Re: a word for 'accessible', that people get.

At 10:13 AM 25/07/2003 +0100, you wrote:

>I am doing some work for a large UK company that sells a range of
>'accessible' products alongside its standard product range.  They are
>currently under the category of 'accessible products' - BUT in user testing
>when looking for accessible products NOBODY look in this category!
>'Accessible' is a great word for people in the industry, but currently it
>doesn't mean a great deal to anyone else.
>
>Can anyone suggest another term?  We tried 'special needs' but the client
>isn't happy with that because the phrase has negative connotations in the
>UK.

Hi,

I like the idea of including the items in the most appropriate mainstream 
category (by product description) eg:

* phones (xyz brand big button phone),
* hardware (abc brand amplifier or visual alert signals)
* emulators eg TTY

Maybe the quick search categories could also include an accessible design 
options, but my experience is that most people would start looking by 
product description rather than a discrete category that is seperate to 
other 'standard' products.

People with disabilities also benefit from features such as cordless 
phones, handsfree/speaker phones and mobile phones (illuminated displays, 
vibration call alert, voice dial etc) - would these be classified as 
accessible or standard?

Cheers,
Sandra.


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