Operating aids in industrial HMIs with HELIO

In the dynamic landscape of today's industries, characterized by increasing digitalization and automation, there is one often overlooked but crucial topic that is gaining importance: the accessibility of user interfaces in industrial environments. While innovations in manufacturing technology are advancing rapidly, the interfaces through which people interact with machines often lag behind the principles of optimal usability.

Industrial working environments are traditionally not designed to meet the diverse needs of all people. Conventional human-machine interfaces have rarely been developed with the support of individuals with physical, mental or sensory impairments in mind.

This can be a significant barrier for many people - for a number of reasons: wearing gloves can affect usability, as can age-related conditions, stress, or mental or physical impairments. In industrial working environments, such possible limitations of people are rarely taken into account, although poor or lacking operability can severely impair the efficiency of a process.

Our goal is to recognize the scenarios in which operating difficulties arise and then provide appropriate assistance. How can the proven principles of user assistance be successfully transferred to the specific requirements of industrial applications?

Step by step: How HELIO will become more accessible in the future

In order to meet these requirements, we have begun to gradually implement measures to optimize usability for people with special needs. With the upcoming HELIO version 25.2, we will be presenting a new feature that allows the HMI to be zoomed in or out according to individual needs and to save the settings as presets depending on the user and end device.

We are continuing to drive this development forward. Topics such as high-contrast color palettes, contextual help and keyboard input are planned for the future.

Our front-end developer Kai, who has a high level of expertise in this area thanks to his master's thesis on accessibility in industrial HMIs, presents the new feature in this video.