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DISABILITY ISSUES
PDWeb systems conform to the disabilities act.
Disabled criteria
ACCESS: Open access architecture of the kiosk inviting usage from wheelchair users is a designed in feature of PDWeb kiosks. Front faced ‘docking’ for wheelchair access is built into all our kiosk designs.
Front forward faced wheelchair docking is an important design feature in ALL PDWeb kiosks.
PDWeb kiosks are designed around the concept to include all users. Often kiosks are badly designed, with keyboards LOCATED IN POSITIONS TO OBSTRUCT WHEELCHAIR USERS, OTHERS EXHIBIT A STRAIGHT DOWN TO THE FLOOR PROFILE WHICH OBSTRUCTS FRONT USAGE BY WHEELCHAIR USERS. Whilst in comparison, all PDWeb kiosks are designed for wheelchair front facing docking, ensuring that a wheelchair user may sit comfortably and has no need to reach up to the screen, this is rarely the case with competitive units.
The PDWeb kiosk has the touch screen viewing screen located at a height of 32” from the floor and is set at a 23 degrees viewing angle from the vertical. On the Umbrella model kiosk the screen can swivel around, ensuring comfort and viewing clarity. A requirement which is often overlooked in many specifications (i.e. LCD screens reflect back light and need positioning like a laptop, if fixed its almost impossible for a disabled wheelchair user to see the screen).
Physical assistive considerations are covered somewhat in the act, however it is the RNIB especially that has been proactive in this area for kiosk and Internet access to be available or modified for disabled access; PDWeb have followed and included all these guidelines and built assistive measures into our onboard –online services.
The RNID recommend options to use consistent navigation methods and large option buttons and to enlarge text for poor sighted users and recommend systems like ‘OUT LOUD’ a text page reader to be used. However these systems require skill to set up on a users PC and often a fee (if they are any good), thus further adding to the level of discrimination.
The PDWeb solution is to incorporate a text expander, and an optional text to speech reader into any/all sectors of the content text. (an extra charge is made for this software – see extras in the quotation section.) PDWeb meet these requirements completely for large navigation buttons and consistent navigation by means of its common navigation interface layer.
In Sheffield the disabilities criteria has been taken several steps forward with the distribution of citizen smart cards, these can identify a users disabilities and automatically switch into a disability mode of operation of the kiosk. This mode can be expanded to adjust online websites into an automatic disabilities focused technique.
For mobile users (PDA’s etc) as well as kiosk users with disabilities; Disability features, i.e. ‘BETSIE’ and options such as text expansion, and speaking out the content text pages is available and can be added (at a negotiated fee per content sector) to any of the content. |
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