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Re: 360 views

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From: Patrick H. Lauke
Date: Aug 27, 2019 11:54AM

Whether or not it's possible to make 360 views accessible really depends
on the specific way in which these 360 views have been implemented.
There is no one standard way of achieving these.

There are also different levels/aspects here to consider, as with most
regular web content, including - but not limited to:

- for sighted keyboard users, ensure that the view can be operated using
a keyboard
- for colour blind/low vision users, ensure that whatever controls etc.
are provided have sufficient contrast
- unsurprisingly the most complex, ensure that low or no vision users
can operate these controls with AT and have an
understandable/appropriate experience

On that last point, it's worth (as with things like interactive maps as
well) taking a step back and understanding what it is that the 360 view
is actually trying to convey/do. Is it purely decorative, or just there
to, say, give a 360 product shot? If so, it's arguably not too
problematic (depending on the tech used etc) to make this reasonably
accessible to AT users, as long as it's conveyed correctly that this is
a 360 product shot. Does the view also include hotspots that then
provide a description of a particular feature of a product, for
instance? Then, it should be possible for AT users to just navigate
through a list of these features without requiring them to
rotate/manipulate the view first (worst case, providing a separate list
of features somewhere adjacent?). Most complex would be 360 views which
actually try to give a virtual tour or similar, with hotspots that
present information but also act as jumping points to other views. At
that point, I'd even suggest that perhaps a complete separate, non-360
alternative would be preferable for AT users?

So, sorry, a long-winded way of saying "it depends".

P
--
Patrick H. Lauke

www.splintered.co.uk | https://github.com/patrickhlauke
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