An On-Screen Keyboard (frequently abbreviated to OSK) is a visual representation of a standard keyboard that can be installed on any Windows computer.
OSKs vary a lot in their features. Some are accessible by a variety of pointing devices and some can be accessed by switches and a variety of other innovative access solutions.
Find out all you need to know about who uses on-screen keyboards and their features by reading my article on accessing text without a keyboard.
This OSK comes free with every copy of Windows XP. Its features are rather limited but it can be handy either as a backup or for the occasional basic use... [more]
This program is word prediction first and on-screen keyboard second. Although the keyboard is limited it is suitable for mouse-users and the accompanying word prediction engine makes it a very popular choice... [more]
Click N Type is a powerful switch-accessible on-screen keyboard that includes word prediction and is free to download... [more]
The grids of Clicker 4 can be used as a very flexible on-screen keyboard with any program including Microsoft Word. It supports prediction (through Penfriend) and has a variety of switch access options, audio cueing and picture support (including symbol sets if you have them installed)... [more]
KeyStrokes for the Apple Mac supports mouse access (including rollerball, joystick, headpointer and so on). It has prediction and dwell delay features and works across all OS X Applications.
A further information and animated demo is available on the AssistiveWare site .
I am in the process of inspecting and reviewing some other on-screen keyboards. I shall add these to this list when complete. Meanwhile you can have a look at their web pages:
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