Method and Apparatus to Support Visually Impaired Users of Touchscreen Based User Interfaces

Abstract

A system and method for providing an assistive adjunct for blind and low vision users is described. Specifically, the contact between a telescoping stylus and a touchscreen may be detected, where the stylus is capable of providing two or more footprints. When the stylus is touched lightly to a touchscreen, only the tip of the innermost tube makes contact with the touchscreen, thereby triggering a first response. If the user presses down on the stylus to cause the innermost tube to collapse into a middle tube until the center tube and the middle tube both touch the touchscreen, this additional contact is detected by the device thereby triggering a second response. Additional pressure on the stylus can cause all three tubes to make contact with the touchscreen, thereby causing yet another detectable contact and triggering a third response.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.