ADA Compliance for Immersive Education

ADA Compliance for Immersive Education

Roland Dubois, Adjunct Faculty for XR, School of Visual Arts @rolanddubois

Overview

What is the ADA? ADA and Digital Accessibility Working towards ADA Compliance

History

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)

History

Problems are inevitable circumstances imposed by the disability itself - Shift in mindset - Realization of problems due to societal barriers and prejudice

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - ada.gov

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.

Definition

“Disability” - a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

1. Substantially limiting
2. History of disability
3. Not temporary (6 months)

5 Titles (Sections) of the ADA

1. Employment
2. Public Entities / Transportation
3. Public Accommodations (Goods, Services, Facilities, Accommodations)
4. Telecommunications
5. Provisions Protection

The ADA and Digital Accessibility

ADA applies to all public and private organizations in the United States.

• It applies to all organization sizes or industries
• Public organization standards are in Title II
• Private organization standards are in Title III

The ADA and Digital Accessibility

The ADA does not have specific language about digital accessibility

• Title III requires that “places of public accommodation” are accessible to people with disabilities
• Courts have upheld that this includes websites, apps, and other digital “places.”

The ADA and Digital Accessibility

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA are the recommended standard to achieve ADA compliance

• Attempts to revise the ADA to include specific standards for technology were unsuccessful
• The ADA remains as it was written in 1990

The ADA and Digital Accessibility

ADA compliance can’t be achieved quickly and easily

• Solutions that claim easy/quick compliance fixes are too good to be true
• It is possible to build a sustainable accessibility program with the proper tools, procedures, and training

The ADA and Digital Accessibility

Penalties for inaccessible technology are dealt through the legal system

• Most cases settle out of court
• Attorneys’ fees can be tens of thousands of dollars
• Once a settlement is reached, remediating the inaccessible technology is another large investment that must now be done on the plaintiff’s timeline rather than your own

What does “Accessibility” mean?

When a digital product is accessible, a person with a disability can (to the greatest extent possible):

• acquire the same information,
• engage in the same interactions,
• and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability, with substantially equivalent ease of use

The ADA and Education

• Rehabilitation Act of 1973 -> Section 504 & Section 508 tie federal funding to compliance Section 504:
• Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by recipients of Federal financial assistance
• Applies to higher education institutions, public libraries, airports, and any organization that receives federal support of any kind, even if the organization is not a federal or state organization.

The ADA and Education

Section 508:

• Electronic & information technology must be accessible. Added in 1986, updated in 1998 & 2017
• Applies specifically to federal agencies, but it also impacts any company that does business with a federal agency. This includes private contractors, the financial industry, healthcare, many legal organizations, and others.
• Updated 508 rules (2018), the law now “incorporates, by reference” WCAG 2.0 Level AA. (Dominos v. Robles)

Enforcement

In 2020, over 3,500 ADA lawsuits were filed against organizations with inaccessible websites. Many of them had no idea they were at risk.

Enforcement

First websites … then web apps … then native mobile … next AR/VR ADA compliance applies across ALL media.

Working towards ADA Compliance

Good first steps:

• Create a statement (literally): How to write an A11y statement
• Offer multimodality in your content (voiceover/closed captions)
• Create progressively enhanced interactions and content
• Partner with an A11y expert and become active in the community

Working towards ADA Compliance

Join us and engage at XRAccess.org

• Prototype & test your concepts
• Get feedback from people within the A11y community
• Share your solutions open-source

Working towards ADA Compliance Example

Article series

Working towards ADA Compliance Example

Building accessible social environments An accessible classroom in hubs

Working towards ADA Compliance Example

MIT Hackathon Project https://blog.prototypr.io/accessible-locomotion-and-interaction-in-webxr-e4d87c512e51

Working towards ADA Compliance Example

MIT Hackathon Project https://blog.prototypr.io/accessible-locomotion-and-interaction-in-webxr-e4d87c512e51

Working towards ADA Compliance Example

Accessible student projects at NYIT

GET IN TOUCH!

http://rolanddubois.com https://webxrnews.com https://www.meetup.com/a-frame-nyc @rolanddubois