kiosk accessibility
Additional accessibility thoughts
from Sharon Rosenblatt:
1. People with disabilities deserve equal
access to technology. This is a basic
human right.
2. Accessibility doesn’t have to be
expensive or time-consuming if you
can manage to implement pieces at
a time.
3. Always factor in the input of people
with disabilities and solicit their
feedback. Be transparent about your
accessibility process and share your
successes and troubles. You’re not
the only one.
As Rosenblatt points out, it’s important
to look at accessibility as a process. It
is not an ‘all or nothing’ proposition.
Some accessibility features are better
than none. Accessibility, like usability, is
an iterative process that can continually
improve.
Larry Lewis Jr. of The Paciello Group,
an accessibility solutions provider, notes
the important benefits of accessibility
and usability. “Accessible design will
improve the user experience for all
users. Furthermore, an inclusive web
(and kiosk) experience will increase the
size of your market opportunity and
improve customer loyalty.”
From the perspective of kiosk
software, it makes sense to leverage
accessibility solutions that already
exist as part of the operating system.
In addition, software solutions can be
built on top of operating system tools to
provide more accessibility and usability.
Software solutions such as AudioEye,
JAWS, and ZoomText can be integrated
with kiosks using kiosk system software
to provide accessibility. Hardware
devices such as those manufactured
by Storm Interface are supported by
kiosk system software and, with only a
few configuration settings, can increase
accessibility for visually impaired or
physically disabled users.
At the end of the day, incorporating
any one of these tools is an improvement
over none, and increases accessibility for
all users. As Sharon Rosenblatt stressed,
“People with disabilities deserve equal
access to technology.” It’s the right thing
to do. Those of us in the kiosk industry
should use the tools available to increase
accessibility and increase the number of
users who can benefit from a particular
kiosk deployment. n
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