Bill Curtis-Davidson2021-08-17T20:24:32+00:00Published: December 3rd, 2020|Tags: Extended Reality (XR)|
Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies (collectively called XR) have advanced in the last decade, but some developers have overlooked accessibility in their designs. XR Association (XRA) worked with members of XR Access, including people with disabilities, to address this challenge.
They published a new chapter in the XRA Developers Guide, “Accessibility & Inclusive Design in Immersive Experiences.” It includes a set of industry-backed practices for creating accessible XR, including:
Providing comparable experiences for people with and without disabilities.
Giving users control over their experience with options for completing tasks and changing the XR environment to meet their accessibility needs.
Getting input from people with disabilities during the development and testing phases of XR design.
Key recommendations for XR developers include:
General accessibility. Cut down on distractions and include features to support users across disability types.
Visual accessibility. Support text and font adjustments, brightness and contrast, zoom functions, and more.
Auditory disabilities. Support captions for audio (visible for 360˚movement) and provide options for sign language.
Mobility disabilities. Provide help with tasks, limit required body movements, and support options such as controller-free hand tracking.
Cognitive disabilities. Provide help with on-boarding and orientation and allow users to hide distracting content or features.
