What Is A Switch?

Here is a question that all of us get quite a bit here at Infogrip. What is a switch and what does a switch do? Well, the actual term is Adaptive Switch and it is a hardware device that allows a user with little motor control operate a computer or other electrical device. Basically switches come in all different shapes and sizes and are designed this way to allow people with disabilities to access them using different methods, ie. head, knee, foot or even the blink of an eye. A switch by itself does nothing. Think of it as having a light switch in your home not connected to anything. You can flip the light switch on and off but until you connect your light fixture to it nothing happens. An adpative switch is just like a light switch, it goes on or off. If you plug an adaptive switch into a switch interface the possibilities are endless. Our users operate their entire computer with a single switch and many of them control their environment with a switch by plugging a switch into an environmental control unit. They can open doors, answer the phone, change the TV channel, etc. Have you ever press the button at the entrace of the mall with the picture of a wheelchair on it to open the door? This is a switch connected to an environmental control (the automatic door). Anyway take a look at our website and you will see a whole section dedicated to switches.