Mulch the vote
As Florida’s election officials move to paper-based optical scanning, what to do about the 29,000 touchscreen machines they have? Well, they’re going to be marketed to other jurisdictions (!) or “de-manufactured”, AKA “taken apart and sold for components and scrap.”
E-Vote: Florida Touch Screen Voting Machines to be Recycled - Government Technology
Toilets unlock wirelessly; paperwork still required
Some Finnish public johns can now be opened by texting them a message. Easier for some of us than depositing coins; perfectly symbiotic with pay-by-wireless soda machines. Coming soon to a loo near you?
LG’s Prada phone “boasts” touchscreen interface
Just great. Apple releases its touchscreen-only phone and starts a fashion orgy of inaccessibility. Ever try using a touchscreen interface in the dark? Is that where they keep the designers? If there are no keys, there’s nothing to feel for, be you blind or just blind drunk. Definitely not compliant with accessibility regs. Doesn’t anyone want to sell to the federal government?
New York City’s 911 will receive video
Deaf citizens have been asking for text and video access to E911 for years. Slowly, painfully, community 911 call centers have added support for TTYs. Now New York, New York — the town so hard of hearing you have to say its name twice — appears on the brink of being able to receive live video images from wireless devices. We’d feel better if we thought that someone somewhere had given any thought to integrating deaf and hard of hearing citizens.
Cell-fulfilling prophecy?
Ah, Bay Area politics. Apparently an incumbent member of the local BART (subway) board got a photo opportunity showing how a cell phone could be used to pay for subway fares, even though he was actually using an existing SmartCard and availability of the cell phone technology is years down the road. But once it’s real, it’ll be pretty cool for a lot of people with dexterity and cognitive disabilities.
San Francisco Chronicle: BART’s Fang nabs election spotlight with futuristic plan to pay tolls
Kiddie biometrics
To meet elementary school requests for auto-pay options in their cafeterias, identiMetrics has developed biometric systems that “can now identify a child as young as 4.” Here’s hoping public locations realize that this would also accommodate adults whose hands are much smaller than average.
Neater meter
An update to a story we mentioned in May about easier-to-use parking meters: Several cities are now using smart cards that will not only feed the meter, but can also be used for shopping. Another system uses software from IBM to link your parking space to your cell phone; when your meter is close to expiring, you’ll get a reminder call–good for anyone whose cognition is affected by either disability or an unbuhLEEvable sale. Still no solutions for actually finding a parking space, but we’ll keep you posted.