Access on Main Street

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

Get fresh with us

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 17 March 2010

Among the many things AoMS believes in is fresh produce, so we’re pleased to see the Fresh Code barcode system being proposed. As the fruit or veggie deteriorates, so does the code; if it’s past its edibility date, the barcode won’t work at checkout. Could be a great help to people who can’t thump a melon or effectively interpret the color of a banana, as well as those who don’t remember or never learned that some cauliflower is supposed to be purple.

Ubergizmo: Fresh Code ensures that you’ll get your veggies fresh

Production code, 2010 style

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 16 March 2010

Here’s an interesting use for QR codes: Fandango, the movie ticket service, now has a mobile service that will send a code to your mobile phone. When you get to the theater, a scanner reads the code. No more paper to manipulate or remember, letting everyone get to the popcorn line that much faster. If the scanners are self-service, let’s hope some attention is given to accessibility in terms of height, providing guidance as to where to place the phone, etc. And if it’s a success, we’ll look forward to seeing similar implementations for other types of tickets.

Ubergizmo: Fandango now offers mobile tickets for movies

Dog bytes man

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 16 February 2010

As usual, the development dollars are going into assistive technology for the canids. Cf. Puppy Tweets, which translates doggie activities into one of 500 texts (e.g., “Guess what I’m licking right now.” Um…we’ll pass). With a little linguistic tinkering, we could see this turned into a useful way for people with various types of physical or cognitive disabilities to communicate, whether practical–a specific movement could send a message requesting help–or social.

Engadget: Puppy tweets will turn your pooper into a world-class Twitterer

As it is Twitten

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 15 February 2010

Carmen Gonzales has come up with a summary of pretty convincing arguments about why Twitter has made a huge difference for people with physical disabilities. Some of these involve the potential for generating and receiving information with little effort, but there is also the fact that if everyone is communicating in 140 characters, assistive tech users or slow typists will be able to generate messages of an acceptable length with less effort than, say, typing a full email. There are parallel arguments to be made for cognitive access as well.

Twitup: Twitter remaking the persona of the physically challenged

Put cork in it

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 10 February 2010

We find much to like about Corky, a prototype mouse that’s a splendid example of convergence between universal and green design. Cork is generally considered to be non-allergenic, so it’ll be beneficial to folks with various environmental illnesses. In addition, it’s both wireless and self-charging–no batteries to dispose and no rechargers to fumble with. Our main quibble is that it’s the same ol’ not-particularly-friendly mouse shape–but once the basic technology is available, we feel pretty confident that ergonomics will follow.

Wired: Cork mouse charges itself

Found objects

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 5 February 2010

We’ve commented before on a few hardware-based strategies for finding lost keys, remotes, etc. “Where Is My Phone,” however, is an iPhone app that lets you find your…iPhone. It responds to your whistle (so it’s hands-free) with either one of its preprogrammed noises or with your sound recording. Since it’s response is user-specific, we’re hoping you can substitute a different sound if you’re whistle-impaired. We also assume it’s TSR, unless you plan in advance to lose your phone. All this for a buck; not bad.

ShinyShiny: Whistle and your phone will respond: the Where is My Phone App

Heinzsight

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 4 February 2010

Forget the iPad; the first great design innovation of the ’10s might be the revised Heinz ketchup packet. It will now let you peel off a corner and dip or tear off the top and squeeze, which among other things may accommodate people with a wider range of dexterity limitations. Care to condiment?

SFGate: Heinz revamps ketchup packets

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