The development of a simple, low cost set of universal access features for electronic devices

A simple set of universal access features has been developed, which can be applied to almost any public or personal electronic device, providing access for people with a wide variety of sensory and physical disabilities, and a wide variety of functional limitations imposed by circumstance. Implementing the features require adding one to three buttons to the device (or using existing buttons on a device if appropriate), adding speech output and enhancing the programming of the device to utilize the techniques. In our experience, thus far, adding these features can be done for approximately 1% or less of the retail value of the device. This paper introduces the access features (collectively called EZ Access™, pronounced “easy access”), and discusses some of the key underlying principles which make the features easy to learn and use. Other issues concerning industrial transfer or the techniques are also discussed.