Figure O-1-b is a simple line drawing of four different types of devices that could make use of a headphone jack if provided on the consumer product. In addition, the front surface of a device, such as a stereo, is shown with a headphone jack as a round dark circle. The first device, shown on the far left, that would plug into the headphone jack on the stereo is a pair of headphones. The next device to the right is a neck ring. The third is a small, portable speaker with its own volume adjustment on it. The fourth device on the far right is a small cylinder with a light bulb that would glow any time an audio signal were sent through the headphone jack. Go back to text

Figure O-1-c is a simple line drawing of a thin rectangular box that represents the housing of a computer CPU. On the right front panel of the box is a representation of a floppy disk drive labeled verbally as a source of noise. Pictured on the left, in front of the box and far away from the noise source, is a small portable microphone with a plug to connect to a listening device. Presumably, this is where the speaker for auditory output from the computer is located. The emphasis here is that some distance must be maintained between potential sources of unwanted noise created by the device and the speaker on the device, in this case a computer, so that the user's microphone will not pick up excessive noise interfering with the intended audio output. Go back to text

Figure O-1-d shows three examples are shown of how we might visually display volume levels. From left to right, the first is a bar graph with vertical bars, the middle is a circular knob, and the one on the right is a horizontal slide control. In the vertical bar graph, the bars are closely spaced and begin very small at the left and steadily increase in height going towards the right. The effect is a triangular wedge that, at a glance, indicates the volume level and can change to indicate an increase in volume, with taller bars added to the right side, or to indicate a reduction in volume, as the longest bar on the thicker right side of the wedge is removed or disappears. The result is a wedge that doesn't move but grows or shrinks at its thickest end according to whether the sound is turned up or down. The middle of the three example displays is simply a circular knob with a large visual and tactile dot near the perimeter in the upper left of the circle. The dot indicates the current setting of the volume according to its location on a fixed scale that would surround the adjustable knob. The dot should also be raised so that the same display could provide both visual and tactile information about the volume level. The final example display is of a horizontal slide control. The lowest volume setting, zero, is on the left and the maximum, ten, is on the right. The sliding control is a rectangular knob that sticks out from the channel in which it slides. Like the size of the wedge and the location of the dot, the location of the rectangular knob contrasts with the hue of the background surface on the device, providing a quick visual indication of the current volume setting. Go back to text

Figure O-1-e shows a simple bar graph of hearing loss as a function of age in percent of the population in each of five age categories. The vertical or y axis represents the percentage of the population and begins at the origin with zero and goes up to 50 percent. The horizontal or x axis is divided into the five discrete age brackets. The under 17 group is closest to the origin, the height of its bar reaches approximately 2 percent. The 17 to 44 age group is next on the right, the height of its bar is approximately 3 percent. Next is the 45 to 64 age group, the height of its bar is approximately 11 percent. The forth age group is 65 to 74, its bar height reaches to approximately 24 percent of that group's population. Finally, the age group on the far right of the horizontal axis is the 75 and up group, the height of its bar indicates that just over 40 percent of this group has some degree of hearing loss. Go back to text

Figure O-1-f has no description available. Go back to text

Figure O-1-g is a graphic representation of the recommended sound frequency range for alerting devices. Across the bottom of the frequency chart representing the range is a logarithmic scale starting at 100 on the left, graduating by one hundreds until one thousand, where the scale begins incrementing by one thousands and ends on the right end with 10000. The graphic has gray tones filling the area between the 500 hertz vertical line and the 4500 hertz vertical line to help show the recommended range according to this scaled representation. Two or more spectral components in the 500 to 4500 hertz range with a minimum intensity level of 77 decibels should be used. Go back to text

Figure O-2-a is a simple line drawing of three sides of a partial rectangle lying on the horizontal with the boxed end at the left. The rectangular shape represents the surface of a device having a speaker for auditory output. The speaker is represented as a circle filled with a mesh pattern on its surface. Close to the "speaker," above and left from it, is a small black dot representing the light emitting diode (LED) that would shine when the speaker was putting out sound. The purpose of this graphic is not to show exactly where to place the visual indicator of auditory output, but rather to demonstrate that such redundant visual output should be located very near the source of the audio output, in this case the speaker. Go back to text

Figure O-2-b is a simple line drawing of a Fisher-Price baby monitor. The product is shown face-on. The product is a small walkie-talkie-like device; the front surface is a rectangle with rounded corners and is shown positioned in vertical orientation. There is a short fixed antenna protruding from the left top of the device. The speaker is in the lower half of this front surface, and an array of light emitting diodes (LED's) is located near the upper edge of this surface. This LED array lights up whenever sound is coming out of the speaker. Go back to text

Figure O-2-c shows a front surface of a generic device that produces auditory output. It is a rectangle lying on the horizontal; represented in this rectangle is a volume control on the right half and a headphone jack on the left lower corner. Above this rectangular representation of a generic front surface are simple line drawings of three devices that plug into the headphone jack and provide visual and/or vibratory output using the auditory signal sent through the headphone jack. The plug-in device on the left is a light, the one in the middle is a vibrator that might be attached to a bed, for instance, and the device on the right is a transmitter that would take the signal from the headphone jack and transmit this signal as a radio signal or through the house wiring to sound indicators located remotely from the sound producing device. This is the end of this figure's description. Go back to text

Figure O-2-d is a simple line drawing representing the right upper corner of a computer display screen. In the corner of the screen is a rectangular icon representing the computer's hard drive. Short lines are coming out of the rectangle in the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal planes, representing some sort of visual flashing or contrast change in the appearance of the hard drive icon to indicate when the computer is accessing the drive. Go back to text

Figure O-4-a is a chart is shown that illustrates the decreasing tolerance for glare as we age. On the horizontal or X axis is age in years starting with zero at the origin and going to 65. On the vertical or Y axis is the intensity of glare as measured luminance in foot-lamberts and these go from 200 at the origin up to 3000. An inverse curve stretches across the chart. For instance, the curve begins at age 10 where tolerance is measured at approximately 2500 foot-lamberts. It quickly falls off to a steep decline so that at age 20 tolerance is shown to have dropped to approximately 1300 foot-lamberts of luminance. Then the curve begins to reduce its decline so that if we jump to age 50 tolerance has dropped to a little over 500 foot-lamberts and just under 500 for age 60. Go back to text

Figure O-4-b has no description available. Go back to text

Figure O-5-a shows a generic front of a device such as a digital alarm clock/radio is shown as a rectangular surface lying lengthwise right to left. Across the lower half of the rectangle are black dots representing various controls for the functions of setting the time, alarm, etc. Centered in the upper half of the rectangle is the numeric time display (shown at 12:35). To the right of the time display and in the right upper corner of the rectangle is a small rectangular switch that represents the dual operation push or slide switch that allows the user to have the device's internal speech synthesizer speak just what is being displayed or, after locking the switch in speak mode, have the device continually speak the settings as the user steps through the commands to adjust such functions as the alarm, etc. Go back to text

Figure O-5-b is a simple illustration of a person facing a large electronic device that has a screen display and a control panel where we might find a keyboard and/or a number pad depending on the type of self-service offered by the device. The figure includes a list of possible services that might be provided by the representative devices as they are found in public places. These include a public information terminal, a restaurant and hotel guide at an airport, an automated teller machine, an electronic building directory, a point of sales terminal such as travel insurance at the airport, and other information or sales kiosks that might be placed in an airport, mall, or other public place where such services could provide a convenience to the general public. When direct accessibility is not built in to these electronic terminals, an effective method for users of alternative access devices is for the manufacturer of the terminal to provide an infrared, bi-directional link. The figure illustrates this technique with a dotted line arrow coming from an infrared display on the top front of the terminal and pointing to the alternative access infrared receiving device in the hand of the person facing the terminal. Go back to text

Figure O-6-a has no description available. Go back to text

Figure O-7-a is a line graph showing the percent of responses by photosensitive patients tested to the flash frequency rate or Hertz with their eyes open and closed. The vertical or Y axis represents the percentages and is divided into 10 percent gradations starting with zero at the origin and going up to 100 percent. The horizontal or X axis represents the flash frequencies starting with zero at the origin and going up to 70 Hertz in 5 hertz gradations. Two lines are graphed, each connecting a set of points spaced horizontally at each 5 hertz mark for the flash frequencies from 5 up to 60 hertz. In other words, patients were tested at 5, 10, 15, all the way up to 60 hertz of flash frequency. The vertical height of each 5 hertz point is determined by the percentage of patients who responded to that particular flash frequency. The two crocked lines represent the two test conditions of patients having their eyes open for the line that runs above and eyes closed for the line that runs below. The eyes closed or lower line shows that no one responded to the flash rate at 5 hertz. It jumps up to 20 percent response for the next highest flash rate of 10 Hertz. The eyes closed line continues to increase in percent of patients who responded and peaks at a flash rate of 20 Hertz. From there it steadily declines in percent of patients who responded for the given flash rate until zero patients are shown to have responded at 50 Hertz and higher. The eyes open line runs above and almost exactly parallel to the eyes closed line. However, at the lowest flash rate tested (5 Hertz), 20 percent of the patients responded. The eyes open line continues to rise and also peaks at 20 Hertz showing a full 90 percent of the patients responding to this flash frequency. From there it steadily declines falling to just above 20 percent of patients responding to the highest flash rate tested of 60 Hertz. Thus this graph illustrates that to avoid inducing a photo convulsive response in users who are photosensitive, designers should avoid using or creating flash rates at or near either side of 20 Hertz. Go back to text

Figure I-1-a takes up the whole page and is divided into two parts. Both show the anthropometric and reach measurements for a woman seated in a wheel chair. The woman's figure is a simple line drawing of a side or profile view. Both parts of this figure are very detailed with measurement and reach demarcations. For instance, the top figure shows the eye level height and forward reach of this average woman while the bottom figure shows the knuckle height with the arms hanging loose at the sides as well as showing the vertical reach range above the head for this average woman. Go back to text

Figure I-1-b shows the cook or chef using a wheel chair in front of a stove and turned so that the stove is to the right of the cook or chef. The stove's controls are at the back side of the stove so that the figure shows the chef reaching over the hot burners to get to the controls. This simple drawing is presented with the chef facing us and reaching over the stove which we are viewing from the side or in profile. Thus this simple illustration shows how inconvenient and even dangerous some standard designs can be. Go back to text

Figure I-2-a fills the entire page with multiple figures illustrating different types of raised or tactile keys on a number keypad. At the top of the page is a rectangle with a number pad similar to that on a touch-tone phone and three function buttons (these being a time, power, and start button). If we turned this rectangle on end and looked at the edge or profile of the surface where the number pad and three function buttons are located, we can get an idea of how different shapes and surfaces on the keys provide various levels of tactile orientation to the keypad surface as well as how these different surfaces might help or hinder access by someone using a mouth or head stick to press the keys and buttons. This edge-on configuration is used to show five different key and button edge/surface variations. These are illustrated down the rest of the page. Go back to text

Figure I-2-b is a set of illustrations visually demonstrates how land marks on the keyboard or control panel can help users with severe visual impairments locate specific keys and commands. The first set of illustrations demonstrates how much easier it is to locate a specific key on a keyboard when the home keys are marked both tactually and visually. The next set of illustrations demonstrates how spacing used to group command keys on a keyboard acts as natural landmarks for locating specific commands as opposed to having all the command keys located across the top of the keyboard in one unbroken string of keys. The last set of illustrations shows how color or shading contrasts help create landmarks for locating specific keys on an otherwise uniform grid type layout of button functions. Go back to text

Figure I-2-c is a photographic illustration of the rectangular control panel from a television. It has been purposely reproduced in a fuzzy or blurry form to illustrate how difficult it can be to understand what buttons control what functions on the TV if you cannot see the control panel clearly. The control panel is divided into a top portion with a black background on which is displayed (on the left) the current channel setting. To the right of the channel display are two sets of white arrows pointing up and down. Both up arrows are on top; both down arrows are on the bottom. All that is readable or apparent from the control panel is that the TV is on channel 51 because this appears as a large white numeral on a black background. It is unclear which group of buttons or arrows control the channel setting and which control volume, etc. On the lower half of the control panel are black buttons on a white background; they are equally difficult to discern visually as the top section of the control panel. Go back to text

Figure I-4-a shows two types of knobs for adjusting settings up or down. Both of the knobs are circular and the settings are adjusted by twisting or turning the knobs. The knob on the left has the setting numbers on it; these go from one to nine. There is a fixed pointer just above the knob pointing down toward the knob. As the knob is turned for adjusting the control, the number settings rotate under the pointer, so that the number directly under the pointer indicates the current setting. While the contrast between the number settings on the knob and the background of the knob is good, if your vision is blurred, you cannot tell the setting, since the pointer is fixed and the scaled setting rotates. In addition, there are no tactile indicators or markings that could convey setting information to users who can't see the knob. In contrast, the knob shown on the right illustrates one way to solve both of these problems. First, the pointer is on the rotating knob and the zero to nine settings are fixed in a clockwise progression around the knob. Thus, as you rotate the knob, even with blurry or otherwise low vision you can tell how high or low the knob is set, since the pointer rotates inside a fixed scale that increases in a clockwise just like the hands of a clock. Therefore, if you see the pointer at a 3 o'clock setting, you immediately know that you are at one quarter of the maximum setting. Second, the pointer itself is raised up from the background of the knob so that even if you can't see the knob, you can quickly feel where it is set on the fixed clockwise scale that encircles the knob. A side view of this knob shows that the pointer is raised more than four times the thickness of the knob surface itself. Below these two illustrations of example knobs are examples of each as they might appear with blurred and/or low vision. None of the numbers on the scales are readable. Thus, it is impossible to tell the setting for the knob with the fixed pointer, since the numbers change position when the knob is rotated. In contrast, it is easy to tell the setting for the knob that uses a rotating pointer, since the numbers are fixed in position around the knob, and their identity and location may be learned. Go back to text

Figure I-4-b shows the varying effectiveness of different examples of tactile orientation cues on rotating knobs and controls. Go back to text

Figure I-4-c is a simple figure of a horizontal slide control. The lowest setting of zero is on the left and the maximum setting of ten is on the right. The sliding control is a rectangular knob that sticks out from the channel in which it slides. This is the end of this figure's description. Go back to text

Figure I-4-d is an illustration of a number pad layout. The numbers 1-9 are configured like a touch-tone telephone dialing pad. The zero button takes up the horizontal space of two buttons and is located directly under the seven and eight buttons, while the decimal point button is located directly under the 9 button. An enter button, which is three button spaces wide, is located directly under the zero and decimal point buttons. The background surface of the number pad is black, the buttons are white, and the numbers on the buttons are large and black so that good contrast between all the components is maintained to make it easier to see and use. Go back to text

Figure I-5-a shows a simple line drawing of a standard round door knob on the left and a mechanical hook reaching toward the handle from the right. The purpose of this illustration is to show how difficult it is to turn this knob without being able to grasp it. Since friction and not leverage is required to twist these type door knobs, people with little strength and/or reduced range of motion (for example, people with arthritis) often find these knobs difficult or impossible to twist. Go back to text

Figure 1-5-b: On the left in this figure is a side or profile view of some device with a button that has a concave surface sticking out on the right side. On the right, a profile of a man's head is facing to the left toward the button. In his mouth is a stick with its other end resting in the concave surface of the button. This illustrates how the concave surface design of this button makes it easier to engage or press the button since it helps prevent slippage. Go back to text

Figure I-6-a shows a rectangle. In the upper half of the rectangle is a smaller rectangular area with a black background. In the left area of this smaller rectangle is where the TV channel setting is displayed in white numbers that show-up very prominently against the black background. In the middle and to the right of the channel display are two sets of white up and down arrows for the volume and channel settings. The up arrows are above the down arrows. The final items that appear in this smaller black rectangular area are on the right side and in small letters is the word "OFF" on top with the word "ON" below that. So, the order from left to right is the channel display, the volume control, the channel control, and the off/on control. Directly beneath the black rectangular area and taking up the lower half of the larger rectangle are three sets of two buttons. In each set the two buttons are stacked one above the other. The set to the left is labeled with abbreviations. The set in the middle are labeled as "ADD" for the one on top and "SKIP" for the one on the bottom. The third set have up and down arrow indicators with the up on the top and the down below. Between these is the label for the function of this set and it says "ALL CH." Go back to text

Figure I-7-a is a simple line drawing showing a computer and a user in a wheel chair with an alternative access device in his/her lap. The device is directly hooked to the back of the computer with a wire. In a drawing to the right of the first one is the same figure except that the user's alternative access device is shown with a dotted line arrow pointing at a box representing a receiver which is then directly connected by a wire to the back of the computer. The dotted line arrow represents an infrared or radio signal so that the user's access device would not have to be directly connected to the computer by wire. Go back to text

Figure I-7-b is the same figure used in Figure O-5-b. It is a simple line drawing of a public information or sales terminal device. An additional person has been added to the figure. Now, two users are shown to be accessing this representation of a public automated terminal with their alternative access devices that employ an infrared bi-directional signaling capacity. The blind user is standing to the left of the terminal; the user in a wheel chair is to the right of the terminal. The users' alternative access devices have dotted line arrows pointing between them and a small black square on the terminal representing the infrared receiver and sender and located just above the terminal's video display. This illustrates how the users' alternative access interfaces can be used without having to provide a direct connection point or link to the public terminal. Go back to text

Figure I-7-c (in the top half) shows a person in a wheel chair with an alternative access device mounted at lap height. The person is positioned to go through an electronically accessible door once they have triggered the mechanism that opens the door. Using the access device, he/she is sending a signal to a receiver located just above the standard disability access push plate. In the bottom half of this figure are two people in an elevator using their infrared access devices to control and receive information about the status of the elevator, which is also equipped with infrared receiving and sending. Go back to text

Description of Example 1: These figures illustrate some of the design principles for good knob control that were first illustrated in Figure I-4-a. In this example, the figure on the left shows the round knob as we face its surface head on. The figure on the right shows the same knob from a side or edge on view to illustrate some of the tactile and raised components of the knob that can facilitate its use for many people. The face-on view on the left shows the round knob with a black background surface, which provides a good contrast for the white pointer that stretches across the diameter of the knob. The pointer is set to the position corresponding to the 12 o'clock high position. However, surrounding the knob is a fixed scale of black numbers on a white background that start with zero at the highest or 12 o'clock position and increase in a clockwise manner up to the maximum of 9 on this scale. In other words, zero is at the top of the fixed scale, the one is to the right of the zero, and the nine is to the left of the zero. The side view of this knob illustrates how the pointer is raised so that it is easier to rotate and we can feel where the pointer is pointing to. In addition, it shows how an additional post or shaft could be attached to the end of the pointer to allow users to use the knob as a crank. Finally, it shows how the edge of the circular knob might be raised for rotating the knob with the side of your hand or with a device like a mouth stick or some other reaching device. Go back to text

Description of Example 2. This illustration shows two possible television control panels; the one on top is an example of a poorly designed control panel; the one on the bottom is an example of a better design that would facilitate access. The layout of the poor design is as follows: the speaker is on the far left, next and to the right is the channel display as numbers in a little square window, to the right of that is a circular object and might be a plug in for headphones but we can't tell because the label underneath it is so small and it is blurred as it might be if we had a visual impairment, to the right of that are four arrow buttons one after the other in the sequence of up-down-up-down, what these are for we don't know because their labels underneath are also unreadable, and finally on the far right is another circular object that might be the headphone jack or possibly an on/off power button, again we can't read the label underneath. The better design figure below has a control panel laid out in the following manner; to the far left is a small round object which is most likely the headphone jack since it is the only round object on the panel, again the labels are blurred, next and to the right of this is the speaker, directly to the right of the speaker is a set of arrow buttons with the up pointing arrow on top of the down pointing arrow and, though we can't read the labels we assume this is the volume control since it is right next to the speaker, then there is a space on the panel and then another set of arrow buttons, again with the up pointer on top and the down pointer on the bottom, we assume this is the channel control since the little window displaying the channel number is just to the right of these arrow buttons, and finally on the far right of the panel is a square button we are assuming is the on/off power button. To the right and separate from the control panel is a small rectangle with several square buttons and this represents an infrared remote control device. Go back to text

Figure M-1-a shows a front view and a side or profile view of a beveled slot. The front is a black, long, thin rectangle lying on the horizontal. It is framed by a picture frame type of representation with the top and right sides shaded to give the sense of depth associated with a beveled slot. The side or profile view shows how the beveled surface where you put your card or disk in is cut away to form a increasingly wider mouth or like a "V" on its side. This is the end of this figure's description. Go back to text

Figure M-1-b shows a side view of a disk that has been ejected. It is an edge on view of the disk. Sandwiching the disk from above using the heel of one hand and below using the outside edges of the thumb and index finger of the other hand are two fists illustrating that the disk is graspable without having to use our fingers. A good example of how the fists are configured is to think of how we position our hands when we grasp a broom handle one hand above the other. This is the end of this figure's description. Go back to text

Figure M-1-c shows a side view of a hand resting on a solid surface while pushing a disk or card into a slot. This is the end of this figure's description. Go back to text

Figure M-1-d shows a simple line drawing (on the left) of a two pronged plug that is misaligned with its receptacle so that the figure illustrates how difficult making this connection can be for someone who would have trouble aligning the prongs to the receptacle. To the right of this is a simple line drawing of a headphone plug easily lining up with the single, round, symmetrical receptacle of the headphone jack. This is the end of this figure's description. Go back to text

Figure M-1-e shows a side view or cross section of a two faced key just before it is inserted into the key channel and as its position is rotated 90 degrees in the channel as a result of the funneling guides at the mouth of the key channel. The idea is to show how these simple design changes in the key and at the mouth of its receptacle channel eliminate the need to have the key correctly oriented before inserting it into the channel. This is the end of this figure's description. Go back to text

Figure M-1-f shows several examples of mechanical reachers and graspers. The one on the top left shows a hand grasping its pistol type grip and the index finger is on the trigger. The trigger engages a set of wires that run the length of the reaching stick and pull open or shut a wide clamp oriented in the vertical axis at the end of the reaching stick. The reacher/grasper illustrated under that one is very similar except it has a wrist brace attached to the bottom of the pistol grip and the clamp is smaller with broad and flat pinchers. The rest of the examples are variations on these hand controlled graspers at the ends of a long sticks. Some have their clamp or pinch jaws oriented in the vertical plane and others have theirs oriented in the horizontal plane. Finally, a prosthetic mechanical hook to augment a hand is shown. This is the end of this figure's description. Go back to text