It’s design of the times
What’s better than a mainstream product with accessibility features? Why, a whole Microsoft competition full of promising designs, of course. We particularly like the electronic music stand that allows score pages to be turned via touch screen or foot pedal, the bracelet that wirelessly uploads information, and the neck-worn PC that automatically captures exciting events on tape (audio or video?) whenever the user’s heart rate increases–all of which could be useful to people with various levels of dexterity disabilities. Also submitted was the previously-noted ZEN PC with its tactile interface.
Gizmodo: Next-Gen PC concepts include laser screens, tactile interfaces, glossiness
The way the ball bounces
We don’t usually cover one-off devices here, but this one’s too cool not to mention: an audio-only version of Ping Pong. You tilt your head to “center” the sound of an approaching ball; if you’re successful, game play continues at an increasingly faster rate. Of obvious interest to blind individuals, it’s also totally hands-free so it could be playable by folks with dexterity disabilities, too.
More CAPTCHA follies
We’ve posted a good bit about CAPTCHAs, the automated techniques that try to distinguish humans from vile software bots when visiting websites or registering for accounts, such as the blurry letters you have to type into a box. It’s an arms race between CAPTCHA designers and bot designers, with visually impaired users as collateral damage.
The latest design calls for users to click near the geometric center of any image in a composite set of wall-to-wall images drawn from a database. That’s only step one; step two shows you another image, which you must identify from a list of options. They’re gonna have to get really creative to figure out a non-visual approach to this task. And hey, webmaster, is your site’s porn late medieval Italian poetry really worth all this effort?
Ars Technica: Researchers stay step ahead of bots with image-based CAPTCHA
Extra credit
The three major credit reporting firms (Experian, Equifax, Transunion) just announced a deal with the American Council of the Blind to ensure that their website is accessible and their hard copy reports are made available in alternative formats. So now people with visual disabilities can more easily find out that they’re in as much financial trouble as everyone else…
Law Office of Lainey Feingold: Accessible Credit Reports Press Release
A nice gesture
Samsung–one of the most frequent company names to show up on these pages–has patented a gesture-based interface for cell phones. Could be useful to people with some types of hand/arm disabilities; depending on its reliance on movement precision and its ability to be combined with audio output, could it be an improvement over touch screens for blind users?
Engadget: Samsung skips the touchscreen, patents gesture-based phone interface
Android deserves augmented reality
Android, Google’s mobile development platform, has attracted a really useful app. Enkin takes your location, camera input, and other info, and renders a customized meaningful overlay: where your car is in the lot, where the nearest noodle shop is, etc. This kind of personal guidance would be tremendously valuable for those with cognitive disabilities, permitting independent living and travel. Add audio output and you have a wayfinding device for blind users.
Mama has a sneeze box
The Ah-Choo! box not only holds facial tissues, but when you approach it emits one of five sounds that mimic your upper respiratory system in full distress. Interesting model for auditory cuing; we could see it applied to other types of objects that would be harder to find and/or identify.