Speaker
Abstract
Accessibility is often seen as the last step in many software projects - a checklist to be crossed off to satisfy regulations. But in reality, accessible design thinking can lead to a fountain of features that benefit disabled and abled users alike.
Curb cuts, the ramps from sidewalk to street, were originally created for wheelchair users, but rapidly became popular among bicyclists, stroller-pushing parents, and more. Inventions like the typewriter, telephone, and remote control were all made for disabled people and rapidly found universal application. Now, design for accessibility can guide us to the next generation of usability for virtual and augmented reality.
In this talk, you'll learn:
- The latest and greatest research happening in universities around the world focused on making extended reality (XR) more accessible
- How making XR accessible to people also makes it accessible to machines, fueling AI-based innovation
- How to leverage design for accessibility to create the next standard features of XR, while also opening your projects to larger audiences and defending yourself against lawsuits
Interview
My work is focused on making virtual and augmented reality accessible to people with disabilities. As you might expect, part of that is supporting novel research to understand how these technologies can be more inclusive; but a large part is motivating and educating XR content creators and platform owners on why accessibility matters.
Many people see accessibility as an expense with little return outside of legal compliance and publicity, but the reality couldn't be farther from the truth. Applications that put accessibility first tend to be some of the most robust, best-designed, and overall over-performing ones out there. I hope to help people realize that with my talk and improve investment into accessibility as part of the MVP.
Any major product decision-makers in the technology space, particularly those utilizing virtual and augmented reality. If you get to set organizational goals and product priorities, this is the talk for you.
Accessibility is always a worthwhile investment. On top of all the other benefits, making things more accessible to people makes them more accessible to machines, too. Laying the groundwork for accessibility means that you're getting your application's data ready to weave into APIs you may not even be considering yet.
I believe that if we design for it, AI can enable a lot of disabled people to cross the gaps and find employment and leadership in modern tech organizations. I believe it will also streamline the XR process, smoothing over the rote technical work and opening up creation to a new wave of artists and thinkers.
Topics
QCon San Francisco 2024 is a three day conference for senior software engineers, architects and team leads. An international program committee of working engineers selects every session. Patterns and practices, not products and pitches.
From the same track
Wednesday 20 November
10:35 Pacific DEKJ Session Augmented Reality Making Augmented Reality Accessible: A Case Study of Lens in Maps Ohan Oda Senior Software Engineer @Google, Expert in AR with Maps Starting from MARS @ColumbiaUniversity (2005), then CityLens @Nokia (2012), and Currently Live View @Google Augmented reality (AR) has the potential to revolutionize how we interact with the world, but its visual-centric nature often excludes users with visual impairments. 11:45 Pacific DEKJ Session XR Accessible Innovation in XR: Maximizing the Curb Cut Effect Dylan Fox Director of Operations @XR Access, Previously UC Berkeley Researcher & UX Designer, Expert on Accessibility for Emerging Technologies Accessibility is often seen as the last step in many software projects - a checklist to be crossed off to satisfy regulations. But in reality, accessible design thinking can lead to a fountain of features that benefit disabled and abled users alike. 13:35 Pacific DEKJ Session Building Inclusive Mini Golf: A Practical Guide to Accessible XR Development Colby Morgan Technical Director @Mighty Coconut, Walkabout Mini Golf, XR Accessibility Advocate Creating accessible tools and experiences in VR is an ongoing challenge, especially in visually intensive environments like gaming. 14:45 Pacific DEKJ Session Multidimensionality: Using Spatial Intelligence x Spatial Computing to Create New Worlds Erin Pañgilinan Spatial Computing x AI Leader, Author of "Creating Augmented and Virtual Realities: Theory and Practice for Next-Generation Spatial Computing", fast.ai Diversity Fellow, Deep Learning Program Spatial intelligence and multimodal AI models are transforming the way we design user experiences in Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), eXtended Reality (XR) / spatial computing environments. 15:55 Pacific DEKJ Session Panel: Next Generation Inclusive UIs Erin Pañgilinan, Colby Morgan, Dylan Fox Augmented, Virtual, Extended, and Mixed Reality unlock the ability to integrate the power of computers more seamlessly into our physical three-dimensional world. However, designing the user experience of these next-generation UIs to be as inclusive as possible comes with a lot of challenges.