QR codes and accessibility

[Deborah Stanley]

Hi. Yes, I'm discovering more about this as I dig into it, and I can
see there must be all kinds of problems. Interestingly, there is a new
Android phone (or software you can download to your Android phone)
called Georgie, which is for visually impaired users:
http://paritynews.com/hardware/item/52-georgie-smartphone-for-the-blind-visually-impaired
. It's from the UK. Looks like you can get it here too:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/16/georgie-app-offers-up-android-features-and-voice-guided-menus-visually-impaired/

Someone just told me that SIRI on the iPhone can read QR codes, btw.

Deborah


On Fri, Aug 31, 2012 at 4:09 PM, Collins, Matthew S <mscolli at emory.edu> wrote:
> I don't have an answer on the ADA issue. But the issue is actually slight more (or less) complicated, since most new smart-phones have touch screens rather than buttons.  These phones are inherently difficult for the visually impaired to use.
>
> -Matthew
>
> ------------------------------
> Matthew Collins, PhD, MLIS
> mscolli at emory.edu
> -----------------------------
>
> |-----Original Message-----
> |From: Web technologies in libraries [mailto:WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On
> |Behalf Of Deborah Stanley
> |Sent: Friday, August 31, 2012 3:30 PM
> |To: WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> |Subject: [WEB4LIB] QR codes and accessibility
> |
> |Hi. I've received an interesting question that I'm hoping someone here might
> |be able to shed some light on. Looking at what we do from an ADA compliance
> |point of view, we are required to provide the same information to patrons
> |with disabilities as we are to patrons without disabilities. Specifically, I was
> |asked what libraries do to make QR codes ADA-compliant, i.e. how does a
> |visually impaired or totally blind patron access the same information that a
> |sighted person, using a QR code, can access with their smartphone?
> |
> |I must admit, I am having a hard time figuring out what the issues really are,
> |and I haven't found anything very specific on the web either. I think there are
> |a couple of issues (at least!) with this, and I'm wondering if any libraries out
> |there have addressed this in any way?
> |
> |Presumably if someone has a phone with an app that can read print (i.e. hard
> |copy print such as posters, fliers, handouts), we could put the URL next to the
> |QR code, so that the phone could read it. We should be doing that anyway, in
> |order to provide access for people without smartphones. I don't know if
> |phones are able to detect that there is a QR code nearby and direct a visually
> |impaired patron towards it (?), or if phones that can read physical print items
> |can also detect a QR code within that print page, and decode it and direct the
> |user to a website.
> |
> |If anyone has any thoughts or insights on this, or any experience to share on
> |what their library does, I would be very grateful for your feedback.
> |
> |Many thanks,
> |Deborah Stanley
> |
> |--
> |Deborah Stanley
> |UGA Libraries Web Editor, Germanic & Slavic Studies Librarian, Reference
> |Librarian University of Georgia Libraries Athens GA 30602
> |
> |dstanley at uga.edu
> |Phone: (706) 542-0656
> |Fax: (706) 583-0268
> |http://www.libs.uga.edu/staffpages/stanley.html
> |
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> |2012-08-31
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-- 
Deborah Stanley
UGA Libraries Web Editor, Germanic & Slavic Studies Librarian,
Reference Librarian
University of Georgia Libraries
Athens GA 30602

dstanley at uga.edu
Phone: (706) 542-0656
Fax: (706) 583-0268
http://www.libs.uga.edu/staffpages/stanley.html

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To unsubscribe: http://bit.ly/web4lib

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2012-08-31