Our attention is firmly focu…oh look, there’s an LOLcat!
No, seriously, we did read all of Paul Hemp’s article on information overload, and noted his repetition of the argument that it can mimic the effects of ADD and addiction. However, it got us thinking about another accessibility implication: the difficult balance of maintaining your train of thought with needing to take regular breaks to avoid injury (many ergonomists recommend at least three 30-second and one 3-minute break per hour, regardless of input method). As much as we preach to our clients about the latter, we know that most of them prioritize the former–e.g., the man who wanted us to set up voice recognition at 5 PM on a Tuesday so that he could have a term paper handed in at 8 AM on Wednesday. Anybody know of an innovative way to work efficiently while preserving both mind and body?
The turn of the SQ?
We wrote several days ago about the Dream Screen, a limited Internet access device that might find its niche in a senior/accessibility arena. A portable device with even more potential is the Lighthouse SQ7, which provides a web browser, easy access to Facebook and Twitter–AND voice recognition capability. As always, we’re skeptical about the ability of the last-named feature to accommodate all users, but even without that the SQ7 could find an audience among those who need or value simplicity in their web access strategies.
A touching good story?
TechCrunch–probably not the first blog to do so–is predicting the end of keyboards/mice in favor of exclusively touchscreen interfaces. For now, this would create not only accessibility problems but also issues for other folks, including touch typists. We’ll recall past predictions for the universality of the Dvorak keyboard and speech recognition technology, and just not hold our breath.
TechCrunch: Touching: All Rumors Point To The End Of Keys/Buttons
Ricky, don’t lose our number
Ricky Buchanan, the brilliant and dedicated mind behind the AT Mac blog, has written a great piece on how Leopard/Snow Leopard parental controls also have implications for folks with cognitive disabilities. While some of these could be misused by a well-meaning caregiver–e.g., why should access to profane dictionary entries be denied on the basis of IQ?–the ability to simplify the interface and make common applications easier to locate will be welcome in many circles.
iPhones at large
Portable CCTVs for magnifying menus, prescription bottle labels, etc. still cost around $1,000–out of reach of many folks. So we applaud Eye Glasses, a $3 iPhone app that performs basically the same function by taking the camera feed and bumping it up as much as 8x. Affordability and portability–gotta love it.
Wired Gadget Lab: Eye Glasses Turns iPhone into Magnifier For Oldies
Coffee talk
Hammacher Schlemmer is coming out with a coffee maker that politely asks, “Would you like to set the clock or set the coffee brewing time?”, and then responds to your verbal commands. Obvious hands-free implications, and no indication in the description that voice training is necessary–although that makes us wonder how it does with dysarthric speech or accents. In other words, is it like buttah, or would it leave us verklempt?
A brush with access
The Touch n Brush is a new device that lets you load a tube of toothpaste; it then automatically dispenses the right amount, contact-free. Trivial if your hands have standard squeezing abilities; tremendously helpful if they don’t. Can we get one for shampoo, too?