A Universal Design Re-Design

Bibliotheca Self-Service SelfCheck Kiosks

One of the most common user-facing library technologies that comes to mind, for me, is
the self-service kiosk, which I’ve used at NYPL and other libraries. On first glance the kiosk
appeared (to me) to present something of a restricted case to consider through the lens of
accessibility and universal design, because it can only be used by a certain set of patrons: those
who are going to be checking out physical library materials. This appeared to limit the question
to people with non-limited vision, since I assumed (wrongly) that physical materials would only
be used by sighted people. However, I began to think about it more extensively, and realized
that a truly universally-designed library would encompass materials such as braille books, or
electronic devices, which serve people with limited or no vision. Therefore, a self-service kiosk
should be designed accordingly.
I chose the Bilbiotheca brand of kiosks because they appear to be some of the most
commonly used. As far as critique, it would appear that there are many issues, including that
the kiosks seem to only function with a touch screen. This would present a problem for non-
visual users or possibly those with mobility – for the latter, the screen might be difficult to
reach. (A useful list of common accessibility issues with self-service kiosks in general – not just
library ones – can be found at WeCo, an organization that reviews products for accessibility.) If I
remember correctly, the library kiosks I’ve used do not depend on audio for signaling or
functionality, so I am pretty certain the hearing-based critique is not relevant.
Taking cues from my iPhone’s accessibility settings menu, I will point to several options
for improving the vision- and motor-based issues with library kiosks. For users with limited
vision, there could be an option for zooming in on text, speaking text, making all text larger, or
all of the above. For users with mobility/motor issues, there could be options to improve the
reachability of the screen, either by physically raising or lowering it or allowing for assistive
tools, or designing alternate methods to enter the commands and scan the item to be checked
out. Another option for users with motor disabilities could be prompting the user to speak
commands. These are just a few options – I’m sure many others exist. I don’t believe
Bibliotheca has implemented any of them, as far as I can tell. (To offer one more critique, their
website describes another of their products – an Amazon-style locker located outside the
library, for patrons to pick up books after hours – as being “designed to extend the coverage
and accessibility” of libraries. I am interpreting this as a liberal use of the term accessibility
since it does not clearly refer to a disability-related service.)