I recently found the netObjects project via Eyebeam reBlog.

Its goal is to provide web-based information through access points other than a computer or other conventional networked device. The prototypes for the project include everything from a clock that displays news based on your political leanings to an umbrella that changes color based on the weather forecast to a book that automatically downloads and displays a catalog of pornography. Although I’m skeptical of the utility of any of these objects, I think the point is fantastic.

If you are a person who, for whatever reason, cannot relate to the common modes of interface that are available today, you’re pretty much up a creek. Even alternative devices rely on essentially the same modes of input and display as the traditional keyboard/mouse/user interface. NetObjects is part of a growing recognition that relevant, high-quality content is useless unless it is available and accessible. (I use available to refer to the physical presence of something, and accessible to refer to the ability of a given person or group of people to utilize that thing by overcoming spatial or sociocultural barriers, for instance.) These themes have also been developed in the realm of ‘adaptive technology’ for the disabled. But one should not need to have a disability in order to find an interface which accommodates different perceptions of technology and information. Rethinking the commonly accepted tropes for internet access and technology use could go a long way to co-opting users who have thus far felt disenfranchised. (Notice that I assiduously avoid talking about the digital divide.)