palm

[matthewg]

There is a hack for the Palm that moves the scrollbars to the left. Get it here.

Not quite what you seem to be asking, but...

[babbage]

...you seem to be talking more about messing around with the software in order to better support left-handed usage, but it's worth noting that the hardware is at least as important.

When I was shopping around for a PDA a couple of years ago, I ended up going with the Palm V primarily because at the time it was the only one that seemed friendly to ambidextrous usage. All of the other Palms -- and all of the assorted WINCE devices -- were very heavily biased towards right-handed usage.

On the Palms, the issue was mainly that the stylus had to go on the right (which I could deal with, but being able to put it on the left is a nice touch that at the time only the Palm V offered; now many of the Palms are using that form factor). On the Windows ones though, damn near every one of them had various hardware buttons that were designed to be tapped with your fingers while being held in your right hand, and holding the device in your left hand would cause you to accidentally tap them regularly.

Why such a basic ergonomic issue as handedness gets ignored for PALMtop computers, especially among the WinCE ones, is a total mystery to me. It isn't really much of an issue with other formats (desktops, laptops), but it seems critical with PDAs, and a glaring oversight that continues to be ignored.

But, like I say, this doesn't seem to be quite what you're asking about -- it sounds like you already have a PDA. Still, if you're shopping for a new one, it's worth having handedness in mind when trying new ones -- unless things have changed drastically in the past couple of months, the hardware makers still seem to be screwing this one up.

Re:Not quite what you seem to be asking, but...

[jchristopher]

Yes, Palm branded devices don't just have better designed software - they also have (much) better industrial design that really makes them easy and friendly to use.

Sometimes it's hard to explain why they are better than WinCE to people if they haven't used one yet. But once you do, you understand.

"I am left-handed" preference

[gwyrdd benyw]

"Lefty" is a hack for the PalmOS that sets a flag saying "I prefer left-handed GUI elements". Lefty-savvy applications will see this flag and adjust their screen rendering accordingly.

Re: It's a hard life for lefties

[Leif_Bloomquist]

I am using Lefthack and Lefty simultaneosuly.

Don't they cancel each other out and leave you with a right-handed PDA again?

why reach over?

[Anonymous Coward]

There is a thing on PDAs called buttons, and they are found at the bottom on the PDA. Two of them consist of an up and down button, and can replace the use of having to use the stylus to move the scrollbar. These buttons are on most PDAs (Palm and WinCE ones) that I know about, and would quickly solve having to reach over and not being able to read the stuff on the screen.

Make more noise

[sohp]

Yes! The first time I started using a PalmOS gadget I noticed that, and I know another person who is affected by it. The 'Lefty' hack would be great, if more programs would support it but so few do. As these things become more popular the manufacturers will need to start incorporating various ergo and disabled-friendly features, and the ability to designate the scrollbars on the left side is a start -- akin to a lefty mouse option, which most windowing systems have supported from the beginning.

I've taught myself, when possible, to scroll with the keypad with my right thumb, (or even the left) which helps some.

One great thing that Graffiti has freed me from is ink and pencil smudges on my left thumb heel. And the fact that it doesn't require you to move left-to-right across the surface to string letters together. Hooray for small victories!

what about mice?

[Spiral Man]

not to belittle this persons post, but wouldnt mice/trackballs (especially trackballs) be more important to be made left handed, since they are used more? im not left handed, but my father is, and we were just looking for a trackball for him to use (no desk space for a mouse, less wrist strain)

its pretty easy to find mice that are symetrical, and you can always change what the buttons do in software, so that the left click can be click w/ your index finger, and the mouse can be on either side of the desk.

but most of the new "ergonomic" trackballs are designed for right handed people, and its impossible to find a left handed version from the major manufacturers (ms, logitech come to mind). the best we could find is an abidextrous trackball, but im sure its not as good as having one that is designed for use w/ the left hand.

does anybody know of any good left handed trackballs?

Re:what about mice?

[josepha48]

There are lefthanded mice. Some mice are actually no handed.

Try http://www.thelefthand.com/thelefthand/

I never really thoguth my palm piliot was left or right handed. You can hold it in your right hand and use the stylus, so what is so 'right handed' about it?

I don't want a lot, I just want it all!
Flame away, I have a hose!

Lefthanded

[webworkz]

There are a lot of available hacks on the internet which convert the scrollbars to the lefthand side of the screen. I'm sure you can run a search and find a few good ones.

Fun Fact:
Lefthanded people have shown a significant decrease in resistance against poisons and toxins, nearly 40%. Since this is true, many scientists believe that most people are righthanded because lefthanded people died out much more easily due to food poisoning in the early stages of humanity. Neat, eh?

Anyway, Definitely check out some of the hacks and you're sure to find something that will manually change the configuration of your applications without requiring the apps to be well-developed; because we know many of them aren't. :)

Re:Lefthanded

[Carpathius]

I do development for the Palm. I'm not sure I believe that a hack to move the scrollbar to the left side could work consistantly.

In the programs I write, I place the scrollbar exactly where I want it onscreen, then I place some additional stuff close to the scroll bar to look as it they were all part of the same thing. In other words, there's very little automatic about the placement of scrollbars.

If my scrollbars got moved to the left, it'd look extremely ugly and result in a loss of functionality.

I don't quite have the guts to try lefthack on my personal PDA. I'm afraid of what might happen. (Will try it on a test PDA when I get home. I am curious.)

Sean.

lefties likelier to die in accidents, too!

[jchristopher]

Lefties, such as myself are more likely to die and be injured in accidents than righties. It's believed that this is because of doing ackward things, like reaching for doorknobs, spigots, valves, etc. on the wrong side.

Is that why I've dropped my Palm so frequently?

Re:lefties likelier to die in accidents, too!

[aaaurgh]

it's a little inconvenient for me to drive a stick shift. But I bet it's just as inconvenient for righties in places like England and Japan
Duh, what?! C'mon, think about this for a bit would you? The vast majority of drivers in those two places (and others, like here in Oz) are right handed (as is the general world population) and have no problem with a manual (stick) gearbox. In fact, the vast majority of cars in the U.K. are manuals, people prefer them - less lazy, more control.
I hate to have to point out the obvious, but the problem you have with a stick shift... is you! Lefties are apparently just generally less dexterous, my wife is.
Perhaps some of it due to the right-handed environment and left/right conflicts set up in early life, but the rest is down to you.

Re:lefties likelier to die in accidents, too!

[CathodeJack]

doing awkward things, like reaching for doorknobs ... on the wrong side

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this doesn't make any sense to me. How can going through doors be any more awkward for sinisters than dexters? The doorknob's position in the door depends on which way you're going. If a doorknob is inconvenient for lefties going one way, it's just as inconvenient for righties going the other way.

On a similar note, being sinister, it's a little inconvenient for me to drive a stick shift. But I bet it's just as inconvenient for righties in places like England and Japan. I wonder what the statistics are for lefties vs righties getting into car accidents in England and Japan.

Re:lefties likelier to die in accidents, too!

[jchristopher]

I can't explain it, look it up though, it's true.

It's actually measurable to the point that lefties even have a shorter life expectancy :(

It's a hard life for lefties

[ezequiel]

I am using Lefthack and Lefty simultaneosuly. They give you great results on most applications.

On the other hand, there are many applications (FlashPro, MailMan (or was it another mail app?), even some app launchers!)) that just don't work as expected, ie. messing up window contents, making it very hard for us to stand it.

I hope there will be hacks that will be configurable in an 'application' basis or some other more-serious scheme. Suppose I detect an ill-behaved application, I'd just select it in the 'uncompatible applications' list. This functionality extension is not that hard to do!

Good luck to *us* all, lefties! :-)