Designing a more accessible world

On any given day, people encounter a constellation of devices meant to simplify life, from automated teller machines to one-touch microwaves. But the benefits often elude people who are visually impaired or physically disabled.

One solution has emerged from the Trace Research and Development Center, a group at the university devoted to designing a more accessible world. Center Director Gregg Vanderheiden created and patented a system through WARF that will work on a wide range of electronic products, providing easy use without the need for visual cues.

With one to three added buttons – one diamond-shaped for selecting and two navigational arrows – the technology allows users to scroll through a talking computer menu. No vision is required since the user can use the speech output to access functions.

Called EZ Access, the system is available on touch-screen technologies such as information kiosks. It is being demonstrated on automated teller machines and being developed for voting booths. The Trace Center also has a blueprint for using the technology on cellular phones.

“This is a technology that you can put on virtually any electronic product,” says Trace engineer Chris Law, one of its designers. “We envision a situation 10 years from now where a person can buy a home stereo and be confident they can use it without needing to rely on vision or reading.”

The technology provides access to people with low literacy, who cannot reach standard controls or have limited mobility, Law adds. Estimates are that anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of the U.S. population has some form of disability that affects their lives.

Trace makes the technology easy to integrate without major design changes to products and keeps the cost within 1 percent of total production costs. In other words, EZ-Access adds about $100 to the cost of a $10,000 ATM machine.

Law says the organization has had more than 300 commercial inquiries about the technology, including a half dozen companies working on the patent. Interest is being driven by regulatory changes that will soon require more expansive disability access, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the 1996 Telecommunications Act and recent Rehabilitation Act changes that affect government purchases.

Public information kiosks and consumer electronics are the latest frontier in Trace’s universal design work. Prior work resulted in disabled-access features on virtually every computer operating system in existence.

“Trace used to make what we called ‘special products for special people,'” Law says. “But in the last five years we have moved toward universal design, making commonly available products accessible to all.”