I'm investigating the arduino and haven't bought one yet...
The objective is to identify the intensity of finger presses just like a velocity & pressure switch. The solution should be senstitive to different strengths of pressing.
Would an accelerometer perform this task, and how would you go about resolving this task?
Thanks very much for your time and wisdom 
If its finger presses then maybe some kind of capacitance sensor would be easier.
Like the touch pad on a laptop.
Accelerometers are used for actual movement. I dont think it would work well for this.
I've been told by people who should know that keyboards that sense how hard a key is pressed (ie electric piano things) do so by having two digital outputs near the top and bottom of the key movement, and then measure the time between the two closures. They even call them "velocity sensitive." That sounds a lot easier than an accelerometer (but it wouldn't give you "pressure" (I don't think an accelerometer would give you pressure either.))
There are a lot of pressure sensors coming to the market, because of a new regulation in the US that all new cars need to include tire pressure indicators (TPI)... I don't recall the manufacturer and the chip, but I saw something in the Electronic Design magazine... These are air pressure sensors, not finger pressure...
There's a device known as a strain gauge. I think it's just what you are looking for.
It changes resistance depending on the preassure (strain) put upon it.
I just wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to post their ideas! It is all very helpful and has led to new investigations