F: Examples of Products
- Introduction
- F-1. What are the existing attempts to develop products in the spirit of Accessible Design?
- F-2. What are the perceived strengths and weaknesses of accessible products?
Introduction
Becker (1999) describes a few products that have been developed with accessibility in mind. They include Emacspeak (a screen reader), Java Accessibility API (which gives developers more power to include accessible features in the software rather than needing to supply add-ons), and OCR (this translates print to computer text which can be manipulated). Unfortunately, very few products have been designed from the ground up with accessibility in mind. It is much more likely that we will find examples of products with accessible features added.
Much more work has been done in the realm of assistive technologies, but companies are working toward more accessible design. There have been numerous efforts to increase accessibility to the web (Engelen, et al, 1999), and this is one of the best attempts to make a product truly accessible without calling out any particular disability. Macromedia, Microsoft, NCR, Pacific Bell, Qualcomm, Red Hat, and Sun Microsystems, among others, have developed accessibility policies and have included individuals with disabilities in product design and evaluation. Vanderheiden (n.d.) identifies a number of attempts to improve access for the various impairment groups.
F-1. What are the existing attempts to develop products in the spirit
of Accessible Design?
There are several attempts in industry to develop commercial products in the spirit of accessible design, especially in big companies (e.g., Internet World, 2000; Macromedia, 2000, NCR, 2001; Pacific Bell, 1996; Qualcomm, 1999; Sun Microsystems, 2000). Such products include cell phones that are more compatible with assistive listening devices (TIA Access, 1999a; 1999b, 1999c), PDF files that are more compatible with assistive reading devices (Adobe, 1999), and kiosk terminals with touchscreen input and private voice-assisted leadthrough (NCR, 2001). In a letter to President Clinton (September, 2000), technology executives from several companies vowed to lead industry efforts in incorporating accessible design principles into the design process. Award programs sponsored by disability advocacy groups, such as the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) and Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH), further support industry efforts by providing publicity for accessible products (AFB, 2000; RNIB, 2000; TIA Access, 1999a, 1999b).
(2000, September 21). An open letter on accessibility from technology executives. Retrieved January 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.sun.com/access/general/clinton_letter.html
Adobe Systems, Inc. (1999). Optimizing Adobe PDF files for accessibility. Retrieved January 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/pdfs/pdfaccess.pdf
Becker, D. (1999). Some dedicated people are helping the disabled participate in the computer revolution. TechWeek. Retrieved January 8, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.techweek.com/articles/5-17-99/access.htm
Engelen, J., Evenepoel, F., Bormans, G., et al. (COST219). (1999, October). Producing web pages that everyone can access. Retrieved December 12, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.stakes.fi/cost219/webdesign.htm
Feworn, A., Bodner, R., & Chignell, M. H. (2000). Auditory WWW search tools. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Auditory Display. Retrieved October 7, 2003 from the World Wide Web:
Click here to go to this resource. (http://www.icad.org/websiteV2.0/Conferences/ICAD2000/PDFs/
FerwornBodnerChignell.pdf)
Internet World. (2000, October 25). Macromedia enables creation of accessible web content. Retrieved January 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web (link updated September 22, 2003):
Click here to go to this resource. (http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/proom/pr/2000/
accessibility.html)
Krueger, M. W., & Gilden, D. (1997). KnowWhere: An audio/spatial interface for blind people. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Auditory Display. Retrieved October 7, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://www.icad.org/websiteV2.0/Conferences/ICAD97/Kruger.PDF
Macromedia. (2000, October). Accessibility at Macromedia. Retrieved January 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/accessibility/
Microsoft. (n.d.). Accessibility Homepage. Retrieved, December 15, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/
NCR. (2001, January). Access for all. Retrieved January 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.ncr.com/solutions/self-service/access_for_all.htm
Pacific Bell Network. (1996, June). Universal design policy. Retrieved January 4, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/pacbell_ud/agpd.htm
Qualcomm. (1999). Creating possibilities with accessibility. Retrieved January 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.qualcomm.com/corporate/accessibility/index.html
Red Hat. (1997, March 28). LINUX Access HOWTO. Retrieved January 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web (link updated September 22, 2003): http://www.europe.redhat.com/documentation/HOWTO/Access-HOWTO.php3
Royal National Institute for the Blind. (Nov, 2000). “RNIB Approved” UK Websites which are accessible to everyone. Retrieved January 11, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.rnib.org.uk/access/accessible.htm
Sun Microsystems. (2000). Accessibility Program. Retrieved January 9, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.sun.com/access/general/overview.html
TIA Access. (1999, July 13). SHHH selects Motorola as National Access Award winner. Retrieved January 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.tiaonline.org/access/news.cfm?ID=31
TIA Access. (1999, June 30). Nokia recognized for innovations in access technology. Retrieved January 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.tiaonline.org/access/news.cfm?ID=35
TIA Access. (1999, September 23). Mobile phones for the deaf: Telesta offers real-time-text exchange for hearing- and speech-impaired. Retrieved January 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.tiaonline.org/access/news.cfm?ID=34
Vanderheiden, G. C. (n.d.). Assistive devices and strategies for individuals with hearing impairments. In Design for Human Disability and Aging.
Vanderheiden, G. C. (n.d.). Assistive devices and strategies for persons with visual impairments. In Design for Human Disability and Aging.
Vanderheiden, G. C. (n.d.). Assistive devices for persons with physical impairments: Conversation, writing, and computer access. In Design for Human Disability and Aging.
Vanderheiden, G. C. (n.d.). Assistive devices for persons with physical impairments: Input interface techniques. In Design for Human Disability and Aging.
Vanderheiden, G. C. (n.d.). Assistive techniques and devices for persons with cognitive and language impairments. In Design for Human Disability and Aging.
Vanderheiden, G. C., Law, C. M., & Barnicle, K. (n.d.). Cross disability telecollaboration systems. Proceedings, Designing for the 21st Century II: An International Conference on Universal Design. Boston: Adaptive Environments Center.
Wilson, L. (October, 1996, revision by Pishney, J.). Assistive technology for the disabled computer user. Retrieved January 2, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.unc.edu/cit/guides/irg-20.html
F-2. What are the perceived strengths and weaknesses of accessible products?
The perceived strengths of accessible products are that they increase the productivity and independence of people with disabilities and are easier to use by people who do not have disabilities (Access Board, n.d.; Taylor, 2000; TIA Access, 1996). In addition, accessible products are perceived as being more flexible for use in situations where individuals without disabilities may experience temporary impairment (e.g., environments with a great deal of noise, Vanderheiden, 1997).
There are three perceived weaknesses of accessible products that are commonly cited as reasons for not incorporating accessible design principles in the design process. The first is that accessible products cannot be truly accessible to everyone. Developers in industry fear that misperceptions about the promise of accessible design could lead to increased customer dissatisfaction and thus increased litigation (Trace Center, n.d.). The second perceived weakness is that accessible products, in order to be more accessible to people with disabilities, must necessarily be less aesthetically appealing. Individuals with disabilities, however, appreciate cosmetic appeal just as much as individuals without disabilities (King, 1999). The third perceived weakness is that accessible products are more expensive and time consuming to produce (Trace Center, n.d.).
Vanderheiden, G. C. (n.d.). Assistive devices and strategies for individuals with hearing impairments. In Design for Human Disability and Aging.
Vanderheiden, G. C. (n.d.). Assistive devices and strategies for persons with visual impairments. In Design for Human Disability and Aging.
Vanderheiden, G. C. (n.d.). Assistive devices for persons with physical impairments: Conversation, writing, and computer access. In Design for Human Disability and Aging.
Vanderheiden, G. C. (n.d.). Assistive devices for persons with physical impairments: Input interface techniques. In Design for Human Disability and Aging.
Vanderheiden, G. C. (n.d.). Assistive techniques and devices for persons with cognitive and language impairments. In Design for Human Disability and Aging.
Vanderheiden, G. C. (In print). Telecommunications - accessibility and future directions. In Abascal, J., & Nicolle, C. (Eds.), Inclusive guidelines for HCI.