Access on Main Street

Using an Apple iPhone app, L.A. citizens can now take a picture of a broken sidewalk or other municipal flaw and send it directly to the city government for instant relief.  How about reporting blocked curbcuts or illegal use of handicapped parking spaces?

L.A. city government: Residents have a finger on problems with iPhone app - latimes.com

Apple has patented a technique to hide sensors beneath the skin of a product.  They will be completely invisible and undiscernible any other way as well (in direct contravention of 1194.23(k)(1) of Section 508, which is now under review).  But embedded LEDs may announce their presence via patterns of micro-holes drilled by frickin’ lasers.

We love seamless input devices, we really do.  We’re sleek as seals ourselves.  But unless there is some redundant alternative or accessibility technique, blind and low vision users are going to be excluded.

ArsTechnica: Apple combines touch, laser etching for “disappearing” input

To the list of disabilities that technology use emulates–like ADD–we can now add “inattentional blindness,” which causes cell phone users to miss blatant changes in their visual field, such as the appearance of a brightly-dressed clown on a unicycle. In lieu of requiring that all cell phone use occur inattent, maybe some more concerted compliance with architectural regs about reducing environmental hazards for blind folks could lower accident rates among walking talkers as well.

CNET: Talk on your cell, risk missing the unicycling clown

Here’s the dark side of accessibility features in mainstream products: Insurance companies may refuse to pay for, say, a communication aid if it’s implemented as part of a standard computer or cell phone, or may insist that all features unrelated to the communication function be deactivated. Unfortunately, this isn’t news to anyone who’s ever provided direct service to clients, but this is the first time we’ve seen the issues laid out this clearly in the mainstream press.

New York Times: Insurers Fight Speech-Impairment Remedy

Ya know, California’s new hands-free-phone-use-while-driving law is one of the best design impetuses we could have ever wished for. Witness BlueAnt’s new Supertooth 3 phone: clips on anywhere, has voice dialing capability, automatically adjusts sound levels based on ambient noise, and reads the name or ID for incoming calls aloud. Sounds like a big dexterity/vision accommodation winner.

Gizmag: BlueAnt Wireless releases portable speakerphone with text-to-speech

In just over two weeks, California law will require hands-free use of cell phones while driving. It’s a natural product development opportunity that Parrot has jumped on by creating a line of Bluetooth conversion products (not to mention an insufferably cute ad campaign lobbying for naming the Parrot as the state bird–”Parrot has created five models of hands-free car kits. The Valley Quail has created a nest made of twigs”). We’re atwitter at the implications for people who need hands-free telephony for accessibility reasons.

Popgadget: Parrot in your car: hands-free speakerphone

Here’s an interesting lawsuit. Some wireless subscribers feel they are paying for unwanted text messaging because SMS is turned on by default and it’s either impossible to turn off or hard to find the setting in your account. The outcome of this case may hinge on the “discoverability” of obscure account settings, the clarity of user documentation, and the usability of complex interfaces. If so, it may be relevant to the situation we often find ourselves in: an accessibility feature is “in there” somewhere, but not enough people know it’s there or how to turn it on.

Ars Technica: Lawsuit over text messages ignores SMS off switches