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Re: Second Life issues

for

From: Moore, Michael
Date: Sep 17, 2008 6:50AM


Jan,

IBM has been doing quite a lot of work with second life and
accessibility. I recently attended a demonstration of some of the things
that they have been able to do in their second life world.

They have created a program that allows people to add tags to objects
within second life including descriptions of those objects. Anyone using
the plug-in can add tags to objects or add more information about the
object. The software also allows people to explore the world and query
the objects while using a screen reader. Finally they also have a
"follow" that allows someone to have their avatar follow another. It is
basically creating a virtual guide dog.

I would recommend contacting Phil Jenkins at IBM for more information
and to put you in touch with the folks that are working on this. It was
really very cool. If you need Phil's contact info contact me off line.
I have cc'd myself on this email so that you will be sure and get my
email address.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Jan Heck
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 4:45 PM
To: Alternate Media List; Knowbility Accessibility-SIG; WebAIM
Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] Second Life issues

Greetings, and please excuse cross-postings,



My college campus is wanting to roll out a Second Life "virtual campus"
this
summer. They are aware that whatever info is posted there must be
posted on
our regular Web site as well, so that critical info is accessible to
everyone. However, I have read and heard that Second Life is not very
accessible at all, and I'm concerned about offering its social
environment
(avatars, chat, etc.) that is only accessible to some, but not all,
students
(i.e., disabled students may not be able to participate because Second
Life
is not accessible to their assistive technology).



If that is correct (and please do correct me if I'm wrong), then how are
other campuses dealing with the Second Life accessibility issue? One of
the
management folks spearheading the project says that we are pretty much
forced to do this in order to remain competitive, so many colleges are
doing
it.



Comments?



--

Jan Heck

<EMAIL REMOVED>