Checklist for Video Phones

High bandwidth

Good lighting and contrast between the person and a plain background

Ergonomically designed phone

Standardised layout of the phone

Helpful and logical menu systems

Displays

Good contrast i.e. for text, graphics

Adequate and adjustable illumination of the display

Large tilting display

Anti-glare provision

Line by line presentation of text

Blue, green and violet combinations avoided

Colour alone not carry information

Visual indication of line status

Visual indicator for ringer (or a socket for external flashing light)

Keys

There is a keyboard

Good visual contrast between the keys and body of the phone

Key tops are convex or flat with a raised edge

Keys are as large as possible

Keys are internally illuminated

Visual markings on the keys are clear and as large as possible

Keys are raised 5mm above the body of the phone

Auditory feedback of key activation

Tactile feedback of key activation

The "5" key and the "F" and "J" keys on a QWERTY keyboard are marked tactually

There is a voice mode selection that announces all key presses

Easy to understand key functions

Fonts

Minimum type size of 12 point

Clear letter spacing between each character

Kerning between specific characters is sufficient so as to ensure legibility

The use of italic fonts is avoided

Patterned backgrounds for fonts are avoided

The font has both upper and lower case letters

There is a system for enlarging text on the screen

Information presented in small amounts

Audio

Ability to select special volume settings

Sound indication of line status

High audio quality

Option to switch off verbal feedback when/if not required

Option to switch off non-speech sounds, if used

Voice warnings should be presented in a voice that is different from other voices that will be heard in the task situation

Intelligibility of the messages maximised

Voice made as natural as possible

Ability to replay the message if missed

Ability to interrupt the message if familiar to experienced users

Human voices used where the choice of messages is relatively limited

Non-speech audio messages used only for the purposes of alerting