Trackballs

A trackball is actually an upside-down mouse with a stationary base. The student never runs out of room to maneuver it on the desktop or lap. The rollerball, which controls the pointer on the screen, sits on top of the base. You move it with your hands, fingers or other stylus.

Trackballs come in a variety of sizes and shapes to meet students' differing needs. Some require minimal thumb control on a small rollerball. Others are large enough to be controlled with an entire hand or headstick. Several come with software drivers that provide additional features, such as programming buttons with customized controls (see Programmable Features) that assist in double-clicking, scrolling pages and Internet use. Read about one success story of a student using a trackball.

Examples

Turbo Mouse & Expert Mouse (Kensington Technology Group)
This popular trackball provides a stable base, large ball and four large, easy to program buttons. The design fits both left and right-handed users.
Cost: $99.99

Orbit Trackball (Kensington Technology Group)
This trackball provides a natural wrist support to interact with the large ball and two programmable buttons.
Cost $29.99

BIGtrack (Infogrip)
BIGtrack is the largest trackball available for both PC and Mac. It helps children use the computer successfully right from the start. The large ball requires less fine-motor control, which makes positioning the mouse cursor easier for children. It works with any software that supports a mouse.
Cost: $79.00

Roller Trackball (Infogrip)
Roller Trackball has a large 2.5", sturdy, easy to roll ball, which offers greater control than a traditional mouse or trackball. It has separate buttons for click and drag. A flashing light indicates that the drag button is active. It also comes with a removable fingerplate that helps users locate and target buttons
Cost: $290.00