Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Input Appreciated - Prodcut Design (self.Blind)
submitted by Quiet_Patience_8693
Hey people of r/blind!
I'm a product manager at a company that, among other stuff, builds ticket validation machine for transport. The kind you have inside buses, trains or inside stations, and that you tap your transit card (NFC) or scan a QR code, to validate your journey.
We only build the HW and the platform, the actual service and software (user interface and interaction), as well as the installation inside the vehicles and stations is up to the local authority that install the machines and thus outside of the scope for this query as I have no control over it.
The main purpose of this product is to validate your transport ticket, so this product has 2 main features:
\- Scan area for a contactless card: Payment card (Visa/Mastercard etc) or Transport Card. Located on the front, bottom part of the product.
\- Scan area for QR code reading, located on the front, middle part of the product above the contactless scan area.
There is also a small touchscreen, and the product features inbuilt Bluetooth as well as a front facing speaker that can maybe be leveraged for other types of interaction but again I don't believe it is in scope here.
My question is: Provided that the machine is well installed and can easily be located inside a vehicle/station, how can I help visually impaired users to easily know where they should tap their card or scan their QR code to validate their journey?
Obviously I would like to avoid users fumbling with their credit card for minutes on until they find the right spot, so my initial idea was to add physical clues on the product along the respective areas, but I have no real good ideas as to what to print. Added difficulty is that the same clues need to work all around the word/for different languages as I cannot really afford to have different versions for different regions.
Any ideas?
Let me know if you would need more information, I tried to keep it short and succinct to start with (not sure that I succeeded). Thanks for your help!
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x
I'm a product manager at a company that, among other stuff, builds ticket validation machine for transport. The kind you have inside buses, trains or inside stations, and that you tap your transit card (NFC) or scan a QR code, to validate your journey.
We only build the HW and the platform, the actual service and software (user interface and interaction), as well as the installation inside the vehicles and stations is up to the local authority that install the machines and thus outside of the scope for this query as I have no control over it.
The main purpose of this product is to validate your transport ticket, so this product has 2 main features:
\- Scan area for a contactless card: Payment card (Visa/Mastercard etc) or Transport Card. Located on the front, bottom part of the product.
\- Scan area for QR code reading, located on the front, middle part of the product above the contactless scan area.
There is also a small touchscreen, and the product features inbuilt Bluetooth as well as a front facing speaker that can maybe be leveraged for other types of interaction but again I don't believe it is in scope here.
My question is: Provided that the machine is well installed and can easily be located inside a vehicle/station, how can I help visually impaired users to easily know where they should tap their card or scan their QR code to validate their journey?
Obviously I would like to avoid users fumbling with their credit card for minutes on until they find the right spot, so my initial idea was to add physical clues on the product along the respective areas, but I have no real good ideas as to what to print. Added difficulty is that the same clues need to work all around the word/for different languages as I cannot really afford to have different versions for different regions.
Any ideas?
Let me know if you would need more information, I tried to keep it short and succinct to start with (not sure that I succeeded). Thanks for your help!
​
x
rumster 8 points 1y ago
Honestly, you need to hire an accessibility expert such myself for projects like this. They're is so much more that goes in to a design and process than just a simple "what if's".
Quiet_Patience_8693 [OP] 2 points 1y ago
Start somewhere and have faith in humanity :) ? With some luck in one of those cities the UX lead of the app will add his accessible pinch of salt and we'll end up with an OK product accessibility wise, who knows.
r_1235 1 points 1y ago
Oh yes, please add tactile markings where the card is supposed to go, where the QR code is, and preferably around the touch screen itself. Also, if there are any buttons, make them raised, not flushed with the body of the machine, so they are tactile as well. As the last guy said, some cities and companies might end up making accessible software for it.
Quiet_Patience_8693 [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Any suggestions what those marking should be?
TechnicalPragmatist 1 points 1y ago
I think making a lip or a little raised area will help or put braille on it. Maybe a line there or some sort of marking. Maybe braille?
bradley22 1 points 1y ago
You can't, you've not made the touch screen accessible so it's not usable, if the user finds the place for the card then what? How do they know how much has been taken off of it, how do they know what going to happen next?
if you'd made it accessible I'd recommend a wide circle that's raised so the user can feel where to put their card but again this won't work without a screen reader of some kind.
if you'd made it accessible I'd recommend a wide circle that's raised so the user can feel where to put their card but again this won't work without a screen reader of some kind.
Quiet_Patience_8693 [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Thanks, this is actually valuable input.
Yes the issue here is that I have no idea what the final customer (transport authority, the town etc) will do with their app and service on the screen, I just build the hardware and that's the only thing I have control over. I do realize it's not going to be enough if the full service isnt accessible, just trying to do my part
Yes the issue here is that I have no idea what the final customer (transport authority, the town etc) will do with their app and service on the screen, I just build the hardware and that's the only thing I have control over. I do realize it's not going to be enough if the full service isnt accessible, just trying to do my part
bradley22 2 points 1y ago
I understand that but also completely understand where these people are coming from.
My main question is, if we give you ideas about this, will they actually be worked on and will you be able to get in contact with the programmers? It seams like you wouldn't be able to actually get in touch with the programmers so not to be rude but I don't see the point?
My main question is, if we give you ideas about this, will they actually be worked on and will you be able to get in contact with the programmers? It seams like you wouldn't be able to actually get in touch with the programmers so not to be rude but I don't see the point?
Quiet_Patience_8693 [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Fair enough, I get your point.
I will have next to no contact with whomever designs this apps in each city those products are going to be deployed eventually.
Only thing I can and will do is (however small a thing that is) impact the hardware design
I will have next to no contact with whomever designs this apps in each city those products are going to be deployed eventually.
Only thing I can and will do is (however small a thing that is) impact the hardware design
bradley22 2 points 1y ago
Your heart's in the right place but yeah, there'd be no point in making the hardware accessible if the software isn't.
SqornshellousZ 1 points 1y ago
It's hopeful to recieve "Uh. Says here we need to comply with accessability regulations." questions.
Quiet_Patience_8693 [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Actually I am already compliant with all needed regulation and no one is forcing this. I could just start the tooling and production without a regard for this topic and it wouldn't matter much commercially. Just trying to do some good
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