[vicsireland] Re: the way of the future
- From: "Martin O'Sullivan" <martin_osullivan@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 14:39:29 +0100
Hi
I think this problem has either a political or technological solution.
Political solution
make public transport free like they have done in parts of Bolivia.
It is paid for out of general taxation. They have actually reduced
costs by getting rid of the need for ticket barriers, systems to check
you have got a ticket, systems to sell you the ticket and using public
transport has become easier. In the case of busses they have saved
fuel because the bus does not have to stand with it's engine running,
waiting for people to shove a ticket into a hole or a coin into a
slot.
technical solution to the problem
I would have to agree with Tim here. moving your hand around the
screen with only an audio feedback would lead to problems. Most of
the data on these screens is numeric, and with numerical shortcuts,
this data could be entered quite quickly.
An example of what I mean
lets say for example you wanted to book a train ticket for limerick at
9:00 on Friday 23 may . a numeric keypad plus arrow selection keys
are all that is required.
You can use the arrow keys to select the root. Date and time you
could also configure the terminal to allow people who know the rout
number to enter the whole transaction numerically.
example the first 3 digits you enter in are the rout number the next 6
digits are the date the next 4 digits are the time. Because these
numbers are derived from information you already know they are easy to
remember. you could book the train to limerick by entering
001230520080900, or you could use arrow keys to select the same
information with audio feedback.
Obviously the terminal would be configured so that you would get
feedback if you tried to get a ticket for a train that did not exist.
Note how the political solution is just much simpler.
On 5/23/08, Tim Culhane <tim.culhane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi mark,
>
> In theory this sounds good, but it would be far too slow and much more
> prone to errors such as the person lifting their finger too soon, and thus
> triggering an option they didn't really want.
>
> Remember the sighted person only has to keep their fing on 1 spot for a
> fraction of a second. A blind person might have to take a minute or more of
> fumbling around the screen, first finding where the buttons where (are they
> down the right of the screen, the left, across the top, in a fancy diamond
> pattern or god knows what).
>
> During this process you lift your finger for just the tiniest instant and
> you are gone on to another menu, and you then have to repeat the
> wholeprocess again in order to find the cancel or back button (assuming
> there even is one).
>
> The current approach used by talking ATM machines uses the phone style
> keypad to enter options. You are told hit 1 for cash, 2 for statement etc.
>
> You only have to put your hand on the keypad and you can instantly find
> the right button and press it, without having to wait for all the rest of
> the options to be read.
>
> I admit that these two approaches might take roughly the same time the
> very first time you use a machine, but on subsequent visits to the old
> style interface you would be far quicker simply because you can distinguish
> the buttons tactilely. Also, no matter how many times you use a touch
> screen the chance of inadvertently choosing the wrong option would always
> remain.
>
> If as you say these public service touch screen machines are so simple
> and basic, then why the sudden urge to use them? What is wrong with the
> current interface?
>
> Tim
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vicsireland-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:vicsireland-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mark Magennis
> Sent: 23 May 2008 11:12
> To: vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [vicsireland] Re: the way of the future
>
>
> I've not done any work on public touchscreen terminals but they're
> pretty simple devices from an interaction point of view and I wouldn't
> think it would be difficult to make them accessible. Touchscreen
> terminals like the one Claude describes and also ticket machines in
> rail stations or bank ATMs basically only do a few things. They
> present some written instructions, provide some buttons and output
> some written results and/or hard copy items. They only respond to
> three types of inputs - a finger going onto the screen, the finger
> being taken off the screen and some money being put into the machine.
> That's all there is to them. All the written information could be
> output in audio as well and it would be completely useable without
> sight. The finger on/off bit could be left exactly the same and it
> still wouldn't require sight, even to find and distinguish the
> buttons. Let me explain how this would work in practice.
>
> If you're a sighted person, you read the instructions on the screen,
> find the button you want, put your finger on it which selects it, it
> highlights so you know you've selected the right one, you lift your
> finger off it which activates it, and you get the resulting outputs -
> some information, a ticket or another round of instructions and
> buttons. All the information could be spoken as well as written so
> that's not a problem. The only issue for non-sighted users is locating
> the buttons and knowing what they are when you press them. This could
> be done by tracing your finger over the screen because buttons are
> already selected and highlighted when a finger goes over them. All
> you'd need to do is have the highlighting spoken as well as shown. So
> as you go over each button, it's name would be spoken. You'd hear a
> running commentary of your finger's progress and you would stop when
> you get to the one you want. This is essentially the same thing that
> the sighted person is doing when they scan the screen with their eyes
> to find which button they want, except that the blind person is
> combining the scanning action and the button selection action. As you
> select each button in turn, none of them get activated because the
> screens only activate a button when you lift your finger off it, not
> when you put your finger onto it. That's the way they're designed
> because that allows for the highlighting feedback and correcting
> mistakes. Lifting the finger off would work the same for everyone. So
> by simply augmenting the written instructions and outputs with audio
> and by augmenting the highlighting with an audio reading of the button
> name, you've made it completely accessible without requiring sight.
> The only downside is that it would take longer to scan with a finger
> listening to the buttons as you run across them than it takes to scan
> with your eyes, but that's no different from the situation you have
> anyway with using a screen reader to scan a web page. In theory it
> appears to be quite easy, though I'd want to user test it before
> coming to any firm conclusions. It might, for example, be easy for
> people who aren't naturally good at feeling their way around a two
> dimensional surface to miss buttons completely and be unable to find
> them. Some people are just better at this kind of thing than others
> because they have better spatial awareness. You notice it with users
> of screen magnifiers like ZoomText. Some people always seem to miss
> out certain areas of the screen because they think they've explored
> the whole thing but they haven't. Other people are just better at
> systematically covering the whole area.
>
> Mark
>
>
> On 22 May 2008, at 23:20, Tony Sweeney wrote:
>
> > Hi Tony,
> >
> > You might think perhaps that I am being a bit flippant but if touch
> > screens
> > are here to stay well could we have some audio installed to direct
> > us around
> > them?
> >
> > Difficult I'd imagine, but one never knows!!
> >
> > Don't like the idea of separate queues for the visually-impaired!
> >
> > After all some people may argue that we have had them long enough,
> > figuratively at any rate!!
> >
> > Thanks Claude and keep in touch with Vics & the List.
> >
> > Good luck to you Tony!
> >
> > Tony.
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Tony Murray" <tony@xxxxxxxx>
> > To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 8:55 PM
> > Subject: [vicsireland] Re: the way of the future
> >
> >
> >> Hi Claude,
> >>
> >> "One way around it would be to have a specific counter for blind
> >> people."
> >>
> >> I don't like that solution at all. It certainly is not Inclusive
> >> Design.
> >>
> >> Touch screens are coming (in fact they've arrived), so let's hope
> >> there is
> > a
> >> solution!
> >>
> >> I've just been to my new gym, sticking bump-ons all over the
> >> equipment
> >> there... Even the weight machines now have touch screens, on which
> >> you can
> >> monitor your technique! Of course, the CV machines are completely
> >> driven
> > by
> >> touch screens too. Nightmare. Guess what, even the locks to
> >> secure your
> >> kit in the changing rooms are inaccessible!
> >>
> >> It would be interesting to hear what your designer friend comes
> >> back with;
> >> keep us posted.
> >>
> >> Best wishes,
> >>
> >> Tony
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Claude Saulnier" <claude.saulnier@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 4:05 PM
> >> Subject: [vicsireland] Re: the way of the future
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> I have emailed the comments to a designer friend of mine to get a
> >> feel for
> >> ideas to see what he suggests to solve this touch screen challenge.
> >>
> >> I understand from a business point of view, the benefits of touch-
> >> screens,
> >> since it is simple to change the interface, and you have more
> > possibilities
> >> than without, but I like the accessibility challenge. To every
> >> problem
> > there
> >> is a solution (I hope).
> >>
> >> Regarding the train station, the irony is that there was someone at
> >> the
> >> counter, but no way to get to the counter since you could not get the
> > ticket
> >> to the counter, nor read it if you got someone to print it for you.
> >> One
> > way
> >> around it would be to have a specific counter for blind people.
> >>
> >> Claude
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
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> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
>
> Dr. Mark Magennis
> Director of the Centre for Inclusive Technology (CFIT)
> National Council for the Blind of Ireland
> Whitworth Road, Dublin 9, Republic of Ireland
> www.cfit.ie
>
> mark.magennis@xxxxxxx tel: +353 (0)71 914 7464
>
>
>
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--
Martin O'Sullivan
Act your way into a feeling dont feel your way into Action (Gandhi)
Be the change you want to see in the world. (Gandhi)
Tel: +353878289243
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web: http://martinri.freeshell.org
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