JP2011048767A - Information input device, information input method and information input program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a visually impaired person to easily search for a necessary item in a touch panel operated by both an able-bodied person and the visually impaired person. <P>SOLUTION: An information input device is configured to input information designated by a user on a screen. The above problem is solved by the device including: an operation object specifying means for specifying an operation object on the screen designated by the user; a hierarchical configuration changing means for specifying the hierarchical position of the operation object specified by the operation object specifying means and changing the hierarchical configuration at a low order of the specified hierarchical position; and an information content generating means for generating information contents to inform the hierarchical configuration changed by the hierarchical configuration changing means to the user based on preset informing range setting information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information input device, an information input method, and an information input program.

  Conventionally, in an information input device that operates a device using a touch panel and a hard key, the touch panel displays an operation content and an operation procedure for operating the device on a screen, and items such as displayed operation buttons are displayed. It is operated by being selected by the user. However, for visually handicapped persons with visual disabilities, the contents displayed on the touch panel cannot be visually confirmed, so that the touch panel is difficult to operate.

  Thus, for example, an information input device that operates devices using separate user interfaces for healthy persons and visually impaired persons is known. However, in this case, since it is necessary to provide two operation methods for one device, an extra development cost is required.

  For this reason, for example, a screen search mode for visually impaired persons is prepared separately from the normal mode so that a healthy person and a visually impaired person can use a common operation screen. A configuration is disclosed in which a button is read out by voice (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, in the conventional method disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, in the case of an information input device having many setting items and a deep menu hierarchy, there is no target item on the screen being operated by the visually impaired person, and the screen is closed and returned. The work of searching for an item again occurred on the screen. Therefore, there is a problem that it takes a very long time to reach the menu hierarchy where the target item is located.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an information input device and an information input for facilitating a task for a visually impaired person to search for an item necessary on a touch panel that can be operated by both a healthy person and a visually impaired person. It is an object to provide a method and an information input program.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an information input device for inputting information instructed to a user on a screen, and an operation target specifying means for specifying an operation target on the screen instructed by the user; A hierarchy configuration changing means for specifying a hierarchy position of the operation target specified by the operation target specifying means and changing a hierarchy configuration below the specified hierarchy position; and a hierarchy configuration changed by the hierarchy configuration changing means. And notification content generating means for generating notification content to be notified to the user based on preset notification range setting information.

  Further, the present invention is an information input method executed by an information input device for inputting information instructed by a user on a screen, and an operation target specifying procedure for specifying an operation target on the screen instructed by the user A hierarchy configuration change procedure for specifying a hierarchy position of the operation target specified by the operation target specification procedure, and changing a predetermined hierarchy configuration below the specified hierarchy position, and the hierarchy configuration change procedure The hierarchical structure includes a notification content generation procedure for generating a notification content to be notified to the user based on preset notification range setting information.

  The present invention is also an information input program for inputting information instructed by a user on a screen, the computer comprising an operation target specifying means for specifying an operation target on the screen instructed by the user, and the operation The hierarchy configuration changing means for specifying the hierarchy position of the operation target specified by the object specifying means and changing a predetermined hierarchy configuration ahead of the specified hierarchy position, and the hierarchy configuration changed by the hierarchy configuration changing means, It is an information input program for functioning as notification content generation means for generating notification content to be notified to the user based on preset notification range setting information.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the operation | work which looks for the item which a visually impaired person requires in the touch panel which a healthy person and a visually impaired person can operate together is made easy.

It is a figure which shows an example of a function structure of the information input device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the information input device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hierarchical structure changed by the hierarchical structure change means which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure shown about the information which the apparatus setting information which concerns on this embodiment hold | maintains. It is a figure shown about the information which the notification range setting information which concerns on this embodiment hold | maintains. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen flow when the “magnification” button is selected from the copy screen according to the present embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the flow of the notification content production | generation process at the time of the user authentication which concerns on this embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the flow of the notification content production | generation process when the user authentication which concerns on this embodiment is not carried out. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the hierarchy structure change process which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the notification content production | generation process which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure shown about the information which the item which forms the item tree which concerns on this embodiment hold | maintains.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

<Functional configuration of information input device>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the information input device according to the present embodiment. The information input apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is provided in an image forming apparatus such as a printer that can be operated and set from an operation screen such as an operation panel. However, the information input apparatus 100 is not limited to the image forming apparatus in the present invention. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the information input device 100 includes an operation instruction position detection unit 10, an operation target identification unit 20, a hierarchy configuration change unit 30, a notification content generation unit 40, a notification unit 50, and a recording unit 60. And is configured to have. The recording unit 60 includes device setting information 61, device management information 62, and notification range setting information 63.

  The operation instruction position detection unit 10 detects the operation instruction position of the user who inputs to the information input device 100 from the operation screen or the position of a pointing device such as a touch pen.

  The operation target specifying unit 20 acquires information on the operation instruction position detected by the operation instruction position detecting unit 10, and specifies an item on the operation screen instructed by the user based on the layout information of the item as the operation target in advance. .

  Here, the item is, for example, an operation button or the like that is displayed on the setting screen and transitions to another corresponding screen when pressed or selected by the user.

  The hierarchical structure changing unit 30 acquires information on the operation target specified by the operation target specifying unit 20, refers to the hierarchical structure (item tree) of the operation target, and identifies the specified operation target on the hierarchical structure. Determine if it is in position. Here, the hierarchical configuration refers to a state in which, for example, a plurality of item groups are configured by upper, middle, or lower levels in which each item is connected based on the contents.

  Further, the hierarchy configuration changing unit 30 acquires usage restriction information set in advance from the device setting information 61, acquires user login information from the device management information 62, and is specified based on the acquired information. Change the operation target hierarchy. Specifically, the hierarchy configuration changing unit 30 determines whether or not notification of the operation target located at the destination (lower level) of the specified operation target in the specified operation target hierarchical configuration, selection availability or the like, Change the hierarchical structure of the identified operation target. Details of the change in the hierarchical structure will be described later.

  The notification content generating unit 40 generates notification content for notifying the user of the hierarchical structure changed by the hierarchical structure changing unit 30 based on notification range setting information set in advance. Specifically, the notification content generation unit 40 notifies the name of the operation target of the changed hierarchical configuration based on the user login information in the device management information 62 and the setting information in the notification range setting information 63. Generate content.

  The notification unit 50 notifies the user of the notification content generated by the notification content generation unit 40 by voice or presentation of Braille using a Braille display or the like.

  The device setting information 61 stores user usage restriction information, device configuration restriction information, device setting restriction information, and the like. Details of the device setting information 61 will be described later.

  The device management information 62 manages user authentication information for performing user authentication when a specific user logs in to the device, or user information during login to the device.

  The notification range setting information 63 is notification hierarchy level designation information for designating how many levels (subordinates) are notified from the identified operation target, and detailed notification designation information for designating whether to notify the detailed function of the operation target. Is stored. The setting information held by the notification range setting information 63 will be described later.

<Hardware configuration of information input device>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the information input device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the information input device 100 includes an operation panel 71, a sound output device 72, a drive device 73, an auxiliary storage device 74, a memory device 75, and an arithmetic processing device (CPU) that are mutually connected by a bus B. ) 76 and the interface device 77.

  The operation panel 71 is an operation screen composed of, for example, a touch panel, an input unit for inputting information such as a control command of a user who operates the information input device 100, information necessary for operating the information input device 100, It consists of a display unit that displays the progress of processing.

  The audio output device 72 is composed of, for example, a speaker and outputs audio. In the present embodiment, for example, the notification content generated by the notification content generation unit 40 or guidance information for prompting the user to input is output by voice.

  The interface device 77 includes a modem, a LAN card, and the like, and is used for connecting to a network. The information input device 100 transmits / receives information to / from other devices on the network via the interface device 77.

  The information input program of the present invention is at least a part of various programs for controlling the information input device 100. The information input program is provided, for example, by distributing the recording medium 78 or downloading from the network.

  The recording medium 78 on which the information input program is recorded is a recording medium for recording information optically, electrically or magnetically such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, Various types of recording media such as a semiconductor memory that electrically records information, such as a flash memory, can be used.

  When the recording medium 78 on which the information input program is recorded is set in the drive device 73, the information input program is installed from the recording medium 78 to the auxiliary storage device 74 via the drive device 73. The information input program downloaded from the network is installed in the auxiliary storage device 74 via the interface device 77.

  The auxiliary storage device 74 stores the installed information input program and also stores necessary files, data, and the like.

  The memory device 75 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), and reads and stores an information input program from the auxiliary storage device 74 when the computer is started.

  The CPU 76 realizes various processes as described later according to the information input program stored in the memory device 75.

<Regarding the hierarchical structure changed by the hierarchical structure changing means>
Here, the hierarchical structure changed by the hierarchical structure changing means 30 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a hierarchical structure changed by the hierarchical structure changing unit according to the present embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, when the operation target specifying unit 20 specifies the item that the user is operating on the operation screen as, for example, the operating item 31, the hierarchy configuration changing unit 30 refers to the item hierarchy information and is operating. It is determined where the item 31 is located in the hierarchical structure (item tree) to which the item 31 belongs.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the in-operation item 31 belongs to the hierarchical structure of the item A, and the item 1, item 2, and item 3 exist in the hierarchy destination (lower level) where the in-operation item 31 is located. Yes. As viewed from the item 31 in operation, for example, the item 1 and the item 2 exist in the lower hierarchy and the item 3 exists in the lower hierarchy.

  For example, for each item belonging to the hierarchical structure up to two levels lower than the item 31 in operation, the hierarchical structure changing unit 30 sets “notification availability” and “selection availability” based on the information acquired from the device setting information 61. Determine and dynamically change the hierarchical structure based on the determined result.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the hierarchical structure changing unit 30 “uses” the item 1 one level below the item 31 being operated, “cannot operate” the item 2 and “unuses” the item 3 below the second level. Is determined. For example, for the item 3 determined to be “unusable”, the hierarchical structure changing unit 30 deletes the item 3 from the hierarchical structure (tree) as “notification impossible” and removes it from the notification target. In addition, the item 2 determined as “impossible to operate” is displayed as “impossible to select” and is a notification target.

<Information held by device setting information>
Next, information stored in the device setting information 61 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating information held by the device setting information according to the present embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the device setting information 61 holds user usage restriction information 61A, device setting restriction information 61B, and device configuration restriction information 61C.

  The user usage restriction information 61A includes “application usage restriction” and “usage restriction” for each “function” such as “copy”, “printer”, “FAX”, and “scanner” with respect to a “user” registered in advance. Stores information indicating “content”.

  For example, in the user usage restriction information 61A shown in FIG. 4, “Tom” registered as “User name” is “Function” such as “Copy”, “Printer”, “FAX”, “Scanner”, etc. Of these, “Copy”, “Printer”, “FAX” are “available”, “Scanner” is “unusable”, “Application usage restriction”, and “Copy” are “Monochrome”, “ “Use restriction content” in which “color” is recorded for “printer” and “no restriction” is recorded for “FAX” is recorded.

  Thus, in the usage restriction information 61A, “application usage restrictions” indicating whether or not various “functions” can be used by registered users and “usage restriction contents” indicating the usage restrictions of various functions are set. ing.

  The device setting restriction information 61B illustrated in FIG. 4 stores restriction information between items restricted by the setting of the device. For example, when “manual feed”, “staple”, “punch”, “forced printing”, etc. are set on the operation screen by the user, the constraint information generated between the items is stored.

  For example, when “manual feed” is set in the device setting constraint information 61B, “manual feed” and “forced printing” are “permitted”, but “staple” and “punch” processes are “impossible”. When “staple” is set, “manual feed” and “forced printing” are “impossible”, but “staple” is “possible”, punch is “not possible”, etc. Is stored.

  As described above, in the device setting constraint information 61B, the constraint information between items generated by the device setting by the user is set.

  The device configuration constraint information 61C illustrated in FIG. 4 stores information for determining items that cannot be selected depending on the configuration of the device. For example, information on items that cannot be selected depending on the “state” of “device” such as “finisher”, “ADF (Auto Document Feeder)”, “manual feed tray”, and the like is stored.

  For example, in the device configuration constraint information 61C, when “Finisher” is “Not Installed”, the item for setting “Staple / Punch” is not displayed, and “ADF” is “Not Installed”. The item for which “SADF” is set is hidden, and when the “manual feed tray” is “not installed”, the information of “non-displayable item” for hiding the item for which “manual feed tray” is set is displayed. Stored.

  As described above, in the device configuration constraint information 61C, constraint information indicating an item that becomes “not notify” due to the configuration of the device is set.

<Notification range setting information>
Next, information stored in the notification range setting information 63 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating information held in the notification range setting information according to the present embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, the notification range setting information 63 stores setting information in which a notification hierarchy level and presence / absence of detailed notification in each hierarchy are set for each user.

  For example, in the notification range setting information 63, “Mary”, “Ken”, “Tom”, and “Ann” as “User names” registered in advance are “Notification hierarchy level” of “Mary” and “Tom”, respectively. “Notification hierarchy level” of “2”, “Ken”, and “Ann” is designated as “1”. In addition, “Mary” is set to “None” for “Detailed notification for Tier 1” and “Detailed notification for Tier 2”, and “Ken” is designated as “None” for “Detailed notification for Tier 1”. , “Tom” is designated as “Yes” for “Title 1 detail notification” and “None” as “Title 2 detail notification”. In the case of “Ann”, “detailed notification of level 1” is designated as “present”.

  As described above, the notification range setting information 63 stores setting information in which a notification hierarchy level is specified for each user, and detailed notification is specified for each specified hierarchy level.

<Screen flow when the “Zoom” button is selected from the copy screen>
Next, a screen flow when the “scaling” button is selected from the copy screen according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen flow when the “magnification” button is selected from the copy screen according to the present embodiment.

  For example, when the user presses a login key for logging in to the information processing apparatus 100 as a device, a screen 81 for inputting a user name is displayed. On the screen 81, an area 81A for inputting a user name, a cancel button 81B, and an OK button 81C are displayed.

  When the user inputs a user name in the area 81A of the screen 81 and confirms that the OK button has been pressed with the OK button 81C, a screen 82 for inputting a password is displayed. On the screen 82, an area 82A for inputting a password, a cancel button 82B, and an OK button 82C are displayed.

  Next, when the user inputs a password in the area 82A of the screen 82, user authentication is performed. Thereafter, for example, when the copy key is pressed on the screen of the device, the copy screen 83 is displayed. The copy screen 83 displays operation buttons such as “A4”, “B4”, “A3”, “magnification”, and “color selection”.

  Here, a screen flow when the “magnification” button is selected from the copy screen 83 will be described. Normally, when the user designates the “scaling” button on the copy screen 83 by pressing or the like, a scaling screen 84 is displayed as shown in FIG. “Double” and “Paper size change” buttons are displayed.

  Further, when the “Zoom”, “Standardized magnification”, and “Paper designated magnification” buttons on the magnification screen 84 are selected, a zoom screen 85, a regular magnification screen 86, and a paper designated magnification screen 87 are displayed. The As described above, among the operation buttons displayed on the copy screen 83, the “magnification” button is a button that transitions to another screen when selected by the user, and is an example of an item in the present embodiment.

  When the above-described finger position of the user is on the “magnification” button on the copy screen 83, for example, the notification content generation unit 40 according to the present embodiment includes the login information acquired by the above-described user authentication and the notification range setting information. 63, for example, three different notification patterns are generated.

  For example, as a first notification pattern, in the case of a user who is registered as “no notification layer level or the like is set” in the notification range setting information 63 or a user who is not registered, the notification layer level 1 is set by default setting. The name of the item is notified. Specifically, the name of the item displayed on the scaling screen 84 of the notification hierarchy level 1 such as “Zoom / Standard zoom / Paper specified zoom can be set on the next screen” is notified.

  As a second notification pattern, for example, in the case of a user who is set to “notification hierarchy level 2, no detailed notification” in the notification range setting information 63, the name of the item at the notification hierarchy level 2 is notified. Specifically, “Zoom / Standard zoom / Paper specified zoom can be set on the next screen. A, B settings on the zoom setting screen, C settings on the standard zoom setting screen, paper specification” “D” can be selected on the scaling setting screen. ”Is displayed on the notification hierarchy level 1 scaling screen 84, the notification hierarchy level 2 zoom screen 85, the standard scaling screen 86, and the paper designation scaling screen 87. The name of the item is notified.

  Further, as the third notification pattern, for example, “notification hierarchy level 1, detailed notification present” is set in the notification range setting information 63, and “item input information on button is input on the screen” or the like is described later in item holding information, for example. In some cases, the name of the item at the notification hierarchy level 1 and the description of the item function that can be set by each item are notified.

  Specifically, “On the next screen, you can set zoom / standard zoom / specified zoom. You can specify the zoom ratio with the numeric keypad. The standard zoom is set according to the original paper and output paper size. The item name displayed on the scaling screen 84 of the notification hierarchy level 1 and each of the items displayed on the scaling screen 84 can be changed. A description of the item function that can be set by the item is notified.

  The notification pattern generated in this way is notified to the user by means of the notification means 50 using means such as voice and Braille.

<Notification content generation process during user authentication>
Next, the notification content generation process at the time of user authentication according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of notification content generation processing at the time of user authentication according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the user logs in to the information input device 100 (S10), the login result is notified from the device management information 62 (S11). Here, for example, based on the login information stored in the device management information 62, the screen mode for the visually impaired is switched. Further, for example, a button for switching to the screen mode for the visually impaired person may be provided on the operation screen, and the screen mode for the visually impaired person may be switched by pressing the switching button of the user.

  Next, when the user operates the operation screen of the information input device 100 (S12), the operation instruction position detection unit 10 detects the coordinates of the user's operation instruction position and uses the detected coordinate information of the operation instruction position as the operation target. The specifying unit 20 is notified (S13).

  The operation target specifying unit 20 refers to the item layout information on the screen being operated by the user, compares the notified coordinate information with the item layout information, and specifies the item operated by the user ( S14).

  The operation target specifying unit 20 notifies the hierarchical configuration changing unit 30 of the item specified by the process of S14 (S15). The hierarchy configuration changing means 30 has various items of item hierarchy information, and specifies the position in the item hierarchy for the item notified from the operation target specifying means 20. Next, when the hierarchical structure changing unit 30 acquires from the device management information 62 the presence / absence of a logged-in user, the logged-in user name, and the like as login information (S16), the device setting information 61 is referred to (S17). The item hierarchy is changed (S18).

  Here, the determination conditions for the hierarchy configuration changing unit 30 to change the hierarchy configuration are, for example, three conditions of “user usage restriction”, “apparatus configuration restriction”, and “apparatus setting restriction”. Specifically, the hierarchical structure changing unit 30 refers to the device setting information 61 and displays items that cannot be used due to “user use restriction” and “device setting restriction” on the screen as “not selectable”. For items that cannot be used due to “restrictions”, the hierarchical structure is changed so that items that cannot be notified are excluded from notification targets and are not displayed on the screen.

  The hierarchy configuration changing unit 30 notifies the item notified from the operation target specifying unit 20 after changing the item hierarchical configuration, for example, the data of the item hierarchy up to two levels below, and the login content generating unit. 40 and request the generation of the notification content (S19).

  The notification content generation unit 40 refers to the notification range setting information 63 (S20), and, based on the login information received from the hierarchy configuration change unit 30, for example, “whether to notify the detailed function of an item”, “how many levels below Whether or not to notify the item "is determined, and the notification content is generated (S21).

  As described above, the notification content generation unit 40 acquires, for example, item hierarchy data up to two levels below the item hierarchy configuration from the hierarchy configuration change unit 30. As a result, the notification content generated by the notification content generation means 40 is displayed on the screen as “not selectable”, for example, an item deleted from the hierarchical structure as “not notifyable” by the hierarchy configuration changing means 30 is not subject to notification. The selected item is a notification target as an item of “unselectable”.

  The notification content generation unit 40 notifies the notification unit 50 of the generated notification content (S22), and the notification unit 50 notifies the user of the notification content by voice, braille, or the like.

<Notification content generation processing when user authentication is not performed>
FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of notification content generation processing when user authentication is not performed according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the user uses without logging in. The subsequent steps S30 to S40 are the same as S12 to S22 in the sequence diagram with user authentication shown in FIG. It should be noted that the hierarchical structure changing unit 30 acquires login information from the device management information 62 even during non-login in the process of S34. This is to determine whether or not to make a “user usage restriction” determination when changing the item hierarchy.

<About hierarchical structure change processing>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the hierarchy configuration change process according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the hierarchy configuration changing unit 30 refers to the device setting information 61 for all items that are lower than the item currently being operated by the user, for example, by the “device configuration constraint”. Is determined (S50).

  When it is determined that the item cannot be used due to the “device configuration constraint” (NO in S50), the item is hidden on the item hierarchy being operated by the user (S51), and the item is determined to be usable due to the “device configuration constraint” Next, it is determined whether or not there is a logged-in user (S52). If there is a logged-in user (YES in S52), it is determined whether or not the item can be used by “user use restriction”. (S53). If it is determined that there is no logged-in user (NO in S52), the process proceeds to S54.

  Next, when it is determined that the item can be used due to the “user usage restriction” (YES in S53), it is determined whether or not the item can be used based on the “device setting restriction” (S54). If it is determined that it cannot be used due to “user usage restriction” (NO in S53), the process proceeds to S55.

  If the item is determined to be unusable due to the “device setting restriction” (NO in S54), the item is set to “unselectable” (S55). If it is determined that the device can be used due to the “device setting restriction” (YES in S54), the process proceeds to S56.

  Next, it is determined whether or not all items that are two levels below the item being operated by the user have been checked (S56). If all items have been checked (YES in S56), the process ends, If the item is not checked (NO in S56), the process returns to S50.

  As described above, when changing the hierarchical structure of an item by the hierarchical structure changing unit 30, the device setting information 61 is referred to. Hide items. As a result, the item is set as “not noticeable” and excluded from the target of notification to the user.

  If the item cannot be selected (used) due to “user usage restriction” or “device setting restriction”, the item is displayed on the hierarchy with the item in the “selection disabled” state. This notifies the user that the item is “unselectable”. The user hierarchy configuration changing means 30 makes this determination for all items from the item being operated by the user to, for example, the hierarchy two levels below.

<Notification content generation processing>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of notification content generation processing according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the notification content generation unit 40 determines whether or not the logged-in user name stored in the device management information 62 is included in the notification range setting information 63 (S60).

  If the logged-in user name is included in the notification range setting information 63 (YES in S60), the notification range setting content of the corresponding user is read (S62). Next, the notification content generation means 40 determines whether or not to notify the details of the item one level below the item being operated based on the notification range setting content read in the process of S62 (S63).

  If it is determined to notify the details of the item one level below (YES in S63), the name and detailed function of the item one level below are set in the notification contents (S64), and the level to be notified is in operation It is determined whether or not the item is one level below (S65). If it is determined not to notify the details of the item one layer below (NO in S63), only the name of the item one layer below is set as the notification content (S66), and the process proceeds to S65.

  If it is determined that the level to be notified is not up to one level below (NO in S65), it is determined whether or not to notify details of items two levels below (S67). If it is determined that the level to be notified is one level below (YES in S65), the process ends.

  If it is determined to notify the details of the item two levels below (YES in S67), the name and detailed function of the item two levels below are set in the notification contents (S68), and the process is terminated. If it is determined not to notify the details of the item two layers below (NO in S67), only the name of the item two layers below is set as the notification content (S69), and the process ends.

  If the logged-in user stored in the device management information 62 is not included in the notification range setting information 63 (NO in S60), the notification content is generated with default settings, for example, the name of the item one level below Only the user is notified (S61).

  In the present embodiment, as shown in the process of S61, only the name of the item one level below the item being operated by the user is notified. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and this setting is arbitrarily changed. be able to.

  As described above, the notification content generation unit 40 generates notification content based on the user login information and the notification range setting information 63 stored in the device management information 62.

<Item holding information that forms an item tree>
Next, item holding information forming a hierarchical structure (item tree) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating information held by items forming the item tree according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 11, in this embodiment, each item has “item name” and “item function” information for notifying the user. Further, in the case of an item that causes screen transition, it has the name of the item at the screen transition destination and link information to the item.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 11, “scaling” that is an “item name” has information that “the print function data is enlarged / reduced to fit the paper size” as the “item function”. “Scaling” is an item that causes screen transition to another corresponding screen. The names of items at the screen transition destination are “zoom”, “standard size scaling”, and “paper designation scaling”. Holds the name of one item and link information to each item.

  As described above, even when the item selected by the user causes a screen transition, not only the name of the item but also the information of the item at the screen transition destination is notified to the user. In a touch panel that can be operated by both visually impaired people, it is possible to facilitate the task of searching for items necessary for the visually impaired to reach the menu hierarchy where the target item is located.

The invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to that described in the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Is possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Operation instruction | indication position detection means 20 Operation object specification means 30 Hierarchical structure change means 40 Notification content generation means 50 Notification means 60 Recording means 61 Equipment setting information 62 Equipment management information 63 Notification range setting information 71 Operation panel 72 Audio | voice output apparatus 73 Drive apparatus 74 Auxiliary storage device 75 Memory device 76 Arithmetic processing device 77 Interface device 78 Recording medium 100 Information input device

JP-A-11-110107

Claims (7)

An information input device for inputting information instructed by a user on a screen,
An operation target specifying means for specifying an operation target on the screen instructed by the user;
A hierarchy configuration changing means for specifying a hierarchy position of the operation target specified by the operation target specifying means, and changing a hierarchy configuration under the specified hierarchy position;
An information input device comprising: a notification content generation unit configured to generate a notification content for notifying the user of the hierarchical configuration changed by the hierarchical configuration change unit based on preset notification range setting information. The hierarchical structure changing means includes
Whether to notify the operation target and whether to select the operation target is determined based on the user login information and preset device setting information, and the hierarchical configuration is dynamically changed based on the determined result. The information input device according to claim 1. The notification content generation means includes
The information input device according to claim 1, wherein the notification content is dynamically generated based on the login information of the user and the notification range setting information. The notification range setting information is:
The information input device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: hierarchy configuration level designation information of the hierarchy configuration notified to the user and detailed notification designation information of the operation target. The detailed notification designation information is
The information input device according to claim 4, further comprising detailed function information of the operation target. An information input method executed by an information input device that inputs information instructed by a user on a screen,
An operation target specifying procedure for specifying an operation target on the screen instructed by the user;
A hierarchy configuration change procedure for specifying a hierarchy position of the operation target specified by the operation target specification procedure, and changing a predetermined hierarchy configuration below the specified hierarchy position;
An information input method comprising: a notification content generation procedure for generating a notification content for notifying the user of a hierarchical configuration changed by the hierarchical configuration change procedure based on preset notification range setting information. An information input program for inputting information instructed by a user on a screen,
Computer
An operation target specifying means for specifying an operation target on the screen instructed by the user;
A hierarchy structure changing means for specifying a hierarchy position of the operation object specified by the operation object specifying means and changing a predetermined hierarchy structure ahead of the specified hierarchy position;
An information input program for causing a hierarchical structure changed by the hierarchical structure changing unit to function as a notification content generation unit that generates notification content to be notified to the user based on preset notification range setting information.

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