Preferred Height and Angle Settings of Crt and Keyboard for a Display Station Input Task

Abstract

This study investigated the display station physical adjustments preferred by a sample of visual display terminal (VDT) operators preselected to span the 5th, 50th, and 95th percentiles in physical stature with respect to United States or Japanese anthropometric surveys. Thirty-seven operators were taken individually through a step-by-step sequence to determine their preferred adjustments of seat height, keyboard height and slope angle, and CRT height and tilt angle. Each operator then performed a brief transcription task. Measurements corresponding to the final preferred height and angle adjustments do not agree with some currently evolving German ergonomic display station requirements. In addition, intermeasure correlations strongly suggest that “flat” (low slope angle) keyboards are inappropriate for operators who select low seat heights and are short in stature.