To: Internet:nfb-rd@nfbcal.org
MEMORANDUM
TO: Members and Friends of the NFB R&D Committee
FROM: Curtis Chong,President
NFB in Computer Science
SUBJECT: Information Kiosks
Greetings and felicitations:
Those of you who were able to attend this year's meeting of the
National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science perhaps had an
opportunity to witness the discussion that took place about
Information Kiosks. Essentially, these are public terminals
equipped with touch screens and multimedia (voice and video
display) output, which are supposed to provide greater
"accessibility" to public facilities and services. Many of us were
struck by the ironic use of the term "accessibility" in the video
presentation we saw; for as it turns out, these devices are
anything but accessible to the blind.
I have established a contact with North Communications, one of the
major companies developing and distributing information kiosks.
Here in Minnesota, North Communications is working with our state
Department of Economic Security to develop an information kiosk
that could be used by members of the public to avail themselves of
services provided by the Department--looking for job leads,
applying for unemployment compensation, learning about services for
the blind, etc. Our state rehabilitation agency for the blind just
happens to reside in the Department of Economic Security, and it
has made it abundantly clear that the department will *CERTAINLY
NOT* have public terminals that are inaccessible to the blind. My
contact at North Communications seems eager to help in resolving
this problem.
Here, my friends, is the crux of the matter. All of us would agree
that electronic information kiosks, whether or not they are
equipped with touch screens, should be useable by a blind person
*WITHOUT SIGHTED ASSISTANCE*. In other words, these devices need
to be "accessible" to the blind. But when we get down to
specifics, what exactly do we mean? More to the point, how do we
want the ideal interface to look and feel to the average blind
user? Remember, we are not expecting information kiosks to be used
by a blind person with competence and expertise in technology.
Here is where I could use your help. It is one thing to talk about
accessibility. It is quite another to lay down the specifications
of that accessibility. Here are some thought provoking questions
that you could help me answer so that I can transmit some practical
requirements to my contact at North Communications.
1. What devices have we been able to use independently that have
worked particularly well for us?
2. Assume that you are walking up to a touch screen information
kiosk. There are no buttons, and the device initially does
not say anything. How would you like to be able to accomplish
the following tasks:
A. Activating speech output so that the kiosk can be used by
a blind person;
B. Controlling the pitch, volume, and rate of speech from
the touch screen so as not to interfere with selectable
items that are displayed for the benefit of the sighted
public;
C. Once you have moved your finger across the screen to hear
the choices, selecting a specific menu item;
D. Entering information that would normally be keyed in from
a virtual keyboard that is visually displayed on the
screen;
E. Moving between menus--specifically, moving to a higher or
lower menu;
F. Reading everything on the screen without disturbing the
system--browsing;
G. Stopping speech instantly;
3. You will note from the foregoing questions that I assumed
speech output would be the alternative mode of presentation
for the blind. Is this the only form of output that should be
provided? Remember that we are attempting to provide
accessibility to *ALL* blind people who want and need to use
public information kiosks.
4. Do we have to settle for a touch screen as the sole means for
using an information kiosk, or Should we instead push
vigorously for a real, physical keyboard?
5. The information kiosk that is being developed for our
Department of Economic Security generates digitized, human
quality speech. It does not use a speech synthesizer. All
responses and verbal presentations are pre-recorded. How do
we feel about this?
These are all of the questions I could think of to ask at this
point. Perhaps I will raise more at a later date.
We do not have time to embark upon a major research project to
learn how blind people prefer to interact with touch screens and
public information kiosks. I think we have to take a stab at
making some recommendations and pushing for solutions that we think
will be best for us as blind people. The time has come to provide
specifics. To that end, I welcome any thoughtful, cogent, and
practical responses. We have about three weeks.
Cordially,
Curtis Chong
President
National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science
Internet: 73443.1351@compuserve.com (personal)
or
usids002@ibmmail.com (work)
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