Small LCD Displays = One Big Problem

Posted by AFB TECH on 11/17/2008 11:20:23 AM

Guest Blogger, Mark Uslan, Director, AFB TECH

Have you ever had difficulty reading the screen on an LCD display? Do you think the letters on these screens are too small, or the screens too dimly lit? If so, we need to hear from you! These screens are seen everywhere in today's society. Microwave ovens, blood glucose meters, cell phones, office phones, copiers and fax machines, calculators, washers and dryers, blood pressure meters, digital audio players, point of sale devices, self-service kiosks, and digital cameras—these are just a few examples of today's consumer electronics that use small LCD screens to display information. For many of the 21.2 million people who report difficulty seeing even with their glasses or contact lenses, these small displays need to be highly visible and yet, in most circumstances, the displays are not. They are often dimly lit with small size letters and numbers, which makes it extremely difficult to read the critical information on the screen. Here at our AFB TECH office in Huntington, WV, we understand that this is a serious and widespread problem and have sought to figure out what can be done to fix it.

My colleague Lee Huffman wrote a blog post back in August about the work AFB TECH has done thus far to improve LCD screens. You can also read about our work by visiting Dr. Jack Smith's blog about the project. Now that we have a better understanding of how different aspects of vision loss affect the readability of these displays, we have begun the second phase of the project and have partnered with the Atlanta VA Medical Center in a clinical study of persons with macular diseases. We are still in the beginning stages of this process but as we progress and find out more, we will be sure to update the AFB TECH web site where currently, you can find our work on small display standards, including a white paper on the subject.

Also, I encourage you to check out a recent article that deals with the small LCD display issue and was posted on the IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center's web site. I'm thrilled to see that a well-known tech company like IBM is bringing attention to this important issue. Our hope is that with more awareness, feedback from consumers, and through our work at AFB TECH, we will be able to fix this problem and make LCD screens readable by all consumers.

Re: Small LCD Displays = One Big Problem
Posted by John Greer [http://www.blindcrawler.com] on 11/25/2008 4:11:29 PM

I am sure with all of the money being spent on the research, the products developed in consequence will also be unreasonably expensive just like most of the rest of the assistive technology products. And as always the AT companies will again blame the high cost on the blind and visually impaired being a niche market.

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