Published today is a defensive disclosure of an invention of mine, which I call the “Loop Interface.” Such an interface may be particularly useful to people who are blind or who have low vision and need speech output in order to use technology. The abstract from the disclosure:
Disclosed is a user interface method that allows for quick, efficient exploration and usage of user interfaces by people who cannot see. The interface method is a circular direct-selection interface where many user interface elements are arranged around the edges of a touch panel or touch screen. This makes a circular list of elements that users can touch to get speech output and then activate when they find the desired element. This arrangement can be explored easily but also allows users to efficiently and directly select elements on familiar interfaces.
The problem is that current methods of using screen readers are inadequate. People may use swiping gestures or keystrokes to navigate from element to element, which can be inefficient. Alternatively, on some touchscreen devices, a screen reader might allow a person to tap or drag a finger around the screen to explore the screen via text to speech. This exploration can be challenging because onscreen elements may be anywhere on the screen in any arrangement and might be missed when dragging a finger on the screen.

With the Loop Interface, a person can simply trace the edges of a screen with a finger and get to all elements on the screen. When they become familiar with a particular application, then they can directly touch the desired element without having to navigate through all the intervening options. More details about the Loop Interface are available in the disclosure [PDF]. In the future, I plan to do user testing on a basic version of the Loop Interface.
The defensive disclosure was published today in the IP.com prior art database (IP.com database entry, requires subscription for full content). The publication was reviewed and sponsored by the Linux Defenders program. It will soon be published in freely-available form on the Publications page of the Defensive Publications web site.