Tactile indicators for installing and connecting devices

How do companies make devices accessible for non-visual use? Some thoughts and a question for feedback and experience.

• A little bit about tactile indicators
• Back to the question
  • Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock
  • Xbox Series X / S
• Thoughts
  • Braille
  • Icons or pictograms
  • Simple symbols in a row
• Your feedback and experience

The premise might be easily recognisable. (At least for me it is, but that's unfair as I'm the one writing the premise.)
I have a ton of devices all around me. I type this using a computer. The computer is connected to a hub. The hub is connected to all kinds of devices including 2 displays. To my side are multiple printers and scanner. My living room features a television with a game console, audio equipment and various devices. There are devices in my kitchen. Then there's all kinds of network devices throughout the house. And it doesn't stop there. My electric car and charger are devices as well. And what's the common theme for mentioning all these? They all feature plugs, connectors and cables.
For me, a sighted nerd, these are pretty ok to deal with. I've got tubs of cables (really, so many. You don't want to know.) and am familiar with all kinds of connectors and plugs. But if you're less technically inclined, I can imagine it's all quite cryptic. And if you can't see a device, then how do you know what to plug in where? This is an issue for, for example, people who are blind. But I've had my issues with this as well. How often I've had to reach the back of a device and plug something somewhere entirely by feeling around. Cables are always too short. Cabinets too small. Being able to do this without seeing is very valuable!

So here comes the big question; the reason I'm writing this blog. Do you know hardware with tactile indicators for recognising and distinguishing ports? And if so, how have they done this?

A little bit about tactile indicators

I don't have an extensive background in physical accessibility. I assume (hope?) a ton of research has been done in this area already. But here's a bit of what I know.
A common example of tactile indicators is usage on the ground. They're often known as "tactile paving" and include a whole system of patterns for warnings, wayfinding and all kinds of uses.
Another, much smaller, example that might be familiar is braille. This is a tactile writing system based on a grid of 3x2 dots for different characters. People can use a braille rule connected to a computer to use it (and browse the web). There are braille typewriters. Braille can sometimes be found in public transport (like a bus or train) or in an elevator to mark buttons.

Back to the question

To repeat myself:

Do you know hardware with tactile indicators for recognising and distinguishing ports? And if so, how have they done this?

I don't know much about tactile indicators on products. I'm aware of at least 2 products, both by Microsoft.

Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock

This hub or dock by Microsoft features "Tactile indicators for port identification". This is described as a "Design innovation" on the information page.

Several ports feature small tactile dots above them. For example, the rectangle-ish USB-C ports have 1 tactile dot above it. Likewise, the USB-A ports have 3 dots. And a UTP-port has 2 dots. Other round connectors (like power and audio) don't have dots.

Xbox Series X / S

This game console also features tactile markings. (If you want to see cool and new stuff in the accessibility space, keep track of what happens in gaming!)

Ports are marked with 1 tot 4 tactile dots, or a single tactile stripe.

There's some extensive writing on this innovation on CanIPlayThat.com

Thoughts

Braille

The first thought from many people is probably something "Why not add braille? It's made for tactile writing! Sadly, braille is only read by a very small group of people, so this wouldn't fix the problem for all. Another downside of braille is that it needs 2 dimensions or a small grid. This requires more space for the dots themselves, and space to be able to feel the tactile markings. Then there's the matter of orientation. Upside down, braille would be very confusing! It would also be a very nice bonus if the tactile markings would help nerds like me who don't have a relevant permanent disability, but would like to understand the markings. (I don't would understand them)

Icons or pictograms

What about some sort of tactile image, icon, pictogram, logo or other more complex marking? Notice the word complex. Finger tips have a limited "resolution" when feeling. (There's probably a fancier name for this) Complex imagery runs into this very quickly. There's also way more information in most of these more complex markings than would be needed for the use case.

Simple symbols in a row

This leads us to a solution like that used at Microsoft. What if we use simple symbols like dots, and put them in a row? If there's a reasonable number, it might be harder to distinguish. (Can we feel the difference between 14 and 15 dots easily?) More symbols might be useful, like the dash/stripe! (In my mind, it could be some sort of tactile morse-cde almost)
It sounds like something that could benefit from a global standard. How nice if all USB-C ports would be recognisable in the same way? But I think there's too many different kind of ports and connectors to uniquely identify each in a useful way. So, again, much like Microsoft, I'd say a "local" solution is more useful. One dot for an Xbox does not mean the same thing as one dot on a dock.
Tactile markings can be more like a legenda, that can be understood in combination with a useful manual. A manual could tell you what 1/2/3/4 dots would mean. Especially in combination with different shapes for connectors and ports (round? rectangle?), this should make them recognisable.

Your feedback and experience

Do you know hardware with tactile indicators for recognising and distinguishing ports? And if so, how have they done this?
Do you know of relevant examples? Maybe ISO-standards the are interesting for the question? How would you approach this?

I very much appreciate your feedback on this. Pick any channel you'd like, I'm probably there. We've got Mastodon, Bluesky, LinkedIn and Discord for that. Thanks already, all input is very welcome!