Accessible Touch – Improving Touch Screen Usability

Touch screen-based mobile phones are the new generation of phones which brought with them several improvements in terms of interfaces, adaptability, usability and beauty. On the other side, the use of large touch screens made buttons no longer necessary, bringing new barriers to usability. But even with the breakthrough in the touch screen market, some people still have problems regarding mobile phones. Motor impaired people always had problems to interact with most devices. This is especially true for these new technologies. Taking into account their limitations and capabilities, as well as their needs, it is of most importance to find good ways of interaction with touch screen devices. In this document we present different approaches to overcome limitations or problems in touch screen interaction, understanding how tetraplegic people can interact with these devices on an easy and comfortable way. The results will help developing suitable interfaces capable of dealing with these problems, increasing usability in mobile devices as well as some self independence in their use. Author