There's a part on the say-so puck that costs almost nothing. It's a standard 3.5mm jack — the same humble socket that's been on the back of things for decades. On the bill of materials it's a rounding error. It's also, quietly, the most important thing on the board.
The 3.5mm port
The say-so is the smallest way to keep the final say: a little puck that glows when a boop needs you and takes your press to approve. Most people will press the soft dome on top with a fingertip. But the whole design falls apart if “a fingertip” is the only way in — because a fingertip on a small dome isn't something everyone has.
So next to the dome there's a jack. Plug in a standard assistive switch — a big jelly switch, a foot pedal, a sip-and-puff, whatever a hand or a body can reliably reach — and it approves a boop exactly the same way pressing the head does. The switch you already own and already trust becomes the yes.
The cheapest part on the board. The biggest door it opens.
Who it's for
This is for the person with a tremor for whom a small dome is a coin toss. For the kid who runs their whole world off one big switch clamped to a wheelchair tray. For the grandparent whose hands don't pinch anymore but can still lean on a pedal. For anyone an occupational therapist has already fitted with a switch that works for them.
- INPUT · any standard single-switch — jelly switch, foot pedal, sip-and-puff
- ACTION · one press = one approval, same as a head-boop
- READING · none required — the glow says “needs you,” the press says “yes”
No special mode. No lesser path that does 80% of the job. The switch input approves the same boops, with the same tiers of consent, and the same one clean press that's sequence-numbered so it can never accidentally approve two things. The same yes, for every hand.
Why it shipped first, not last
Here's the part we're actually proud of, and it's a design decision more than an engineering one. The switch port wasn't a feature we bolted on at the end because a checklist asked for it. Access wasn't a mode. It was the shape from the start.
When the core interaction of your product is “press to approve,” you have a choice to make on day one: do you design for the average hand and patch in accommodations later, or do you design the press so that every hand is a first-class way in? We picked the second, and it changed the hardware. The dome switch underneath is a forgiving 60-gram press, easy on a shaky hand. The dwell curve tolerates a slow, uncertain approach. And the jack was on the schematic before the enclosure was drawn.
A brand that says it's for everyone and then puts accessibility in a settings submenu is a brand that means “everyone who's like us.” We'd rather spend the ten cents. Dignity doesn't need a settings menu — it needs a standard jack, in from the start.