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RE: Accessibility guidelines for information kiosks

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From: Mark Magennis
Date: Mar 6, 2002 4:31AM

Oliver,

An information kiosk is an example of what are usually referred to as Public
Access Terminals (PATs). There are accessibility guidelines covering PATs
and I give some references below. These are exactly what you need, but be
aware that the PATs guidelines don't necessarily encompass the service that
is delivered through the PAT. They mostly cover the physical interface -
buttons, displays, etc. But the content may be a Web site or PC application
and these are covered by other accessibility guidelines.

Many kiosks are simply PCs running Windows and shoved into a casing with
special controls. If this is the case, then application software
accessibility guidelines (which cover Windows applications) may also be
relevant.

Other kiosks are PCs running a Web browser. The content is written in HTML
and is essentially a website. In this case, some of the Web accessibility
guidelines may be relevant.

I say "some of" because some Web and application software guidelines assume
a desktop environment, for example, where users have assistive technologies
such as screen readers. This may not apply to a kiosk environment, so some
of those guidelines may not be relevant.

The Irish Government (National Disability Authority) will shortly be
publishing I.T. accessibility guidelines that cover PATs, Web, Application
software and Telecoms (phones and IVR systems). These would be ideal for
you. However, since they won't be released until April or May, I will give
you some of the references which were used to compile them. I know these,
because it is me and my company, Frontend, who have written the Irish
Government guidelines!

So here are the best sources of information about public access terminals
accessibility:

Tiresias http://www.tiresias.org/guidelines/pat.htm. Compiled by Dr John
Gill, Chief Scientist with the Royal National Institute for the Blind (UK)
and one of the foremost experts on accessibility of PATs and Telecoms.

Trace R&D Centre http://trace.wisc.edu/world/kiosks/. Trace is arguably the
most important centre for accessibility research in all areas of I.T.

Section 508
http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&;ID=12#Self.
Guidelines on self contained, closed products. Might be useful.

Hope this helps,

Mark
_______________________________________________________

Dr. Mark Magennis Head of Usability

Frontend - Usability Engineering & Interface Design
40 Westland Row, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland

Visit our Usability Infocentre at:
www.frontend.com/usability_infocentre/

<EMAIL REMOVED> tel: +353 1 241 1616
http://www.frontend.com fax: +353 1 241 1601
_______________________________________________________


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