Thread Subject: Presentation on accessibility issues in Second Life

Note

This archival content is maintained by WebAIM and NCDAE on behalf of TEITAC and the U.S. Access Board . Additional details on the updates to section 508 and section 255 can be found at the Access Board web site.

From: Judy Brewer
Date: Wed, Aug 08 2007 8:25 AM

Dear All,

As part of today's agenda for TEITAC's Web/Software subcommittee, Jean-Paul
Boucher and Kate Walser of SRA International, and I (W3C/WAI) will be
giving a presentation on accessibility issues in Second Life and virtual
3-D environments.

Kate has set up a Wiki area which gives some background for the
presentation. I encourage you to look through this material before or after
the teleconference:
http://teitac.org/wiki/Web_and_Software:General_issues#Immersive_Virtual_Environments_.28IVE.29_.28e.g..2C_Second_Life.29

We're planning about a 30-minute presentation, with some discussion time
following. You may note that there's already been some discussion on
accessibility of Second Life on the Web/Software mailing list (also linked
from the Wiki area above.) We don't expect to be able to address the full
range of issues raised there, but would like to cover some basics for those
who may be less familiar with virtual environments, and look at how this
may or may not intersect with our existing draft 508 standards.

The presentation will include:
- Brief introduction to immersive virtual environments such as Second Life
* who is already using them and how
* what do these environments include and how do users interact
with them
- Barriers to accessibility
- Discussions of possible solutions and efforts
- Where might our draft standards fall short in addressing IVEs and
Second Life?

Note that we will not be doing the presentation within Second Life, nor
expecting people to enter Second Life at any point. But if you're
interested in exploring, please look for additional information from Kate
or Jean-Paul on how to enter Second Life, and possible times for guided
support exploring some areas of Second Life.

Regards,

- Judy, Kate, Jean-Paul


--
Judy Brewer +1.617.258.9741 http://www.w3.org/WAI
Director, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
MIT/CSAIL Building 32-G526
32 Vassar Street
Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

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