Accessible Card Textured Directional Feature
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing account cards are inaccessible to individuals with visual impairments, such as blindness or colorblindness, due to similar physical dimensions, shapes, and hard-to-read information, making it difficult for them to identify and orient the cards for accessing accounts.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of an accessible account card featuring a textured directional feature with distinct surface roughness and tactile arrangements on its sides, allowing users to identify and orient the card through tactile interaction, alongside easy-to-read account information optimized for readability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If account cards are issued with similar physical dimensions, shapes, and designs for standardization, then manufacturing cost and device complexity are reduced, but accessibility for visually impaired users deteriorates as they cannot distinguish between different account cards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by adding textured directional features to specific locations on the card surface. These features create localized tactile variations (roughness, elevation, texture patterns) at particular zones of the card, allowing visually impaired users to distinguish card type and orientation through touch while maintaining uniform overall card dimensions and design for standardized manufacturing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements asymmetry by creating non-uniform textured features at specific locations on the card. Different account card types have asymmetrically placed textured regions with varying roughness, elevation, or texture patterns, enabling tactile differentiation between cards while preserving symmetric overall card shapes for manufacturing efficiency
2Device complexity
If account cards use uniform surface texture across all sides for simplicity, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but the ability to provide directional and identification information through tactile interaction deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating textured directional features at specific locations on the card surface rather than uniformly across all sides. These localized textured regions (with varying roughness, elevation, or texture patterns) convey directional and identification information through tactile interaction, while the remaining card surface maintains uniform texture for manufacturing simplicity
3Loss of information
If account cards are designed with visually prominent features for easy visual identification, then readability for sighted users is improved, but accessibility for blind or colorblind users deteriorates as these visual features are not perceivable through touch
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by separating information conveyance into two independent channels: visual information (colors, text, graphics) for sighted users and tactile information (textured directional features) for visually impaired users. The textured features are embedded in the card surface and can be perceived through touch, providing parallel access to account identification and orientation information without interfering with visual design elements
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces textured directional features as an intermediary tactile element that mediates between the card's visual design and the user's tactile perception. These textured features translate account identification and orientation information into tactilely perceivable forms (roughness, elevation, texture patterns), enabling visually impaired users to access information that would otherwise be visible only
Data Source
AI summary
An accessible card can provide access to an account. The account card can include sides, which are connected to form a shape, and a textured directional feature for providing access to an account. The textured directional feature can be associated with at least one side of the sides. The at least one side of the sides that is associated with the textured directional feature can include (i) a first surface roughness that is different than a second surface roughness associated with other sides of the sides, and (ii) a textured arrangement configured to indicate, via tactile interaction, an orientation of the account associated with the account card or a card type of the account card.