Guides

Assessing and building a setup for a client

InputConfig was built by someone who needed it, and it is used by therapists and assistive technology specialists who set it up for other people. This guide is a working method rather than a feature list: how to assess what a client can do with the app's own tools, how to build a setup in layers that can be handed over and maintained, and how to document it so the next person can pick it up.

Assessment with the Live Visualizer

Connect whatever the client can hold and open any preset's page. The Live Visualizer shows every control live. Ask the client to rest, then to move each control they can reach, and watch three things: which controls register at all, where each stick rests and how far it comfortably travels, and how much shake there is at rest. Those observations become the deadzone, outer deadzone, and speed settings directly, and the list of reachable controls decides the layout. Ten minutes here saves an hour of guessing.

Choosing inputs

• A standard controller if the client can hold one: DualSense for haptics and the speaker, Xbox for larger hands.
• The PlayStation Access Controller or Xbox Adaptive Controller when buttons need to be repositioned or external switches are in play. Both have full guides on this site.
• A single Joy-Con for one hand with limited endurance.
• A MIDI pad controller for large, soft targets: sixteen pads under one hand with no force needed.
• Tap the Mac for a client with gross motor control but no fine control on a MacBook.
• Motion for a client who can move the whole controller but not a stick.

Build in layers

1. Pointer and click. One stick or four switches, one click. Tune deadzone, speed, and curve with the client present. Stop here for the first session.
2. The essential keys. Return, Escape, arrows, Tab, Delete, Space. Holds and double taps where buttons are scarce.
3. Text. Dictation on a button; Type Text for the client's name, address, and email.
4. Apps. Open App rows for the three or four apps the client uses, and per-app presets with auto-switch if layouts need to differ.
5. Feedback. Speech and haptics on rows the client cannot see, at least for the learning period.
6. Safety. An Emergency Stop output on a reachable control, and the two-second hold taught explicitly.

Timing settings to check

Hold thresholds (default around half a second), double-tap windows (default around a third of a second), turbo rates, and the reverse tap window in one-stick driving all assume typical speed. Lengthen each for a client who moves slowly; the settings are per row so a fast control and a slow control can coexist.

Documenting and handing over

• Every row has a note field. Write what the control does in the client's words. The preset then explains itself to a carer or a family member.
• Settings, General, Export Backup produces one JSON file containing every preset and setting. Keep it in the client's record and restore it on any Mac in one step.
• Presets export individually too, and the files open by double-click, so a family member can add a preset you email them.
• The help section mirrors the app's built-in guides; link the client to the pages that match their setup.

Maintenance

Nothing phones home and nothing expires. App Store updates never touch the data folder. The two things that do change are controller pairings (a controller re-paired to a console must be re-paired to the Mac) and the Access Controller's profile, which is the first thing to check when a client reports that nothing works.

Questions

Related

• Accessibility features
• The PlayStation Access Controller on a Mac
• The Xbox Adaptive Controller on a Mac
• Tremor and limited range of motion
• One, two, or four switches
• Where your data lives