Input Adaptation

The process of automatically or manually modifying an application's user interface to work with input devices or methods it was not originally designed for. Input adaptation addresses the fact that most graphical user interfaces are designed for keyboard and mouse, yet many users with disabilities rely on alternative input such as single switches, speech recognition, head pointers, eye trackers, or keyboard-only navigation. Adaptation techniques include substituting interface elements with alternatives suited to the available input (e.g., replacing dropdown menus with filtered text fields for keyboard-only use), augmenting existing elements with additional capabilities (e.g., adding keyboard shortcut tooltips), and modifying navigation methods (e.g., switching from spatial to hierarchical scanning for switch users). Input adaptation differs from output adaptation, which modifies how information is displayed rather than how it is controlled.