Accessibility for the Immersive Web — Accessible Locomotion for WebXR

A presentation at CUNY Tech & Inclusion in March 2019 in New York, NY, USA by Roland Dubois

Accessibility for the Immersive Web Accessible Locomotion for WebXR Roland Dubois @rolanddubois

What do we think when we hear VR https://www.flickr.com/photos/yelp/28474934237/

How do we interact and play in VR? Overview of VR controllers

Is VR inherently inaccessible?

2014 Google Cardboard

https://www.theverge.com/2014/6/25/5842188/googles-cardboard-turns-your-android-device-into-a-vr-headset

2015 nytvr App

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/magazine/virtual-reality-fails-its-way-to-success.html

2015 MozVR team releases A-Frame

https://aframe.io/

VR ≠ the Immersive web (WebXR) VR is not a toy. It’s a new medium. New media can’t be exclusive @rolanddubois

Is the fallback input for mobile VR inclusive enough for everyone?

Navigating VR for Physically Disabled Users with Binary Input Controls

NSCISC: >250.000 people with quadriplegia (tetraplegia) in the US each year Majority: Neurological disease/disorders & birth defects (MS/ALS/Polio/…) Random accidents: Statistically every 41 min a person in the US sustains a traumatic spinal cord injury (many paralyzing) @rolanddubois

Sip-and-Puff - introduced to navigate wheelchairs in the 1960s
two (stereo) input frequencies: sip/puff strong/soft/continuous
rebirth in IOT and AT for productivity software @rolanddubois

From Sip-and-Puff To Binary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sip-and-puff

Reality Virtually Hackathon 2019 @MIT Media Lab

Binary Input - single button control
binary input frequencies: on/off - short/long/ continuous
mapped with the W3C standard Gamepad API to enable assistive technology (AT) devices @rolanddubois

Locomotion Mode @rolanddubois

Interaction Mode @rolanddubois

433 Hackers 110 Team submissions Best Application For Accessibility Wayfair Way-more Best Use of an HTC Vive Focus 3x winner at the world’s largest, most diverse XR Hackathon. January 17-21st, 2019 @ the MIT Media Lab, Boston https://realityvirtuallyhack.com

Thanks! Roland Dubois rolanddubois.com @rolanddubois #aframe_nyc #webxr @aframevr

Roland Dubois
@rolanddubois

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Accessible Locomotion for WebXR, a look at the creation of an input prototype for quadriplegic users to interact and navigate VR on the web. A winning submission st the world’s largest, most diverse XR Hackathon; Reality Virtually @ the MIT Media Lab in Boston, MA.