Although we aren't going to be spending a lotof time talking about this subject
at the committee meeting this year, we should always remember that it is a
problem, and that it is one that we'll need to solve soon, if we're to
continue to have access to daily appliances that we all encounter
throughout our daily lives.
-Brian
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>From kiosk-l@trace.wisc.edu Wed Jan 10 21:31:08 1996
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Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996 00:46:16 -0600
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From: po@trace.wisc.edu ((Gregg C. Vanderheiden via Post Office))
To: Multiple recipients of list <kiosk-l@trace.wisc.edu>
Subject: Letter to Peter Hortens
X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
X-Comment: List for Discussion of Strategies for Making Kiosks and Touch Screen Products Accessible to People with Disabilities
Hortens@watson.ibm.com
Dear Peter:
The IrDA Standard holds tremendous potential for people with disabilities as
well as for anyone else who wants to control devices and appliances from
another device or appliance. To do this, we need to have a protocol which
would allow a controlling device to approach an appliance and make a request
for the currently available commands as well as the current content of
displays. The appliance would pass these in a standard format to the
controlling device. Thereafter, the controlling device could send commands
back to the appliance to activate the appliance's controls.
Such a technique or strategy would allow individuals who cannot operate the
standard controls on a device to activate the controls (e.g., someone with a
severe physical disability). It would also allow someone who was unable to
see the displays to have the contents of the displays fed to them so that
they could have it presented in a way that they could perceive (e.g., people
who are blind or dead-blind could have it presented on a braille display).
This strategy would also allow anyone to sit in their armchairs and use a
PDA or palmtop (or laptop) computer and control any device in visual range.
They wouldn't have to pre-program devices such as is true with current
infrared controls. If they knew the commands, they could simply issue them;
if they didn't, they could simply ask for a list of the legal commands at
any point of time for any appliance.
We have already done some preliminary work in this area, and have worked up
a preliminary protocol. So far, we have been using it to allow people to
access touchscreen kiosks. To date, we have done this by simply using an
infrared serial connection (not actually using the IrDA protocol). We would
like to move this work over to the IrDA, work out a handshaking protocol
which is compatible with the other IrDA protocols, and develop some standard
mechanism for handling such things as security (e.g., when passing a PIN
number to an ATM), etc.
Although we will not be able to attend the January meeting in Texas, we are
very interested in identifying anyone else who would be interested in
working with us on this area.
In addition to providing access to people with disabilities, we think it
would also help to further encourage the use of IrDA protocol. This would
be particularly true in the area of public information and transaction
terminals, where disability access is a an important consideration, and an
IrDA link would be an effective solution strategy for individuals with
severe disabilities. It might also help to foster the existence of infrared
links on ATMs or other public information terminals which would find many
other uses for people without disabilities: balancing electronic
checkbooks, downloading information of all types, etc.
If you could bring this up at the meeting and see who else might be interested,
I'd be most appreciative. We would like to identify and work with anyone
else interested in this area so that we can make a more complete and
coordinated
presentation at a later meeting.
Thanks much.
Gregg
-- -----------------------------------------------------
Gregg C. Vanderheiden Ph.D.
Trace R&D Center
Waisman Center and Dept of Industrial Engr.
University of Wisconsin - Madison 53705
gv@Trace.Wisc.Edu , FAX 608 262-8848
FTP,Gopher and WWW servers at trace.wisc.edu
For list of our listserve discussions send "LISTS" to listproc@trace.wisc.edu
--- End of forwarded message from kiosk-l@trace.wisc.edu
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