A presentation at WebXR Education Summit 2022 by Roland Dubois
Roland Dubois, Adjunct Faculty for XR, School of Visual Arts @rolanddubois
What is the ADA? ADA and Digital Accessibility Working towards ADA Compliance
1800 First advocacy groups for accessibility 1930s The League of the Physically Handicapped fought for employment for people with disabilities (Great Depression) 1950s NARC was founded, focused on children with cognitive disabilities 1973 Rehabilitation Act, first time segregation & exclusion of people with disabilities was seen as discrimination -> Section 504 1975 Education of All Handicapped Children Act guaranteed children with disabilities the right to public school education 1988 First draft of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Problems are inevitable circumstances imposed by the disability itself - Shift in mindset - Realization of problems due to societal barriers and prejudice
Enacted by Congress July 26, 1990 Bans discrimination based on disability Requires public accommodation to be accessible The ADA is an “equal opportunity” law for people with disabilities.
“Disability” - a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
ADA applies to all public and private organizations in the United States.
The ADA does not have specific language about digital accessibility
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA are the recommended standard to achieve ADA compliance
ADA compliance can’t be achieved quickly and easily
Penalties for inaccessible technology are dealt through the legal system
When a digital product is accessible, a person with a disability can (to the greatest extent possible):
Section 508:
In 2020, over 3,500 ADA lawsuits were filed against organizations with inaccessible websites. Many of them had no idea they were at risk.
First websites … then web apps … then native mobile … next AR/VR ADA compliance applies across ALL media.
Good first steps:
Join us and engage at XRAccess.org
Article series
Building accessible social environments An accessible classroom in hubs
MIT Hackathon Project https://blog.prototypr.io/accessible-locomotion-and-interaction-in-webxr-e4d87c512e51
MIT Hackathon Project https://blog.prototypr.io/accessible-locomotion-and-interaction-in-webxr-e4d87c512e51
Accessible student projects at NYIT
http://rolanddubois.com https://webxrnews.com https://www.meetup.com/a-frame-nyc @rolanddubois
Government funding for education comes with a mandate for accessibility. Failure to account for the needs of the differently abled could potentially expose institutions to lawsuits. Roland Dubois, a leading educator on WebXR and accessibility shares what you need to know to make sure your program serves the needs of everyone, in compliance with governmental regulation.
The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.
The WebXR Summit Series returns on July 21st when Dr. Karen Alexander hosts the WebXR Education Summit bringing together the leaders of immersive education for a day of knowledge sharing with co-host Julie Smithson.
Have a look a the stellar roster of presenters, panelists, and special guests we already have registered, with more confirmed, so stay tuned for additional announcements!
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