News

Visitors to the new World War II Memorial will find the names and service information about friends and family members who participated in the war effort using touchscreen kiosks that incorporate the work of the Trace Center.

The kiosks, located in the information plaza of the new Memorial, were developed by Eagle Collaborative Computing Services (ECCS), Inc. The ECCS team received training at the Trace Center in how to design information systems that are cross-disability accessible and usable by the broadest spectrum of people. In their design of the WWII Memorial kiosks, they chose to implement the EZ Access^® techniques developed at the Trace Center.

“It is especially appropriate that these kiosks will work well for the World War II generation who are being honored,” said Gregg Vanderheiden, Director of the Trace Center. “Many of these veterans now have limited vision, hearing, or physical abilities that might have made a less accessible kiosk very difficult or impossible for them to use independently. ECCS has done an excellent job – beyond what they were required to do.”

EZ Access is a set of interface enhancements that can be implemented in the design of almost any electronic product. These enhancements include simple interactive techniques and hardware components that can make products usable by more people, including those with disabilities. EZ Access was developed over the past six years as an outgrowth of the Trace Center’s ongoing research and development on how to design standard information systems and products so that they are accessible for people with disabilities.