Accessible by Design: An Opportunity for Virtual Reality
- Martez Mott ,
- Ed Cutrell ,
- Mar Gonzalez Franco ,
- Christian Holz ,
- Eyal Ofek ,
- Richard Stoakley ,
- Meredith Ringel Morris
ISMAR 2019 Workshop on Mixed Reality and Accessibility |
Published by IEEE
Too often, the accessibility of technology to people with disabilities is an afterthought (if it is considered at all); post-hoc or third-party patches to accessibility, while better than no solution, are less optimal than interface designs that consider ability-based concerns from the start. Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are at a crucial point of near-maturity, with emerging, but not yet widespread, commercialization; as such, VR technologies have an opportunity to integrate accessibility as a fundamental, developing cross-industry standards and guidelines to ensure high-quality, inclusive experiences that could revolutionize the power and reach of this medium. In this position paper, we discuss the needs, opportunities, and challenges of creating accessible VR.
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