Senorita: A Chorded Keyboard for Sighted, Low Vision, and Blind Mobile Users

Figure 1. With Senorita, the left four keys are tapped with the left thumb and the right four keys are tapped with the right thumb. Tapping a key enters the letter in the top label. Tapping two keys simultaneously (chording) enters the common letter between the keys in the bottom label. The chord keys are arranged on opposite sides. Novices can tap a key to see the chords available for that key. This figure illustrates a novice user typing the word "we". She scans the keyboard from the left and finds 'w' on the 'I' key. She taps on it with her left thumb to see all chords for that key on the other side, from the edge: 'C', 'F', 'W', and 'X' (the same letters in the bottom label of the 'I' key). She taps on 'W' with her right thumb to form a chord to enter the letter. The next letter 'e' is one of the most frequent letters in English, thus has a dedicated key. She taps on it with her left thumb to complete the word.