Fwd: Accessible User Interfaces

Hi Yeliz, Peter,

You may be already aware of the CARDIAC Project. Their previous seminar 
seems somewhat related to our upcoming symposium topic, though our main 
focus seems to be more "accessible mobile web"-oriented.

Simon and others in the group may be active in the CARDIAC Project and 
could help establish active exchange/collaboration for this symposium. I 
will also be pursuing this through the WAI-ACT Project.

[1] <http://www.cardiac-eu.org/>
[2] <http://www.w3.org/WAI/ACT/>

Best,
   Shadi


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Accessible User Interfaces
Date: 	Mon, 6 Feb 2012 21:34:51 +0000
From: 	John Gill



The seminar on “Priorities for Standardisation of Accessible User 
Interfaces” covered a wide variety of emerging trends in user 
interaction with a view of trying to identify which of these trends will 
most influence the need for new standards over the whole range of 
terminals (bank ATMs, supermarket terminals, ticket and vending 
machines, home appliances, computer terminals, etc).

The trends in user interfaces include the move towards ‘touch’ as a 
predominant mode of interaction, the potential for increased use of 
voice communication, the use of gesturing and emotional communication 
and the possibility of interaction on large surfaces (tables or windows 
for example). From an infrastructure point of view, the trends are 
moving towards having less networks but more services. The bandwidth 
forecasts underline the rising demands and in particular the growth in 
bandwidth needed for connected devices, dongles and high-end smartphones 
over the next 5 years to 10 years.

The latest trends in biometrics indicate that a wide variety of 
technologies being applied with new user interfaces. Whether it be face, 
finger, iris, vascular, hand geometry or voice recognition, biometrics 
are going to play an increasing role as a means of identification in a 
wide area of applications and contexts. The standardisation of the user 
interface is likely to be a significant factor for many users of these 
systems.

The priorities for future research include ubiquitous computing beyond 
human computer interaction, innovative user interfaces, user modelling 
and adaptive interfaces, design methodologies and tools, 
interoperability and research on reducing cognitive load. Supporting 
research that looks at how to reduce the complexity of user interaction 
whilst retaining functionality will assist the analysis of the cognitive 
load of various user interfaces whilst also supporting the development 
and enforcement of standardized and harmonized remote interfaces

The ability to adapt user preferences and personalisation is of 
importance to a wide variety of users. The coding of user requirements 
is addressed in the CEN EN1332-4 standard. The SNAPI project is using 
this standard to deliver accessibility by allowing users to set up their 
own preferences. The European APSIS4all project is aiming to personalise 
public digital terminals through the implementation of EN1332-4. It is 
planned to extend this standard to include XML coding.

Work on this standard was initiated in 1994 but it has taken up to now 
for a significant number of applications to be implemented. The ability 
to demonstrate how the system works is crucial ingredient in the 
successful uptake and deployment since standards don’t deploy themselves.

Further information is at
http://www.cardiac-eu.org/user_interfaces/seminar.htm

Regards

John Gill

Received on Tuesday, 7 February 2012 07:19:53 UTC