Stevie Wonder in touchscreen plea
Very superstitious
CES Stevie Wonder has popped into the Consumer Electronics Show to urge touchscreen gadget manufacturers to give more consideration to blind users.
The Motown legend acknowledged that some firms have already taken steps in the right direction. But he stressed that “if you can take those few steps further, you can give us the excitement, the pleasure and the freedom of being a part of it”.
Wonder already uses a BlackBerry and iPod, but didn’t suggest how touchscreen gadget makers could cater more to the requirements of blind users.
Instead, Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation For The Blind, said that simple start-over buttons, different sounds for different menus and haptic feedback all make touchscreen gadgets easier to use for blind people.
Many touchscreen devices already include such features, but the suggestion is that they must be included more frequently to give blind users fair consideration. ®
COMMENTS
well hang on a moment
I have no problem with making thing disabled freindly but this is like a blind man going to Samsung and asking them to make their TV more user freindly to blind people WTF !!! Its a device based on Vision.
How would they like it if i started a bloody campeign againt Brail books not Very readable to the people who arnt blind !!
Garrrr
Dont get me wrong i dont take my vision for granted and could never comprehend what they have to go through but still there are limits !!!
@John Gamble
I believe the newest wheel iPods (meaning Classic and Nano) have a VoiceOver-like interface in them, where it reads out the current selected item, which helps both blind users and people who don't want to take their eyes off the road while they fiddle with their song selections. And of course the physical interface itself is extremely touch-friendly.
How about not supporting all minority users?
This will no doubt be flame bait, but what the hell....
This preoccupation with disabled groups (and others) to insist that devices and services support them is somewhat excessive, sometimes compromising what would have been a good thing (old buildings vandalized so they can fit wheelchairs for example). This has even lead to ridiculous positive discrimination legislation in some cases.
You can't please all the people all the time - it's time some people accepted that.
What about touchscreen support for arm amputees? Where does it stop?
I'm Surprised He Has An iPod
Unless there's been an upgrade in the interface, the iPod was one of the devices a friend of mine who is blind gave up on. (Note, I have an iPod, but it's years old and I don't know if improvements to the interface have been made).
I suppose it's possible Mr Wonder uses his in a shuffle mode or makes use of some easily found set lists.
My friend, who is also a musician, and who likes to listen to audiobooks in addition to music, didn't find it useful.
