Kiosk Overlay Interface for Accessibility Using Non-Visible Tags
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing kiosks often fail to accommodate individuals with disabilities, particularly those who are sight impaired, leading to non-compliance with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and increased dependency on others, due to inadequate interfaces.
Innovation Solution
A method to overlay a custom interface onto existing kiosk interfaces, using configuration information and agents that interact with the kiosk, providing additional visual information and navigation assistance, such as text-to-speech and voice-to-text capabilities, without modifying the underlying kiosk application, to enhance accessibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the existing kiosk interface is modified to accommodate individuals with disabilities, then accessibility and ADA compliance are improved, but the cost and complexity of redeploying interfaces increase
Solution Approach 1:
The interface is segmented into two layers: the existing kiosk interface and an overlay interface. The overlay interface contains accessibility features such as audio output, enlarged text, and alternative input methods. This segmentation allows accessibility improvements without modifying the core kiosk interface, thereby reducing complexity while enhancing ease of operation for individuals with disabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediary overlay interface is introduced between the user and the existing kiosk interface. This overlay acts as a mediator that provides accessibility features (audio feedback, text-to-speech, voice-to-text) without requiring changes to the underlying kiosk system. The intermediary layer resolves the contradiction by enabling disability accommodation while preserving the original interface structure.
2Reliability
If the existing kiosk interface is modified to accommodate individuals with disabilities, then ADA compliance is improved, but the cost of redoing and redeploying interfaces increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of modifying the original kiosk interface, a copy or overlay interface is created that provides ADA compliance features. This overlay interface includes audio output capabilities, enlarged text displays, and alternative input methods. By copying necessary functionality into the overlay layer, the system achieves ADA compliance without the high costs associated with redoing and redeploying the entire interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The overlay interface is designed to be universal, working across different kiosk platforms and applications. It provides multiple functions including audio feedback, text-to-speech conversion, voice-to-text input, and enlarged text display. This multi-functionality in a single overlay layer achieves ADA compliance across various kiosks without requiring platform-specific modifications, thereby reducing deployment costs.
3Ease of operation
If additional visual information is overlaid on the existing interface, then accessibility for sight-impaired individuals is improved, but the interface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The overlay interface replaces mechanical visual modifications with software-based solutions. Instead of physically modifying the display hardware, the system uses software overlays that can be dynamically adjusted. Audio output and text-to-speech functions substitute for visual information, providing navigation assistance without the complexity of physical display modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The overlay interface is dynamic, allowing users to adjust settings such as text size, audio volume, and input methods in real-time. The overlay can be activated or deactivated based on user needs, and different overlay configurations can be applied to different kiosks. This dynamic nature provides navigation assistance while keeping the underlying system simple and manageable.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for overlaying a custom interface onto an existing kiosk interface are provided. An event is detected that triggers a kiosk to process an agent that overlays, and without modifying, the kiosk's existing interface. The agent alters screen features and visual presentation of the existing interface and provides additional alternative operations for navigating and executing features defined in the existing interface. In an embodiment, the agent provides a custom interface overlaid onto the existing interface to provide a customer-facing interface for individuals that are sight impaired, and the method further comprises injecting non-visible tags into screen definitions for the existing interface that are recognized only by the agents to handle exception conditions and actively ignored by the existing interface.