During a normal day most people interact with a wide range of switches, keypads, instruments and machines. We operate our televisions in the morning to catch up on the news or find out about the weather. Throughout the day we drive our cars, use our telephones, our radios, washing machines, cookers and computers.
At the end of the twentieth century a major shift has taken place in the way we use computers to drive these machines - which save us time, provide us with information, entertain us and allow us to communicate. The computer and microchip have allowed designers and engineers to produce extremely helpful and sophisticated machines and tools.
With the introduction of more sophisticated machines, such as digital interactive television, mobile telephony and the Internet, we find ourselves having to use even more complex controls, buttons and interfaces.
Most people know how difficult it can be to set up and control a video recorder. In our cars we have radios that are packed with features incorporating mobile telephones and navigation systems. Quite young people can be confused by the switches and controls needed to operate some of these devices; for elderly or disabled people even the more simple machines can be difficult to operate.
When considering the needs of elderly people and persons with disabilities, it is necessary to be aware that having little or no vision, poor manual dexterity or weak grip can make using the machines and tools in our everyday lives very difficult. Lack of foresight and thought into the way people interact with machines can mean that the very technologies that allow us to produce the most wonderful and sophisticated tools can also deny access to a significant section of the population.
The need for
inclusive design
The buttons, switches and controls of most devices are designed to be
looked at whilst operating them. Obviously this makes things difficult
for people who are blind or have low vision. However, it is not just people
who have little or no vision that need to use controls without looking
directly at them. Car drivers need to keep their eyes on the road, so
have to operate controls within the car with only a minimal glance. This
problem is made more difficult with the increasing use of mobile phones
and in-car navigation systems. In our homes the introduction of interactive
television requires the user to operate a remote control while watching
the television screen.
It is not just with new devices where there are problems for people who are visually impaired. The increasingly sophisticated controls for cookers, microwave ovens, washing machines and central heating systems have created extra problems for visually impaired users.
As telecommunications, broadcasting and computing technologies converge there will be numerous other designs of sophisticated terminals and machines. It is therefore important that the design of the user interface is carefully considered so that they are consistent, easy to learn and easy to operate by all potential users.
In the UK where the government's 'Information for All' initiative intends that all people will have easy access to social and healthcare information, it will not be acceptable for significant sections of the population to be excluded from using these technologies because insufficient consideration had been given to the design of the user interface. This is particularly so for information technologies whereby people will want to interact and communicate.
This booklet is not a guide to all type of controls, but it does attempt to indicate aspects needing consideration by designers if the controls are to be operated by people with a visual impairment.