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Finding Accessible XR: An Instructional Design Analysis

 

In 2020, I wrote the Eight Principles of Universal Design for Virtual Reality Platforms, based on a combination of Universal Design (UD) and the W3C internet standards.

Universal Design (UD) should not be confused with Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Erdtman, Rassmus-Gröhn, and Hedvall (2021) wonderfully state, "Universal design (UD) is a concept that originates in architecture and design. Through its enrollment in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), UD may contribute to the realisation of a more inclusive society." Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a non-research-based embattled learning approach that is currently suffering the blows of being closely associated with the debunked learning styles.

What's in play

Here in 2022, I am thinking of further amending the Eight Principles with an “Ease of Use of Technology” category added to number 8. However, I am not qualified to fully assess “Ease of Use of Technology” in all areas of accessibility (screen readers, text-to-speech, controller modifications, etc.) I do think, however, that I will write commentary.

Several organizations are working on versions of accessibility standards.

For developers, see:

For training on accessible needs, or even better, user ability testing, see Equal Entry

I do encourage you to check out those resources if you need to take a deeper dive.

All of these resources are before resources, meaning, they make the project better at launch. Yes, as it should be!

But if you'll pardon me saying so, most instructional designers in February 2022 would not know what to do with an SDK if they had one. Instructional designers often have to work with what we have.

Yes, we are the instructional MacGyvers of our organizations.
Photo of lego character helpfulling putting a letter key back into a keyboard.

Instructional Designers

My focus is not on the technical/technology side but on the analysis and evaluation side for instructional designers. Said another way, someone has to be thinking about accessibility first, long before the first code is typed, and last, after the product is in front of users.

Also, for the next few years, instructional designers are going to be increasingly tasked with evaluating existing XR products (platforms and individual experiences) for use in educational environments.

Evaluating For Example, The Line VR

Here are just a couple of screen captures from The Line, an experience I put in one of my own courses. These are easily seen as the standard "accessibility" choices right at the start of the experience.

Language: Audio: English or Portuguese. Subtitles on or off.

In The Line VR experience for Quest, the Audio Language can be either English or Portugues and the Subtitles can be turned on and off.

Accessibility: defined here as "body movement" and can choose Room Scale or Seated.

In The Line VR experience, the user can chose to move their body through a room space "room scale"​ or remain seated the entire time.

These were the only accessibility choices within the experience. On the box (so to speak), it was listed by Oculus as 'comfortable' and it would do hand tracking. (Play through video here.)

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Design Documents - Familiar Territory

Checking for accessibility with the widest possible definition of that term will be a concern. A thorough instructional design analysis should look at accessibility from many points of view. These items on the following list should look familiar to IDs but perhaps not through the lens of accessibility and virtual reality.

  • purpose (audience, learning goals)
  • context
  • requirements (costs, timelines, standards)
  • learning requirements (pacing, equipment, security)
  • instructional strategy (theoretical approaches, variance)
  • assessment strategy (sadly, often assessments are shuffled outside of XR)
  • format (synchronous/asynchronous, overall course timing related to goals)
  • development (including authoring tools)
  • data analytics (ongoing, summative).

Ideally, instructional designers will feel comfortable raising accessible concerns from the very beginning through the end of projects.

Cartoon image of a project start meeting with two employees. One asks What about accessibility?

For example, I recently sat in an organizing meeting for an online event. It was suggested that a "virtual reality" component be added for the attendees. Immediately someone suggested a platform name. I asked, "What are the minimum tech specs of that platform?"

You could have heard a pin drop...for what felt like years.

It was uncomfortable to suggest that bringing attendees into a virtual reality space might not work well for all attendees.

There are big clashes ahead between the educational psychology community, which has evidence of what works for learning, and the XR technology community that wants to sell, sell, sell. Neither side is willing to give in and the learners are in the no man's land in the middle.

I just attended a conference recently that -- during the actual live online conference sessions-- an attendee asked "Are captions available?" The response was "We're asking the platform now." Now, as in, while the conference was running. Not before (insert eye roll here).

Cartoon image of two employees at a mid-project point at work. They are discussing a post-it that says How are we doing on accessibility?


My eventual goal is to refine a rubric and then use it on a few platforms. My intention is to launch at least a dozen analyses. I'll be aiming for WebXR and 2DVR because those are most accessible.

Cartoon image of two employees at the end of a project. One asks the other How did we do on accessibility?


Accessibility cannot be an afterthought. Accessibility has to be one of the first thoughts when XR is brought into a learning picture and it should be re-evaluated constantly.

  • No one learning method works for all learners. Thank you, years of research from the educational psychology community
  • No one platform will work for all learners. Thank you, years of research from the educational technology community.

Accessibility--if ignored-- has the risk of being just the same corporate afterthought that Diversity and Inclusion is now (woe!)-- well explained here about how inclusion truly works well:

"Being genuinely valued and respected involves more than just feeling included. It involves having the power to help set the agenda, influence what—and how—work is done, have one’s needs and interests taken into account, and have one’s contributions recognized and rewarded with further opportunities to contribute and advance."

Accessibility gives seats at the table and helps make sure that the agenda, influence, needs, interests, and the contributions of all are respected. That does not mean that everyone's needs are met, but we can do a great deal better when we try a little harder.

Photo of three people sitting on a bench in front a wall of black and white photos of a wide diveristy of people.


#InstructionalDesign #XR #VR #AR #CrossReality #ExtendedReality #Accessibility #W3C #UniversalDesign #XRDevelopersGuide #XRAssociation #XRAccess #TheLineVR #SpeakUp #WebXR #2DVR

This article appeared on LinkedIn on February 18, 2022.

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