Last night, on my way to home in office cab, had a chance to interact with my Office’s telephone operator. He is a nice guy who I have spoken with much on phones and did not meet him till last night. Our conversation centered around how EPABX system works, hunting lines etc; I was the one to ask him many questions as I always wanted to know the nuances of a telephone operator’s job. We stopped at a local tea shop for a cuppa and continued the conversation. Suddenly, he asked me the significance of the dot in the number five key on my phone’s keypad. I replied in the negative and he helped me understand that the dot in the keypad on any phone is to help the blind. It can be touched and felt so that the other numbers surrounding it can be easily punched. I was surprised and thanked him for the good information he lent. The journey continued and I tried punching the numbers with my eyes closed and Bingo! I was successful.
I really appreciate the goodwill of the guy who invented this tactic keeping the blind in mind. After all it is usability everyone yearns for without their knowledge. 
P.S.:- Am I the only to know this little but important thing too late? 
karthi,
I knew this info b4.
Do you think this is the reason why letters ‘J’ , ‘F’ and Num key ’5′ in a computer keyboard also have some kind of a mark so that blind people can use them?
hey i havent even noticed that. or rather i might have brushed it off as a mistake by the guy who made the plastic case.
btw deepu, i just asked my UX collegue here about the J F and 5 on the computer keyboard and he confirmed that they are also done to help the blind. I’m wondering how i missed them all these days.
Thanks karthick
Deepak,
I did not notice that either. Thanks for the good information.
Umesh,
). Here on, let’s share the little things that may go unnoticed. After all small things make a big difference Don’t they?
I did not know that you are also in my troupe of missing small things (at least this time
By the way, is there a wiki on this? I am yet to find one.
hey this is a real good piece of info ..you wont believe just a month back i thought why is there a dot in the 5 number key alone … i dont know why i gave a thought abt this even b4 30 days .. prob my inner sense would have sensed abt the later response i would get from my small B and alerted me with that ? …anyways thanks for the info ..BTW deepak i have a quick ? for you — are the dots present only in the desktop keyboard alone or it holds good even on a lap top ..coz i dont see one in mine
there is a small dash below the char J and F alone but none in 5
originally it is not meant for that.
it is called guide keys for typing without seeing the keyboard.
of course to use this u should know other keys and be
a trained typist.
it is the secret of typing fast as the thoughts flow into your mind.
since the advent of computers and the death of typewriters, this art of typing without seeing the keyboard is also fast vanishing.
many feel proud about their single finger typing, implying learing proper typing is redendent.
Hello stpmds,
Welcome here. Interestingly, googling gave me a lot of more information. The arrangement of the numbers in the numpad (which is on the right side of the keyboard often) of the computer is different from the arrangement of the numbers on a phone numpad.
Apparently, the one used in computer numpad is that of the calculator type standard and the other is that of the phone type.
See how this page on usability for people with disabilities .
Hope this throws some more light into the subject of discussion.
Also read, ” using the telephone factsheet for blind “
And the bar on the letters j and f are for typing without seeing the keyboard. By the way, those are called keyboard bumps.
By the way, what does that stpmds mean?