I've got a USB mouse (MS) that came with a USB to PS/2 converter. It works fine hooked up to a PS/2 port. I run it through a KVM switch that is PS/2 and not USB so this is necessary. One of the boxen ...
Nearly every barcode scanner I've run across is effectively a keyboard. I'd give it a try with one of the commonly available ones; worst case you can always return it.