The main goal of this site is to give the reader a brief overview of the variety of kiosks that are available, and an idea of what their accessibility features are.
It would not be fair to claim that the summary list of features for each kiosk is 100% accurate - in most cases the list has been compiled without detailed information from the manufacturers (i.e. only what can be ascertained from their web sites / brochures.
Furthermore, this is the first release of this site of information from Trace. It should only be seen as a first-pass to stimulate thinking and discussion. It is hoped that in future it becomes more detailed and more comprehensive.
Further, the list of features by which kiosks have been judged is based on the experience of Trace staff, and not on any particular standards or guidelines, although there may be some overlap between those guidelines cited in part 6 and the features given here. In creating standards and guidelines, a certain degree of limitation must be placed in order to prevent many manufacturers going out of business through non-compliance. This may make the documents more lenient, or less comprehensive than what is given here. Our intention is not to supersede the authority of the cited documents, but instead provide pointers to features which might provide greater access given some changes in design / manufacturing.
This is intended to be a living document (web site). As it stands, it is by no means a comprehensive collection of the possible designs of kiosks, and there is information yet to come. Furthermore, the criteria by which features are judged will be reviewed periodically in light of new information. Lastly, more detailed information from manufacturers is required in order to judge whether kiosks comply with relevant standards and guidelines, as well as how they fare against the set of features given herein.
The following are seen as possible next steps: