QR codes and accessibility

[Jarvis, Hugh]

Is the QR code the ONLY way to access critical information...?  

Then agreed, we would need to provide a workaround or parallel way to use that information for all users, ADA-related or not (e.g. people who don't have a smart phone handy).  That could be a visible URL (probably a tinyurl) or a printout of the key information somewhere.  


But if this is an extra feature, then not sure why you legally need to provide an 'identical' experience for everyone.  

That's not the spirit of our own regulations.  Equivalent experience without too much extra effort for the client or the publisher is the way we read the regs.  


Also don't forget that people with special needs have their own workarounds -- that's what you need to support.  

I would find out what tools your audience is actually using. Talk to your campus accessibility office.

Cheers,

	Hugh Jarvis



-----Original Message-----
From: Deborah Stanley [mailto:dstanley at UGA.EDU] 
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2012 4:18 PM
Subject: Re: QR codes and accessibility

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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> |To unsubscribe: http://bit.ly/web4lib
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> |Web4Lib Web Site: http://web4lib.org/
> |
> |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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2012-08-31

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2012-09-01