Access on Main Street

Hooking up a usable world, one mainstream product at a time.

They’re just good friends?

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 26 October 2005

WYGIWYS

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 26 October 2005

or What You Get Is What You See, a new interface paradigm that will be part of the next generation of Microsoft Office:

Jakob Nielsen: R.I.P. WYSIWYG

Aging by design

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 26 October 2005

A report from the Aging by Design conference, Oct. 17/18, 2005:

Focus Technology to Serve Seniors

Electronic compass belt for blind orientation

Posted by Jim Tobias 26 October 2005

This item carries the required “student project warning” — not a product, but a cool idea you can build yourself. It takes an electronic compass and attaches a wearable belt of small vibrating elements. Hint: the one facing north is the one that’s buzzing.

feelSpace – The Magnetic Perception Group

Cellphones for the rest of us

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 25 October 2005

Vodafone’s new cellphone designed for and marketed to older users, with some interesting information on other, similar initiatives.

I like “Simplicity” as a marketing angle. “Comfort” should be in there too.

In mobile phones, older users say more is less

Deaf Thumb Syndrome?

Posted by Jim Tobias 24 October 2005

From CNN, proof that for every accessibility advance there is a potential new disability. People who use those wireless text terminals are complaining about repetitive stress injuries.

CNN.com – Being all thumbs gets painful – Oct 24, 2005

Swiss town first to vote by SMS

Posted by Jim Tobias 21 October 2005

The Swiss town of Bulach is voting on speed limits via their mobile phones. Each citizen is assigned an ID, which they must enter in order to send the wireless vote-message. If we had fully accessible mobile phones, maybe we could have fully accessible voting!

Swiss SMS voting experiment

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