Re: Pet Peeve of the Week

["Robert L Bass" <robertlbass@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> So the blind person will know which keys are what
> when they are driven to the ATM, but how can they
> read the instructions displayed on the screen to know
> which buttons need pushing?

That's true.  As to knowing which keys to press, I guess if one always uses
the same kind of ATM the order of key presses should remain the same.

Speaking of access for the blind, have you had opportunity to design systems
for blind users yet?  I've done it several times and it presents some
interesting challenges.  Years ago, before there were talking keypad devices
such as the Napco EVA-1, I had to design a system to allow a blind couple to
not only know if the system was ready to arm but which window was open.
There were nearly 32 zones in the house.  One of my techs built a custom
circuit board and I designed an interface for it that would allow the client
to turn two 8-position, rotary switches to quickly learn which, if any,
zones were not ready.

The system worked like a charm and even won us recognition in a national
Braille magazine.  A few years later the Apex 6100 came along and obviated
the custom board.  The new ELK-M1G (makes the Apex look like a horse and
buggy) can handle this type of requirement even better with programmable
voice messaging, etc.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

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