The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) introduced new laws aimed at ending the discrimination that many disabled people face. The Act granted disabled people new rights of access to goods and services, education, employment, transport and accommodation. This, and other discriminatory legislation has since been consolidated under the Equality Act 2010.
Since 1st October 1999 it has been a legal requirement for UK businesses and service providers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way they provide their services.
Whether you’re a healthcare organisation looking to deploy DDA compliant technological solutions that cater for a range of disabilities, or a transport operator that realises the importance of enabling a broader range of customers to carry out the same tasks, DDA compliant kiosk solutions from Cammax can be used to effectively assist those who have visual, hearing, physical or learning disabilities.
According to the NHS, there are around 2 million people in the UK that suffer from some form of visual impairment. Out of that figure over 350,000 are registered as blind or partially sighted so it is imperative that technology manufacturers and businesses work together to develop and implement adequate provisions.
With emerging voice technologies, bigger buttons, larger monitors, and braille options, touch screen kiosks are capable of providing complete access for the blind or visually impaired, without the need for any other assistive technology or human assistance.
For those with severe vision impairments, audio description functions, or even a manned telephone line, can be incorporated into a kiosk to ensure visually impaired users can still operate the unit.
As kiosk technology and design has evolved and become more sophisticated, users can now perform a wider range of tasks via a self service kiosk, including making payments for goods and services.
At Cammax, our payment kiosks can be fitted with a PIN pad that makes use of Braille on the number 5 key in order to aid users and help them identify other keys.
Cammax also offer a wide range of included options that aim to assist visually impaired users such as inverted screen colours, greyscale screens and supporting images to make the system as easy to use as possible.
Examples of both inverted and greysacle interfaces are shown below:
Wheelchair usersAccording to the Office for Disability Issues, around a third of disabled people experience difficulties related to their impairment in accessing public, commercial and leisure goods and services. Although most companies fulfill their duty to accommodate physically impaired people in the traditional sense, with disabled car parking spaces and access ramps, enabling technology access is an area that is often overlooked.
All functional kiosk devices and interactive content should also be mounted between the guide heights of 700mm – 1400mm from the floor. This enables wheelchair users, and other physically impaired users, to operate the unit with comfort and ease, as demonstrated by the diagram below:
If you are deploying desktop kiosk solutions it’s also important to keep in mind DDA compliance at all times. At Cammax we empower wheelchair users to handle a wide range of activities independently by ensuring desktop monitors can be horizontally and vertically adjusted.
Kiosk solutions can provide profound assistance in the education and development of those with learning difficulties. Using specialist software tailored to meet the needs of the individual, whether they have ADHD, autism or are otherwise mentally impaired, users can benefit from more effective learning, development and communication.
Interactive learning can help to better engage individuals (who may have short attention spans or difficulty reading) through the use of touch and gestures, large text, colourful visuals, interactive games, voice command and moving objects. Such features can be incorporated into kiosks by modifying its basic software to suit the requirements of different users.
Cammax work closely with all of our clients to ensure that DDA compliance is met and that the needs of different kiosk users are catered for at all times.
For more information about DDA compliance and Cammax kiosk solutions please get in touch today.