The Accessibility Playbook for Emerging Technology Initiatives
In 2020, PEAT published the Accessibility Playbook for Emerging Technology Initiatives. The Playbook is a blueprint for anyone seeking to launch a successful initiative to drive the development of emerging technologies that are accessible to and inclusive of people with disabilities. The recommendations in the Playbook are based on best practices and lessons learned from XR Access and Teach Access. PEAT has contributed to both of these communities and drawn from the collective knowledge of their leaders and participants.
XR Access: A Case Study
XR Access, launched in 2019, is an initiative focused on advancing the development of accessible virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR)[1], collectively known as XR. The XR Access journey helped shape the Playbook and acts as a model for starting an initiative to make any emerging technology accessible. This case study provides an in-depth look at the steps taken to launch and sustain the Initiative in its first year of operation and outlines how XR Access is evolving and laying the groundwork for its next stage of maturity.
Footnotes
[1] Virtual reality (VR) is a form of technology allowing a user to immerse themselves in a completely virtual world that blocks the real world from view; augmented reality (AR) is a form of technology that overlays digital images onto the real world, augmenting it with virtual objects; mixed reality (MR) is a form of technology that fuses elements of VR and AR, but takes the immersive experience a step further; users don’t just experience a fully virtual or altered reality but are able to manipulate virtual objects in a real-world setting.
