La vida ProLoquo
USA Today reports a classic example of how basing assistive strategies on mainstream equipment can be cost-effective. Most communication devices used by individuals who are non-verbal due to either speech or cognitive disabilities are either highly simplistic or cost thousands of dollars. However, ProLoquo2Go, based on an earlier software program for the Macintosh, runs on the iPhone. Total cost for app + iPhone = $500, and no extra charge for the fact that this solution has the aesthetic advantage of being a standard piece of equipment rather than a bulky and “special” device.
Off on a tangible
Everything goes in cycles, man. I mean, like, it used to be that all controls were things you touched, like keys on a keyboard. Then we got heavily into virtual controls, like “buttons” on a screen. Now somebody has reminded us that there’s a real world out there, man, with tangible stuff that can do stuff. But it’s better this time around! Tangible interfaces can take any object — a block, a salt shaker, whatever — and tag it so the interface responds to its location, rotation, or color. Tangible interfaces could benefit people with physical, sensory or cognitive access issues, but it depends on how they’re built — they may impose new barriers themselves if there’s no alternative. Some days, you just can’t say “redundancy” too many times.
Trackmate, a prototype, is a great example of a flexible tangible interface, suitable for almost any type of application. Inexpensive, too: all open source, with hardware costs under $100. It’s easy to get started, but if you want to do something off-road, there’ll be heavy hacking ahead. A growing user community may be able to help.
Goaled: finger
We’ve been reporting for ages about how biometrics based only on fingerprint recognition isn’t a universal access solution. This may affect a larger population than seems obvious; turns out a particular cancer drug has the long-term side effect of literally peeling off the patient’s fingerprints. International travelers using the drug are being cautioned to “carry a doctor’s note when they travel to the United States,” but we’d rather see an emphasis on multi-option systems such as the one at the San Jose airport.
Yes we can
Blogger Brad Feld wrote a recent entry citing a book on human-computer interfaces that says “the public restroom has become a test bed for gestural interface technology.” Intrigued, he browsed the loo at the Denver airport, and found that indeed all the equipment could be controlled touch-free. We’ve long acknowledged the physical access benefits of hands-free interfaces, but Feld points out this works as a good accommodation strategy for people with OCD, too.
No rapture for CAPTCHA
Google is working on a new CAPTCHA strategy that requires the user to click on a flipped image and return it to its proper spatial orientation. So now you have to be able to see, click, and judge spatial orientation to get past it, thereby destroying the ability of many folks with disabilities to ever accurately submit an “I’m First!” post. Fuhgeddabouit. For a thorough and useful discussion on CAPTCHA-free strategies for thwarting spambots but not accessibility, see WebAIM’s 2007 article and responses.
Hey, goods looker
We’ve been talking for a while about how people with visual or cognitive disabilities could use mobile phone cameras to identify or interpret objects. Now it’s here, or near. iVisit can either call up a service to describe an object to you, or use a pre-programmed database of images to identify currency, packaged goods, body parts, etc. and speak it out synthetically.
Camera Phones to Interpret Visible World for Blind - Medgadget - www.medgadget.com
A little light conversation
Nokia is trying to patent a system that allows text message senders to associate a color with their message; the recipient’s phone then lights up using that color. We think this could be very useful to folks with autism spectrum disorders and others who have difficulty interpreting information in non-literal ways. Red could signal, “Important–take seriously,” while a sprightly pink could say, “Just kidding!”