[CLOSED] : Help create a Guide for Accessibility in VR

We propose the creation of a guide for best accessibility practices in VR.
Being at the starting point in this new art form gives us the opportunity to build accommodations for as many people as we can and try, as much as possible, to make accessibility a core principle in the creation of VR environments.
We should create an easy “go to” file for developers and artists with all the information needed to accommodate more people. For that, we should collect data already available on the topic, and ask people with disabilities for their feedback on their experience with VR.

This bounty will focus on the first phase of this project: collecting as much data as we can.

Earn 80$ equivalent in NEAR (max. 6) by writing (around 1000 words) about accessibility in VR. All information on this topic is welcome, especially feedback from people with disabilities.

Do so by replying in this topic with the article you wrote or the links to the resources. Wait for a confirmation reply from one of our council members @frnvpr @microchipgnu @Natural-Warp @JulianaM @Samiasns, @squattingPigeon, @nearestchico and @nico and head to SputnikDAO to ask for your payout.

Any questions regarding this Bounty or any other questions, feel free to ask, either by replying to this topic or by talking with the community in our TG channel: Telegram: Contact @vrdao

REGARDING THE PAYOUT, WAIT FOR THE CONFIRMATION OF A COUNCIL MEMBER, WHO WILL PROVIDE THE VALUE IN $NEAR TO BE REQUESTED.

:note: in light of the recent changes in the funding structure, the value attributed to the [approved] payouts was changed.

Contacts and useful links:

Our TG channel is open to everyone who wants to engage with us and explore new VR related projects and ideas. Meet us on TG Telegram: Contact @vrdao, Instagram Login • Instagram and twitter https://twitter.com/dao_VR.

Everyone can also check what we are currently working on, just follow this link: vr-dao open doc - Google Docs ; for the moment, only council members can edit, but feel free to comment.

Find also Microchipgnus project 3XR on twitter https://twitter.com/threexr_ and discord Discord .

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I think this is great!

Thank you for your contribution @TRENDHEO . But we are looking for resources that address accommodating people with disabilities in VR. The link you shared, even though it looks like it has great insight in developing for VR, doesn’t seem to address accessibility.

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Hi @nearestchico
I have a story/experience, but I don’t know if it’s off topic, I’ll do a resume and tell me what you think about it.
In a public school on the outskirts of the city of São Paulo, I developed a project in the computer lab that combined three purposes: digital literacy, cartographic literacy and critical development on the city’s architecture and the inclusion of people with disabilities. The issue of virtual reality is present in the way the project was developed because we use sketchup as a tool. The project was to ask students from 8 to 10 years old to build virtually, in sketchup, the ideal school they would like to have and that it be inclusive, thinking about the problems that their real school had with students who had some kind of disability. In the class there was a student in a wheelchair and a deaf student and they also designed the school thinking about their own reality. The question is: is sketchup considered a virtual reality program or just a 3D drawing program?

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Hi, maybe I can be helpful in creating this manual. I study the issue of accessibility from an artistic point of view, but the depth of this research also involves the issue of accessibility in the context of accessible communication in the digital sphere. I have access to standard guides on accessibility in the sociocultural field and direct access to researchers and people with disabilities who can contribute to the construction of this material. If you find it useful for this work, I am available.

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I think sketchup has some integration with VR. But it looks like that experience could be of interest to us regardless. Can you tell us more about that? I am very curious to know more about how the students took on that task and about your experience.

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Yes please! I’ll DM you.

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@nearestchico >>>>

VR Accessibility Guide

Thinking about a “VR Accessibility Guide” will not be such a simple task. However, we must assume that each individual with physical, motor or mental disability has their own specificities and demands in both real and virtual scope.

Within the VR context, which by “nature” has a hybrid corporeality, we must think of this “accessibility guide” primarily because of the basic demands that make us generate this inclusive action within the DAO.

Thus, I list here five points that I think are necessary for us to start this possible work:

  1. To base this investigation on accessibility “guides” that already exist within the sphere of sociocultural rights and duties towards individuals with disabilities; (see annex 1)
  2. Map what are the real accessibility intentions within this project, in order to plan concrete activations within the VR perspective;
  3. Prioritize the presence of people with disabilities within the project as critical and creative agents capable of being protagonists of their own speeches and inclusion demands;
  4. Understand, together with the project team, the feasibility of implementing such guidelines in the “accessibility guide”;
  5. Facing the physical and psychological limitations and incapacities of each one as potential generators of new connections and challenges.

ANNEX 1

This annex aims to show an overview of studies and actions that already exist in the VR plan. I separated by regions because such guidelines are not universal and, depending on the location, communication about accessibility for people with disabilities can be quite different.

Within a brief personal survey, the items that I believe best serve the purpose of a VR Accessibility Guide are the three items from Brazil (which are very practical, objective and didactic subjects).

Another very interesting one is the third item from the USA which is a kind of platform specialized in the implementation of inclusive communication in VR.

The other items, being very comprehensive, end up leading the issues to broader directions that involve the sociocultural rights and duties towards people with disabilities in contemporary times.

Brazil

  1. primer-w3cbr-accessibility-web-fasciculo-II.pfd (pdf file)

  2. Hand Talk - ebook: How to make your website accessible?
    [[Ebook V2] - Como um site acessível gera oportunidades de negócios - Google Slides

  3. webinar: The 4 Principles of Digital Accessibility
    [Webinar] Os 4 princípios da Acessibilidade Digital - POUR - YouTube

Portugal

  1. Practical Guide to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Portugal (pdf file)

Europe

  1. ECA (European Concept of Accessibility)
    Website
  2. Design for All Foundation (website)
  3. EVERY ONE CAN_ Social Media as a Communication tool for Disabled People
    (website)

USA

  1. Why VR/AR Developers Should Prioritize Accessibility in UX/UI Design
    (Guise of developers should prioritize accessibilityin UI UX Design)
  2. Educators in VR (website with disability solutions informations)
  3. 3Play Media
    Making Social Media More Accessible to People with Disabilities | 3Play Media

With this information I’ve shared, I think it’s a good start for us to take the first steps in building this guide. Which must not only be built to help our future actions, but also enable professionals with disabilities to work together with us.

  • all the website links that I’ve shared in the list above, are with me. If anyone is interested, I’ll share it later because the Near system doesn’t allow me to attach too many links to a message.

I hope I was helpful and I am available for any questions or suggestions.

Best regards
Dani

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@dani this is amazing! Thank you so much for your thoughtful contribution. Feel free to ask for payment for your article on sputnik.

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I use to teach VR Art to a community of artists with disabilities in the Bay Area.
During that time I put together a curriculum of sorts with some considerations for the educators and caretakers for whom this breakthrough tech is often daunting.

I found that TiltBrush’s UI was one of the easiest to teach because the icons are clear and the basic tools are not hidden behind too many menus. Oculus Medium was surprisingly also a hit with some of my students. One student in particular who had trouble focusing and often disrupted others, was quite focused when creating assets in Medium.

I think the biggest challenge in teaching these apps is both the UI, and the workflow necessary to export their works for use in larger compositions. If you’re simply photographing or taking a video from within an app, thats easy enough. But once an artists realizes that they can world build, its sometimes up to the instructor to know how to get their creations out of the app and into a platform that enables interactivity. I created www.xrartisttoolkit.com to help folks in deciding which tools might suit their workflow needs.

Some artists also struggled to understand the limitations of the app. With Medium specifically, the more dense your sculpt gets, the more resources your computer will need. If I were building an app I would make this limit highly visible like the Super Mario Maker element limit or the Thermometer in Little Big Planet.

Unsurprisingly, the younger artists (30yrs old), really excelled at navigating these apps. I think maybe because they had previous experience playing video games so the controllers weren’t so much of an obstacle for them.

I also found that some 3D printed adaptability solutions made teaching these apps easier. Specifically having custom “Beat Saber” modded controllers made the Oculus Rift controllers easier to hold for folks with bigger hands or limited mobility. I actually had ours made with a cover over the side grip button so that it couldn’t be pressed during Tilt Brush.

Happy to further elaborate on some of these mods.

Outside Resources:
I’m sure you’re aware of https://xraccess.org/
and A11yVR https://www.meetup.com/a11yvr/

Olga has some pretty extensive software testing at Vroxygen.com
Piotr Lok might also have insight Youtube
Berkeley XR Accessibility Website

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Thank you so much for sharing your expirience with us! Feel free to ask for payment for the article on sputnik.

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Thanks @nearestchico
Would love to contribute more at a later date. I took a lot of notes while teaching. Perhaps some of my experience providing user support for a social VR platform could be helpful too.

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Hi. I don’t know English well, I hope you understand me)) :grinning:

There is a project https://vrbaikal.ru

The project allows you to visit Lake Baikal and its attractions from anywhere in the world using technology.

Baikal is a unique lake of Russia. 20% of the world’s fresh water reserves are located in this lake.

Right now they are translating the project into English.

The author of the project is my friend Telegram: Contact @KirillKazakov38

My name is Egor Shorin

electronicpunks.near

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Of course, feel free to share your experience!

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Hey Chico @nearestchico, I’m so sorry for answering just now. But as I had agreed with you, here it is. I hope this material can contribute to the discussion.

In 2015, in a public school on the outskirts of the city of São Paulo, I developed a project in the computer lab that combined three purposes: digital literacy, cartographic literacy and critical development on the city’s architecture, especially the inclusion of people with disabilities. The issue of virtual reality is present in the way the project was developed, as we use sketchup as a tool. The challenge was for students aged 8 to 11 to discuss and build virtually, in sketchup, the ideal school. In the challenge there were no restrictions on ideas, but the project always had to answer the question: does this school exclude anyone? In the class there was a student in a wheelchair and a deaf student and they also designed the school thinking about their own reality.

This project was part of the annual policy pedagogical plan’s technology lab for which I was responsible. The laboratory had the following goals: inclusion and digital literacy; principle of encoding by gamification; development of critical data analysis. There were 3 classes of approximately 25 students.

For students from 8 to 11 years of age, the School of Dreams project was aimed:

  1. Develop cartographic literacy, three-dimensionality and laterality
  2. Practical application of knowledge in mathematics and geometry.
  3. Develop a critical and inclusive view of responsibility, solidarity and autonomy.

In order to make this possible, a methodology was developed with the following steps: awareness, approach, election, development 1, self-assessment, development 2, collective assessment, public presentation.

  1. Awareness > In this step I presented some possibilities of working with Minecraft and Sketchup as a way to learn. I also made some assumptions that we would have to abort throughout the project. Duration: 3h per class.
  2. Approximation > during a period the students had time to test and investigate about the two softwares and have an opinion about them. 8h.
  3. Election > in assembly the students discussed the two programs and voted which would be used for that project and why. After the vote it was decided to use the sketchup. And the students also decided that the project could be developed in pairs. 4h
  4. Development 1 > I asked the students to build a playground. With this challenge, it was possible to guide the tool’s commands, what the possibilities were. At this stage, the issue of three-dimensionality, some principles of scale, positioning, laterality and development of fine motor coordination were also addressed. 16h
  5. Self-Assessment > moment in which I discussed individually with each student how their development was, what they learned, what were the difficulties, what self-determined goal for the next assessment was. 4h
  6. Development 2 > building The Dream School. This stage was the one in which we invested the most time and attention, it was also the time to make it more complex, demanding that projects be inclusive, and that human proportions be respected (which implied dealing with real-world measurements to take them to the virtual world). 40h
  7. Collective evaluation > each pair had the opportunity to present their project to the class, they highlighted some points and had to answer at least 2 questions asked by colleagues. The class assessed whether each project was below expectations, in expectation or beyond expectations agreed upon at the beginning of the project: does the project include or exclude people? 8h.
  8. Public presentation > The Municipality of São Paulo periodically holds meetings between technology laboratories at schools, fablabs and public projects such as robotics. The Dream School project was highlighted at the event for reconciling ethical discussions and formal learning.


Considerations and Results

Approach the idea of three-dimensional axes using the hand and fingers. The index finger pointing forward represented an axis, eg depth, the thumb pointing upward represented the height axis, and the middle finger perpendicular to the index finger represented the base axis. The three fingers at the same time in this position represented the possibility of something being understood as three-dimensional or not. A crumpled paper ball was the study volume. So the student with his hand in the position indicated above could check if it’s possible for the paper ball to be an object with 3 axes, that is, with 3 dimensions. While we did a test with a sheet of paper and, according to the students, the sheet of paper didn’t have one of the axes depending on its position, which was not enough to say that the sheet of paper is three-dimensional. Students having the domain and physical knowledge of what 3D is, the association to the virtual was relatively simple, as the software on its display features colored lines that represent what they could perceive in reality: height, base and depth.

Geometry and math were necessary to develop the project. With this, students had to learn to take measurements of objects around them, think about the idea of scale and proportion. Issues such as building an area in the sketchup and knowing if a child up to 1.5 meters would fit there implied the need to measure the laboratory room. For example, how high was the door, how much a chair was and how could it be represented in the virtual world. In addition, considering the virtual space based on its relationship with the physical space, students began to point out problems that the school had and that these problems made it difficult to include people with a disability.

Autonomy, responsibility and solidarity are the principles that guided my position as an educator. At all times, I sought to position myself as a mediator and advisor whose role was to make it more complex and bring more challenges to the advancement of the learning process. I got that it wasn’t my role to pass content to students, but to build with them based on their reality. Very sensitive things started to happen: the deaf student who drew a school with a lot of written and drawn information on the walls caused the school to increasingly start to have non-vocal signaling and communications. The wheelchair student designed a school full of ramps and more spaced tables, which led teachers to discuss how to expand the autonomy of movement of students in this situation from the point of view of those who need it.



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Hi @Vxz ! Thank you so much for your article! Even though the bounty is closed, due to the quality of your article, you can go ahead and ask for a payout of 12 NEAR, worth at the time of this message 80$.

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Hi @nearestchico!
My pleasure to contribute to the dialogue, If you have any question, let me know! :wink:

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welcome to VR DAO community :))

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