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> "The typing surface should be 21 to 22 inches above the floor. This
> height should allow you to sit straight, with your feet flat on the
> floor, and to hang your arms straight down from your shoulders and
> bend 'em 90 degrees at the elbow to reach the keyboard. Also, make
> sure that the back of the thigh immediately above the knee is
> slightly higher than the chair seat to avoid circulatory problems in
> your legs. When you are looking straight ahead, your eyes should be
> looking at the center of the monitor screen."
>21-22 inches??? That would be a *very* uncomfortable position for me to
>type in, considering that would put the top of the keyboard more than 3
>inches below the top of my knees!!
The typical recommendations are to have the home row of the keyboard about
seated elbow height (which of course varys between individuals and their
chair heights) and place the monitor so that the top of the screen is about
eye level or slightly lower. Some of the larger screens (i.e. 20") may be
more comfortably viewed with the top of the screen acouple of inches above
eye height due to its overall size.
More information can be found in the Web sites noted below.
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INTERNET INFORMATION SOURCES
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Several good ergonomics information sources are reachable on the Internet
using Netscape. The following are some of the locations you may wish to
search.
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The_BEST_single source for VDT injury and related information on the
Internet's World Wide Web is the Typing Injury FAQ Home Page at:
<http://www.cs.Princeton.EDU:80/~dwallach/tifaq/>
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USENET NEWSGROUPS:
misc.health.injuries.rsi.misc
(Open forum to discuss repetitive strain injury issues)
misc.health.injuries.rsi.moderated
(Moderated list with questions responded to by a panel of medical and
ergonomic specialists - read FAQ before posting)
sci.med.occupational
( A group which deals in occupational medicine. Lots of practitioners read
it!)
misc.health.therapy.occupational
(The successor to sci.med.occupational)
comp.human-factors
(Mostly software design, but occasional discussion of accessibility issues
for people with RSIs)
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WEB PAGES: (Injury and VDT Ergonomics)
