Biometrics: Accessibility challenge or opportunity?

Abstract

Biometric recognition is currently implemented in several authentication contexts, most recently in mobile devices where it is expected to complement or even replace traditional authentication modalities such as PIN (Personal Identification Number) or passwords. The assumed convenience characteristics of biometrics are transparency, reliability and ease-of-use, however, the question of whether biometric recognition is as intuitive and straightforward to use is open to debate. Can biometric systems make some tasks easier for people with accessibility concerns? To investigate this question, an accessibility evaluation of a mobile app was conducted where test subjects withdraw money from a fictitious ATM (Automated Teller Machine) scenario. The biometric authentication mechanisms used include face, voice, and fingerprint. Furthermore, we employed traditional modalities of PIN and pattern in order to check if biometric recognition is indeed a real improvement. The trial test subjects within this work were people with real-life accessibility concerns. A group of people without accessibility concerns also participated, providing a baseline performance. Experimental results are presented concerning performance, HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) and accessibility, grouped according to category of accessibility concern. Our results reveal links between individual modalities and user category establishing guidelines for future accessible biometric products.

Biometric Systems Utilising Health Data from Wearable Devices

“…Also, the biometric systems are relatively difficult to design, develop and deploy as compared to traditional password/pin security systems. Hence the current biometric solutions lack wider accessibility and integration [13]. Furthermore, the number of standard, real-time and publicly available biometric datasets remain limited as compared to other similar areas.…”

Designing Automated Deployment Strategies of Face Recognition Solutions in Heterogeneous IoT Platforms

“…Blanco-Gonzalo et al state, in [12], that security systems need to be reliable and easy to use for an as wide as possible cross-section of the population, to ensure that personal data is secure. Their purpose is to analyze whether people with accessibility concerns can perform certain tasks more easily as a result of biometric systems.…”

Ergonomics in Mobile Fingerprint Recognition Systems: A User Interaction Evaluation

“…The numbers of users that can start or complete a recognition process were already used as accessibility metrics in [62]. The formal methodology advises reporting, besides these numbers, the causes that prevent users from starting the interaction with a biometric system or from finishing a task required in a recognition scenario.…”