Keyclick: Sounds user-friendly to typists 7 Aug 2007

Keyclick is a Mac OS X preference pane that provides adjustable audio feedback for keystrokes:

"Years ago keyboards were made with premium key switches that provided a resounding click when a key snapped over. Today most keyboards are made using rubber domes which can provide a similar force displacement or tactile feel, but not the sound. Human factors work on video terminals in the 1980s showed that the perception of keyboard crispness is correlated with audio feedback. Keyclick provides that feedback while improving on the original."

In his review of the product, Matt Neuburg explains the usability benefits associated with the clickety-clack sounds that Keyclick produces:

"Why does it make me a better typist on my MacBook? It's because the noise it makes, though little more than a faintly detectable pop each time I press a key, tells me almost subliminally that I have pressed a key. Even more, Keyclick tells me (by its silence) when I've failed to press a key, or when I've held down a key long enough to produce multiple, repeated characters. Thus, as if I were a rat in a maze being rewarded for my successes, my brain and my fingers are guided to press just the right amount to produce that satisfying pop. And so, in short order, I run the maze better and better."