Meeting Minutes: March 20, 2014

Present

  • Stephen Blosser, Chair
  • Graham Pierce, Vice Chair; Webmaster
  • Al Puzzuoli, Digital Communications Coordinator
  • Michael Hudson
  • Connor Moul
  • Don Ries
  • Madeline Roe
  • Angela Sebald
  • Tyler Smeltekop
  • James White
ATC members posing behind cake. Standing: Ries, Hudson, Smeltekop, Sebald, Moul, Pierce, Roe. Seated: White, Blosser, Puzzuoli.

ATC members celebrating Al Puzzuoli's recognition by the MSU President's office (for his efforts to make digital signs accessible) with a green and white chocolate cake.

Minutes

  1. Blosser called meeting to order at 3:00 PM
  2. Al Puzzuoli described the basics of the Morrill Plaza kiosk project.
    • President Simon acknowledged the need to provide information presented by the kiosk to visually impaired individuals, and asked Al for assistance.
    • After the Morrill Hall team met with the President, they were able to rebuild the sign to make it accessible to visually impaired individuals within 4 days.
    • Growth of similar digital signs is likely to continue across campus.
    • It is our mission to guide MSU sign builders on issues related to accessibility.
  3. Blosser elaborated on some specific features of digital signs, including accessibility, software, and features.
    • Michael Hudson discussed a well-designed ATM from MSUFCU
      • Headphone jack is used for text-to-speech, and triggers an entirely different accessibility mode.
      • Users navigate via keyboard, and the audio describes the layout of it.
    • Accessibility considerations needed to make digital sign useful to all individuals:
      • Color Contrast
        • 5:1 contrast ratio or greater for text against background
        • Glare is an important factor, whether outdoors or indoors
          • Graham Pierce noted that voting systems use hoods or other external measures to reduce or eliminate glare.
          • Pierce also discussed impending significant changes in Section 508 guidelines and recommended providing draft guidelines until these changes are official.
        • Flicker
        • Multimedia
        • Height and Reachability
  4. Mobile alternative access discussed for accessing digital signs using smart phones/computers.
    • Bluetooth beacon in sign can project its URL to smartphones.
    • Puzzuoli pointed out that a mirrored site might not be the best idea, as situations may arise where the sign is updated, but the mirrored site is not. Pierce agreed that mirrored site isn't ideal.
    • Pierce suggested clearly stating which mobile alternative access features are required and which ones are merely optional.
      • Location of QR code and other features that can be controlled should be regulated, while other features may have to vary from kiosk to kiosk.
      • Accessibility Mode button discussed. Instead of having all accessibility features on the physical kiosk, on-screen buttons can be used.
  5. Blosser discussed non-interactive signs, and what can be done to these signs to make them accessible, including headphone jack & speaker, volume control, etc.
    • Pierce stated that these should be stated as required, to ensure that these features are used, and used correctly.
    • Bluetooth headphones could not be used in place of a headphone jack, as a Bluetooth earpiece or other similar device would need to be paired before use.
  6. Pierce suggested that some of these guidelines should be applied to all signs (i.e., including paper signs and posters), especially in areas such as text size and background contrast.
  7. The meeting was adjourned (Pierce) at 4:10 PM

Respectfully submitted,
Connor Moul, Recording Secretary