If your Windows touchscreen kiosk is using the Internet Explorer WebBrowser Control you might want to consider disabling the user’s ability to “pinch-zoom” since it can cause readability issues. Pinch-zoom can be a useful feature, especially when interacting with the web browser, but it can also cause confusion in a touchscreen kiosk environment since not all users are familiar with the pinch-zoom functionality. Imagine the scenario where one user zooms in on the webpage and walks away, then the next user has no idea how to zoom back out to 100%. Fortunately it’s easy to disable pinch-zoom in the Internet Explorer WebBrowser Control from the Windows registry and I’ll outline the steps below. Continue reading “How to Disable Internet Explorer Pinch-Zoom on Your Touchscreen Kiosk”
Category: General
Showing Advertisements While Your Kiosk Is Idle With KioskSimple
A great time to display advertisements on your kiosk is while the kiosk is idle to catch the attention of passerby’s. The kiosk’s advertisements can even double as a screen saver to help prevent damage to the screen which can occur from showing the same image for too long. KioskSimple makes it easy to run advertisements on your kiosk by allowing you to define a series of web pages that run in a loop while the kiosk is idle (aka an attract loop). This makes it simple to display html based advertisements with pictures, audio and video from your kiosk. Continue reading “Showing Advertisements While Your Kiosk Is Idle With KioskSimple”
Disabling JavaScript Error Messages on Your Kiosk with KioskSimple
If your kiosk is running a website which utilizes JavaScript then chances are you don’t ever want to display JavaScript error messages to your kiosk users. Ideally your JavaScript would never encounter an error, but on the off chance that your developers aren’t perfect a JavaScript error can cause the web browser to display a very confusing error message that can distract your kiosk users from their intended purpose. Continue reading “Disabling JavaScript Error Messages on Your Kiosk with KioskSimple”
Blocking Websites on Your Kiosk with KioskSimple
If you’re using a kiosk to display a website(s) then chances are you don’t want your users to be able to browse wherever they please. You want to keep your website on the kiosk at all times so that you control exactly what your customers see while using your kiosk. We’ve made this easy with KioskSimple and no coding or nerd degree is required.
KioskSimple uses a hybrid whitelist (websites that are allowed) and blacklist (websites that are blocked) for maximum security and flexibility. In order for a website to be displayed on your kiosk it must be both included in the whitelist and not include in the blacklist. I’ll do an example below so you can see just how easy this is. Continue reading “Blocking Websites on Your Kiosk with KioskSimple”
Blocking Popup Windows on your Kiosk with KioskSimple
The Windows operating system regularly pops up dialog windows which could interrupt your kiosk users or worse compromise the security of your kiosk. KioskSimple enables you to configure which popup windows should be allowed to display (if any) and which should be automatically closed. By blocking popup windows you eliminate potential distractions to your kiosk users and help ensure that their experience on your kiosk goes smoothly. Continue reading “Blocking Popup Windows on your Kiosk with KioskSimple”
8 Signs of an Amateur Touchscreen Kiosk Application
Have you ever been using a self-service kiosk and thought to yourself “that’s obviously not right?” Anyone who uses kiosks on a regular basis has at some point interacted with a kiosk that was less than professional. As a kiosk software company we’ve had the privilege of developing kiosk applications deployed across the US and I’ve compiled a list of signs of an amateur kiosk application so you can avoid these same mistakes.
1. The artwork on the kiosk screens looks like generic clipart or is inconsistent
Usually this happens because the kiosk designer doesn’t have access to a graphic artist or the client has their own ideas on what’s “acceptable” artwork. Fortunately we have an excellent graphic designer on staff but we’ve experienced the latter where clients will send us generic clipart for buttons and ask to have them put on the kiosk. We try our best to talk them out of this but sometimes to no avail. If you’ve seen our website KioskSimple.com you’ll notice we use a lot of hand drawn artwork that all meshes together nicely to give a consistent and professional theme with the occasional clipart thrown in for humor. Continue reading “8 Signs of an Amateur Touchscreen Kiosk Application”
Blocking Ctrl-Alt-Del and Other Windows Shortcuts on Your Kiosk
Preventing malicious users from tampering with the Windows operating system on your kiosk necessitates that system keystrokes like Ctrl-Alt-Del be blocked. This can be surprisingly difficult since Windows doesn’t give you a built in method for doing this. The next logical step would be to have your kiosk application filter out these keystrokes which turns out to be a problem since your kiosk application is running in user move not kernel mode (see user mode vs. kernel mode explanation).
This leaves you with three options:
- Create a kernel mode upper filter driver that listens for system keystrokes and discards them before they reach the operating system.
- Use a 3rd party kiosk lockdown software that filters keystrokes for you.
- Replace the physical keyboard with a touchscreen keyboard that does not include any modifier keys (i.e. Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Windows Key, etc…)
Continue reading “Blocking Ctrl-Alt-Del and Other Windows Shortcuts on Your Kiosk”
Integrating a Webcam Into Your Kiosk Application
Adding a webcam to your kiosk application can go a long way to improve the security of your kiosk. In the case of disputed credit card charges (i.e. chargebacks) it can help to have a picture of the customer swiping the card in question. One of our main goals with KioskSimple was to make it really easy for kiosk application developers to integrate popular kiosk devices, like webcams, into their kiosks. The KioskSimple developer API supports integrating a webcam into your website and we have code examples to get you started. Continue reading “Integrating a Webcam Into Your Kiosk Application”
How to Easily Put Your Website on a Kiosk with KioskSimple
Getting your website on a self-service kiosk is a simple process with the use of kiosk lockdown software like KioskSimple. In this article (and accompanying video) I’ll show you just how easy it is to convert your existing website into a self-service kiosk in just a few simple steps. Don’t worry, no nerd degree is required.
Continue reading “How to Easily Put Your Website on a Kiosk with KioskSimple”
If You’re Not Considering Tablet Kiosks, You’ll Hate Yourself Later
Tablet kiosks are becoming an increasing popular economic alternative to traditional standing kiosks. They offer many advantages, chief of which is their affordability, but they also have several limitations which are worth considering. My goal for this article is to help you decide if a tablet kiosk is a better fit for your kiosk project than a standard kiosk. Continue reading “If You’re Not Considering Tablet Kiosks, You’ll Hate Yourself Later”