Dear Access World readers,

Welcome to the summer edition of AccessWorld!

To start us off this month, Janet Ingber brings us an update on Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The article includes information on all of the updates detailed in the keynote including the accessibility of new features as well as information on accessibility sessions that took place during the conference that might be of interest to those who seek to make their apps more accessible. Conference sessions are recorded and available for listening.

If you are someone who is interested in joining the industry of accessibility or are seeking to increase your advocacy for access in your organization, we have several articles dedicated to getting you started.

First, Cala Campfield from Salesforce details her journey into the accessibility field including a great deal of information on what might be needed to join the industry or be beneficial if it is a career choice you'd like to pursue.

Steve Kelly has interviewed Steve Sawczyn of HealthPartners, who provided accessibility assistance to target before moving into the healthcare space. In his interview, he details some information to get you started in becoming an accessibility advocate in your organization or if you're a developer, some resources that can get you started on adding accessibility to your projects.

As school is just around the corner, we have reviewed Google Classroom for accessibility, the online learning platform we use with our talent lab participants. The article details our findings on the accessibility of Google Classroom. For those who are interested in the testing process, the article offers a dive into the methods and structure of an accessibility review.

One area we would like to pursue going forward is accessibility in gaming. To start our gaming accessibility category, I have developed an article to get you started. I've included information on why it's important, a high-level look at adding accessibility for various disabilities, and specifically some initial strategies for bringing blindness accessibility in particular to video gaming.

Finally, we have often discovered anecdotally here at AFB that one key issue for blind or low vision people who are in the workplace is the inaccessibility of workplace specific software. To bring greater attention to this concern, the National Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision (NRTC) has shared their findings that provide hard data on this issue.

We hope you enjoy this issue of access world and are always happy to hear your comments and feedback.

Sincerely,

Aaron Preece

AccessWorld Editor in Chief

Check out the Summer 2023 Issue now!

Janet Ingber

Apple hosted their annual Worldwide Developers conference where they introduced a host of new features both mainstream and access specific. In addition, there were several sessions held at the conference for those seeking to improve accessibility in their products and services. For this article, we will first detail some of the accessibility sessions that were available at the conference (and that are still available to view online) before exploring the latest accessibility features arriving in the upcoming Apple OS updates.

Developer Sessions

During the Developers Conference, Apple offered a number of sessions on accessibility. They also offered labs where a developer could work with one of Apple’s accessibility experts. In this section, we will detail a few of the sessions from the conference with a specific focus on those sessions most useful to people focusing on access for people who are blind or have low vision. A full list of sessions with watch links is available on Apple's website.

Session Descriptions

Perform accessibility audits for your app: The presenter began by telling the group that worldwide, one in seven people have a disability. He talked about the Accessibility Inspector, which ships with Xcode. Xcode is Apple’s proprietary program for developers. He loaded an app and used the Accessibility Inspector to highlight accessibility issues within the app. He explained accessibility audits and gave examples.

Build Accessible apps with SwiftUI and UIKit: The presenter spoke about accessibility and how accessibility improvements in UI frameworks make it easier to include accessibility features. Some of the topics covered in the session included assigning priority to announcements, how to refine VoiceOver’s direct touch experiences, and how to keep accessibility attributes up to date. 

Create Accessible Spatial Experiences: In this session, the two presenters talked about making spacial experiences accessible to everyone. When speaking about visionOS, the one of the presenters said, “At Apple, we recognize that access to technology is a fundamental human right. This platform contains the largest list of accessibility features we’ve ever included in the first generation of a product.”

The presenter spoke about making apps accessible for people who are blind or have low vision. He explained that when designing an app for use with VoiceOver, there are several considerations including VoiceOver support, visual design, and motion. He opened an app and showed how it can be used with VoiceOver. He explained how to add VoiceOver to the accessibility shortcut and spoke about the gestures to be used in the app.

While demonstrating, he came to a part of the app that was not accessible. VoiceOver did not respond. He fixed the problem by using the new accessibility component that is in Reality Kit. This feature lets the developer configure aspects such as labels, traits, and custom actions. In this session, he gave directions on how to fix the problem encountered.

Accessibility

On May 16, Apple released a list of new accessibility features. The feature for individuals who are blind or low vision is called Point and Speak. It is accessed through detection mode in the Magnifier. People who are blind or low vision point the phone at an object and the app will read available text. The example that Apple used was that the app can help visually impaired people “interact with physical objects such as household appliances.”

In order to use this new feature, you will need a phone with LiDAR scanner. The iPhone 12, 13, and 14 Pro and Pro Max have this feature. It is rumored that the new iPhone Pros will also have it. In addition to Point and Speak, Apple has also announced the following access features:

• Siri will have a more expressive voice and Siri’s speech rate will be adjustable.
• Apple is making it easier for Mac users with low vision to adjust text size.
• Assistive Access is a new feature designed to help individuals with cognitive disabilities navigate their iPhone or iPad. Features can be customized to fit the accessibility needs of each person.
• Live Speech lets someone who is non-verbal type their responses during phone calls and conversations.
• Personal Voice gives anyone the ability to create a synthesized voice that sounds like them. Although this was developed for anyone who may lose their voice, anybody can use it.

The Bottom Line

It is exciting that Apple is taking accessibility seriously with the launch of Vision OS. Virtual reality is a still widely unexplored field in regards to accessibility, but considering the realistic soundscapes often present in virtual reality apps, there is a great deal of promise for people who are blind or have low vision.

Though the WWDC keynote primarily focused on mainstream updates, it was heartening to see the number and detail present in the access and inclusion sessions available at the conference. If you are a developer of apps for the Apple ecosystem or have connections to such, the sessions are definitely worth a watch. Also remember that if you are interested in the Google side of accessibility, Syed Hassan from the AFB Talent Lab published a blog post detailing updates from this year's Google IO.

Hanna Melo Fugulin, Aaron Preece

As a reader of AccessWorld, you may be considering a career in the field of accessibility. For this edition of our Employment Journeys column, we sat down with Cala Campfield, Technical Writer of Accessibility Content at Salesforce. In this interview, Cala takes us through her journey in the field of accessibility, as well as providing excellent advice for anyone looking to enter this rapidly evolving field.

Interview with Cala

Q: Are you blind or have low vision yourself? What has your journey with vision loss been like?

A: I am totally blind. I've been totally blind for just over 20 years, but I was actually born with low vision in one eye and no sight in the other. I lost the rest of my sight suddenly when I was 11. My mom and my grandma also share my genetic eye condition, so I grew up around a lot of role models. My mom would use a CCTV to magnify stuff, and I would play with my grandma's talking clocks. I used low vision stuff in school, things like that. So assistive technology wasn't strange. And I actually had a brilliant TVI in kindergarten who started teaching me braille. I asked, “why do I need to do this? I can see, why do I need to learn braille?” and the answer always was, “well, you may lose the rest of your vision one day and you may need braille”, and it turns out I did! So it was a really great decision, since when I lost the rest of my vision really suddenly, I was able to transition quickly and not miss a lot of school in the sixth grade, already knowing braille.

Q: Can you give us a rundown of your employment path? What led you to enter the field of accessibility?

A: I got into accessibility by accident. I did not set out to enter the accessibility field, that wasn't really on my radar. When I started my employment journey, I just wanted a job, you know, doing something I thought I'd be good at. So I started out as a tutor for the community college, I tutored English Lit and nutrition classes, of all things! For my first real salary job, I did data entry for the federal government in Human Resources, and then I transitioned into a directorship role at a nonprofit for the blind. And then, through that, I found my way into this role at Salesforce as a technical accessibility writer. I never thought about accessibility itself, other than “I just need to do my job, I just need to make JAWS or NVDA cooperate and get the job done.” But when I worked with a nonprofit, I ended up doing many things. At a non-profit, your work doesn't end with your job description, your job is to help advance the mission however you can, so you wear many hats. We did accessibility audits, we did user experience demos for clients, large and small. We did training and digital accessibility, and WCAG, things like that. I sort of fell into the role because I was the resident “young blind tech-savvy person” on the team, but if I'm going to be presenting all this stuff, I should really know some background on what I'm talking about! So I started with the DEQUE University courses, and studying for the CPACCC certification, which we'll talk about. And yeah, that work continued. I started teaching an online course to prepare folks for the Salesforce Administrator certification, and that's when I started learning about things like document accessibility, content accessibility standards, and accessibility in education. So it really just became more and more a part of my work as my career continued.

Q: Speaking more broadly about the field of accessibility, do you think there's any sort of training that's required for someone who wants to enter the field, like a specific degree or specific experience/qualifications?

A: There's no specific degree for entering the profession. I have a degree in English literature. My husband, who's in this field, has a Computer Science degree. So, as far as education goes, just by standard, many employers do require some amount of college education, but you don't need to have a tech degree or a technology background to get into accessibility. Now, there are some master's programs put out by California State University at Northridge for accessibility, which is very cool. But those kinds of things can come later in your career if you feel like they're going to be helpful. The field of accessibility spans everything, all kinds of backgrounds and experiences. You could be a software developer, you could work in procurement, you could work in content management, you could be an instructional designer for university, you could be an accessible events manager. So really, you could be eyeballs deep in code or never see an H2 tag in your life. There's no single training program that's going to cover how broad accessibility is. But there are definitely some good things that can get you started, like empathy. Empathy for the impact that accessibility has on different populations. You need excellent problem-solving skills, to be self-motivated, and want to continue growing and learning every single day.

Q: You mentioned some of these earlier, but it seems like certifications such as the one offered by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) are becoming much more prominent in the industry over the last ten years or so. Could you give us more information on those?

A: Sure! I have both my CPACCC, or the Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies, and my Accessible Document Specialist Certification through the IAAP. I got both of those in 2022. My current employer is a member of IAAP, and they sponsor certifications, so when I started working for them, I wanted to get those as soon as possible. I had been working in the accessibility field, tangentially, for a long time without any credentials and I wanted to prove to myself and to others that I knew what I was talking about. So, in the case of the CPACCC, that credential is open to anyone and everyone. This certification covers a broad foundation, everything from various disability populations, what assistive technologies they use, universal design, web content accessibility guidelines, laws, a little bit of universal learning design, everything. It's your Foundations and Fundamentals certification. And I think, personally, for anyone who is working in the accessibility field, that the CPACCC is a great certification to have, not only to prove your stuff, but as a learning tool as well, whether you have a disability or not. Then the Accessible Document Certification. That's all about making content accessible, from documents, to spreadsheets, to slideshows, and audio-video media. Then for those interested in diving into the more technical aspects like HTML and ARIA, there is a Web Accessibility Specialist Certification offered. There is even a Certified Professional in Accessible Built Environments, and that certification is more for physical spaces. CPACCC is open to anyone. The ADS and the WAS definitely do have pre-requirements. Those credentials are not open for just anyone to take. They do require you to have work experience with content or with web accessibility. I took my certifications remotely, proctored by an IAAP team member. I did it on Zoom. I can't speak to the accessibility of other disability groups, but from a blindness perspective, it was pretty straightforward and accessible, everything was just really easy.

Q: What about specific assistive technologies such as JAWS, NVDA, ZoomText, and that side of a skill set, do you think it’s also important to become certified in those?

A: I want to say that these IAAP certifications are only becoming more important as the accessibility career field continues to mature. If the hiring manager for your role knows what these certifications are, they are a huge boost to your credibility. They demonstrate your commitment to the profession. And I wouldn't say having the IAAP credentials makes or breaks your career prospects at all, but it is worth getting them if you can, and if they apply to your career field. That being said, the cost to get these certifications can be an obstacle. Especially to someone just entering the field. So if these IAAP certifications aren't within your reach right now, lower-cost certifications may be somewhat helpful. When I left my nonprofit and I was coming to work for my current employer, I just had my work experience. I didn't have any accessibility credentials or anything, so I decided to get the JAWS and the NVDA certification in 2021, mostly just to have something that proved I knew something about accessibility, and these were lower-cost. Other options include the 508 Trusted Tester Certification through the Department of Homeland Security. Then there's also the Google Trusted Tester program, and some great Workforce Development programs, offered through the AFB Talent Lab and other nonprofits, and some of those programs even help you obtain the CPACCC. So I just think, wherever you are, whatever you can get your hands on, whether it's a lower-cost certification or the IAAP, any opportunity that you can take to put something on your resume is going to help. But being more direct: do the assistive technology certifications really help you out in the accessibility space? I think your work experience and being able to speak accessibility to the interviewer is going to be of the most value

Q: What have you found to be the best resources for maintaining cutting-edge accessibility and assistive technology knowledge and skills?

A: Figure out how to get connected! You never know what resources are going to be helpful. I do some mentoring for accessibility workforce programs and I tell the new people, “just sign up for stuff!”, start by signing up for whatever newsletters, whatever webinar, whatever accessibility communities that you can find, even if it looks like it might not be super useful, just get some kind of information stream flowing to you, into your inbox, so that you can have content information from these different resources. Just listen, just be a sponge and absorb everything you can. And go to conferences! There are free ones, there are paid ones, in person ones, totally virtual ones… I think the accessibility field thrives on the flow of new ideas and new thoughts and new information. So find your peers, look for accessibility a11y meetups in your community. Just figure out how to make these connections!

Q: If you could broadcast something to everyone out there, what do you think is the most crucial piece of advice for a blind or a low-vision person looking to enter the field of accessibility?

A: Maybe this will be a bit of a controversial one, but: just being a screen reader user is not enough anymore. There was a time not so long ago in this field where you could show up to an interview and say “hi, I'm a screen reader user” and get a “great, you're hired, welcome to the team”. But the accessibility profession has matured so fast, and with it, the demand for skills has matured and increased. So, start thinking about what sparks your passion and explore those career options. Being able to test a website with a screen reader is a great place to start, that's the foundation. But think about what unique skills you have. What will make you stand out from the crowd? You don't have to know that right away, nobody does. We're all still learning and exploring as we get into this. But, you know, take some time to play around with project management, or do a mobile audit, just for fun. Branch outside of web accessibility because this is a huge world you're getting into and there's a lot to it. The field of accessibility is ever-changing. It's wild and it's a little bit messy. You have to be thirsty for knowledge and hungry for change and always ready to push on to the next challenge.

Q: Do you think lived experience with a disability is critical when working in the accessibility field?

A: I feel a little bit nervous about this one, but no, I don't think lived experience with a disability is critical to this field at all. What is critical is empathy. I've mentioned before, being able to feel and understand the impact of an accessible space, and you don't need lived experience with a disability for that. It gives us a head start because we deal with accessibility every single day, so that helps develop that fire and that passion inside of us, and empathy kind of comes built-in. But I think you just need the determination to make the world a better place. Passion for change is what really makes a phenomenal accessibility professional. Even for us, we have a lot of experience with our own disability, and it's just about getting that empathy that we have for our own user experience and applying that to other disability groups. So yeah, I think it's the same across the board. Accessibility is not just a disability space, accessibility benefits everyone. We're all humans, and the more we can make accessibility a mainstream career rather than this niche option, the better.

Q: So if you aren’t specifically in the field of accessibility or have an accessibility role, what are some ways that you can still make an effective contribution to digital inclusion?

A: Promote awareness. You can educate yourself and others about accessibility. If you come across a blog post or an article about it, you can share it on your social media personally and professionally. You can advocate for accessibility and encourage your decision makers to prioritize accessibility in their projects and in their initiatives. Just always be considering the needs of other users and trying to incorporate some of those best practices into whatever it is that you're doing, provide feedback if you come across something that is inaccessible. Support initiatives and be a part of that contribution to those organizations who support accessibility, volunteer your time, and be a part of the discussion. It's all again just about bringing it back to the mainstream. People with disabilities don't have to be the only ones reporting accessibility barriers.

Q: Going forward, where do you see your accessibility professional journey taking you?

A: I have been thinking a lot about this lately. I think, after all this time, I'm finally starting to figure out where I fit in the accessibility world. I love connecting with people and helping them to have a great experience. I've been doing a lot of mentoring lately, which is really exciting. But I'm passionate about making knowledge available to everyone. Inaccessible systems shouldn't be a barrier to learning. When you're trying to learn something and upskill yourself, you shouldn't be slowed down just because there's an inaccessible design. My success in my life and in my profession was built on learning and education, and having access to great education. So I see myself possibly moving into the higher education space within the next couple years. Maybe working in the instructional design space or working directly with students. I really liked my time as an instructor in my nonprofit role, I got such a charge out of helping someone unlock a concept and understand it. Education opened up so many opportunities in my own life. So if someone wants to learn, I want to make sure that that's accessible to them. I'm excited to learn more about the space and see how I can make that next move.

Steve Kelley

Steve Sawczyn, Digital Accessibility Lead at HealthPartners, is no stranger to accessibility. Steve played a critical role in helping retail giant Target make its way to web accessibility after a lawsuit brought their attention to the inaccessibility of their website. And before that, in a grassroots effort in his home state of Maine, Sawczyn was at the forefront of negotiating with Apple on restoring a workable screen reader to their Mac computer before they were distributed throughout Maine schools as the computer of choice. In addition to Target and Apple, Steve's resume also includes Deque, and United Healthcare, before his recent leadership role at HealthPartners.

What intrigued me about his journey, since Target, was when he explained why he moved from retail to healthcare, in his most recent role at Health Partners.

Like many people, Steve found himself managing a family medical crisis, and spending an inordinate amount of time trying to navigate his way through inaccessible healthcare documents and websites.

Imagine for a moment you have a family member requiring medical care and you are trying to make your way through all the healthcare and insurance documentation, which in itself is a challenging read. You call on the phone and get redirected to their website for expedited service, only to discover that both the documentation and the website is inaccessible to screen readers. So now, instead of spending time with your family member, you are instead spending your time trying to reengineer the website and documents into something usable, or waiting on hold for an answers to questions contained on your healthcare provider's website unreadable for anyone using a screen reader.

This is the situation Steve Sawczyn found himself in, and made a promise to do something to correct when he had the opportunity. Today, as Digital Accessibility Lead at HealthPartners, Steve fulfills this promise to himself.

"During the medical crisis I was dealing with very inaccessible insurance information and needing to find ways to make that accessible, and that was time I should have been spending with my child. It made me angry that I had to spend so much time that I didn't want to spend doing something that needed to be done."

It was this experience, Steve went on to say, that made him seek out a position in healthcare, where he might be in a position to prevent someone else from going through a similar experience.

Where does Accessibility Begin?

Sawczyn takes a long view on how accessibility gets baked into development. In a recent interview with app developers Degen Valley, he reported that accessibility begins with 'awareness.' "I think the biggest piece is awareness, right? Just knowing it's a problem or a thing to think about or to consider."

As Steve elaborated on awareness as the starting point, it became clear that he was talking not only about the developer's or decision-maker's awareness about accessibility, but also the advocates awareness of how to communicate about accessibility.

Sawczyn distilled accessibility awareness into the following points.

• Awareness that accessibility is something to think about or consider in the development process.
• Awareness that the decision-makers at the company will have many priorities that they are trying to manage, such as deadlines, return on investment, etc., so that what might first appear as indifference to accessibility, is often a matter of fitting it into a long list of other priorities they are managing simultaneously. "Just because I'm passionate about this," he said," doesn't mean everyone else is. Other people have priorities that may not have anything to do with accessibility."
• Awareness that we all need to be talking about the same thing—project details and specifications. "Understanding something may help me shape up my own perspective," Steve said, "maybe I'm not seeing something or some bigger piece. Understanding the other perspective shapes my own perspective."

The Reality Check

When accessibility hasn't been a consideration, and the project is well underway, how do you shift gears? "You have to be very careful," Steve said with a laugh. "Look, you are where you are and this has to become a learning opportunity. Let's figure out a way to move forward from here with a timeline and some actionable steps. That can move us from where we are (and where we should never have been) to where we want to be (if you had listened to me). If you are able to not say the things you want to say, suddenly you become an ally."

Secondly, Sawczyn recommends enlisting the naysayers as allies, if you can, to help promote the change in priorities. "I can talk about accessibility until next Sunday, but you're the one that just went through this—your peers are going to listen to you, before they listen to me…People have been very willing to do this because they can talk it up in a positive way."

Steve then recounted an experience with a decision-maker in which ignoring advice about accessibility development ended up costing the company a lot of money and time as the project progressed. The decision-maker then went on to call the experience a learning opportunity, developed a PowerPoint presentation on how this experience could save others money and time, and transformed himself into the grand advocate for accessibility planning and advocacy! "If you let other people have the win sometimes, you get a lot more traction—you can't let ego get in the way."

Accessibility Starting Points

Steve suggested several resources for the developer or decision-maker looking for more information. These include:

• WebAIM Web Accessibility In Mind. A resource which contains a lot of free, easy to understand resources.
• Deque University features some freebies, but most of the courses require a nominal fee. "What's interesting about Deque U is that they have things organized in a curriculum format, for accessibility, developers, and other different roles. This makes it a lot easier for people to figure out what they need to know for their role."
• W3C World Wide Web Consortium. Very comprehensive resource with guidelines, drafts, examples. "There's a lot of stuff…everything you ever wanted to know. "And the problem with that is that there's a lot of stuff, a lot of it is technical, and a lot of it can be overwhelming. It's definitely on my list, but it might not be the first place I go."

Editor's Note: In addition to the resources listed above, be aware that we wanted to inform you that all of the curriculum resources we use for training our Talent Lab interns and apprentices on accessibility including information on accessibility testing and implementation, are freely available to the public.

Sawczyn also mentioned checking out the blogs on other accessibility vendor sites for more information. He mentioned blog posts from accessibility vendors like TPGI can be great resources, as well as conferences such as Deque's AxCon, a free conference that is recorded and CSUN, the largest annual conference on accessibility.

Really, Anyone Can Do This…

Here are a couple of Steve's suggestions for first steps, to take a quick look at what might need to be done on a website to make it more accessible.

• Park the mouse and try to navigate the site using only the keyboard, the tab and arrow keys to move around, and spacebar to activate buttons and check boxes. "What is the experience like if I can't use my mouse? You're simulating a bunch of disabilities by doing that--not just screen readers. Doing a keyboard test, I think, is a great place to start."
• Use free browser-based tools to check the site. Steve suggests choosing any of the following:

1. Axe Accessibility Tools
2. Accessibility Insights by Microsoft
3. WAVE by WebAIM
4. Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker

Steve points out that both the Microsoft tools above don't assume the user is a power user and will walk you through the solutions. WAVE too, is an automated tool that will guide users through accessibility improvements without assuming a great deal of accessibility knowledge, so they are great tools for beginners, as well as more experienced users.

Next Steps

For those who discover a real passion for accessibility and want to take it to the next level, Steve suggests checking out the courses mentioned above at Deque University and checking out the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) certifications. "Some employers are looking for these certifications," Steve said, "but the true value is that it forces you to learn, to open your mind to stuff you may not have thought about, and you have to get continuing education credits to maintain those certifications, you have to spend time keeping current."

Steve's Contact Info

To reach out to Steve, he suggests sending him an email to Steve@Sawczyn.com or going to his website at Steves.life.

Breean Cox, Sebastian Wcislo

Google Classroom, a widely used free learning platform within Google Workspace for Education, has gained popularity since its release on August 12, 2014. With an estimated 150 million users worldwide, it serves as a valuable tool for file sharing and integrates seamlessly with Google's suite of productivity tools. Given that there are nearly 240 million children with disabilities globally according to a 2021 UNICEF study, and over 7 million students in the U.S. with disabilities, Google Classroom is a platform that may be utilized by a significant number of individuals with disabilities for their educational needs.

The platform offers a comprehensive set of features for virtual classrooms, simplifying teaching and learning. Teachers can create classes, communicate, share resources, and manage assignments. Students receive notifications, complete assignments with attachments and comments. The mobile app enables offline work, Drive access, and improved grading.

Before we begin, be aware that we will be referring to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in some cases when detailing access concerns. WCAG is a set of guidelines and standards that defines how to make Web content more accessible to people with disabilities. These guidelines help Web content be easier to understand and navigate. They have also become the de facto standard guidelines used throughout the web access industry.

What is Well Done?

Google Classroom offers several positive aspects for its users, particularly in terms of accessibility. Firstly, the platform supports keyboard navigation, allowing users who rely on keyboards to navigate and perform actions without the need for a mouse. It also prioritizes screen reader compatibility by providing proper semantic structure, which involves proper use of HTML elements, text alternatives for images, descriptive link texts, and proper form labels. This ensures that users with visual impairments can effectively access and navigate the platform. Additionally, teachers can enhance accessibility by uploading closed captions for instructional videos, benefiting users who are deaf or hard of hearing. Google Classroom further supports translation through integration with Google Translate, enabling teachers and students to access class materials and communicate in their preferred language. The platform also strives to be compatible with various assistive technologies, including screen readers, speech-to-text software, and alternative input devices, ensuring a seamless experience for users with diverse accessibility needs. By incorporating these accessibility features, Google Classroom aims to create an inclusive learning environment that accommodates users of all abilities.

Where could Things be Improved?

Google Classroom has made significant progress in improving accessibility and providing valuable features. However, it still faces some accessibility and usability issues. One particular concern relates to the header navigation bar, which includes a heading level 1 text. This poses a problem because according to the WCAG Success Criterion 2.4.6, heading level 1 should typically be reserved for the main content of a page. However, most pages in Google Classroom lack a heading level 1 text outside of the header, deviating from the standard structure. This becomes especially relevant considering the absence of a "skip to main content" option, a common feature found on other platforms. Moreover, certain pages feature a second heading level 1 text separate from the header, resulting in inconsistency and confusion for users relying on assistive technologies. Additionally, each page necessitates a different shortcut to consistently access the main content, underscoring the importance of establishing a standardized nesting structure for heading texts across all pages in order to improve accessibility and usability.

Opening a page on Google Classroom often presents users with initial modals, Popup windows that do not allow the user to access the rest of the page until they are dismissed, which can quickly become tiresome. For individuals using assistive technologies, these modals pose additional challenges. Dismissing them adds an extra step and diverts attention away from the main content. Users unfamiliar with keyboard shortcuts must meticulously follow the focus order until they reach the main content. Moreover, the focus order from the header does not entirely make sense, as it includes a feedback widget located at the bottom of the screen, disrupting the logical flow towards the main content.

One of the most frequent issues encountered on Google Classroom is WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value issues, specifically, Name. There are a lot of labeling issues that can make it difficult for the user to know exactly what component their focus is on. This in conjunction with some focus order issues can make some pages confusing to navigate. The labeling issues vary greatly from empty labels, to repeated labels, to labels that are just not descriptive enough. This would mean that an access technology user will have to interact with such components to understand their function.

Google Classroom can improve in several areas to enhance accessibility. Navigation and interface inconsistencies, such as tab order and missing focus indicators, pose challenges for keyboard navigation users. Screen reader compatibility issues, including reading order and labeling, affect the navigation and understanding of content for individuals with visual impairments. A focus indicator should distinguish the element in focus from the surrounding content, such as a border around the element.

Google Docs lacks native support for black backgrounds in the text editor, although it can be achieved through browser extensions or themes, providing native support would improve user experience. Communication features, like comment sections, require better accessibility for users relying on assistive technologies, including improved navigation and alternative text support for attached images or files. Addressing these areas would greatly enhance the accessibility of Google Classroom.

Addressing Access Barriers

To effectively address the accessibility issues identified in the above sections, Google can take several measures. First, it should ensure that the HTML structure accurately represents the relationships between components by checking for missing or misused elements like headings, lists, and sections. Secondly, the correct application of ARIA attributes is crucial to establish relationships between interactive elements and aid assistive technologies in interpreting their functionality. ARIA allows for custom controls on components further than standard HTML can. Google should also carefully evaluate the effects of CSS, JavaScript modifications, and ARIA attributes as these can unintentionally disrupt reading order and relationships between components. Custom-built interactions and event handling should be designed with accessibility in mind, ensuring that relationships are properly maintained in Browse mode. Additionally, Google should provide appropriate announcements or notifications when content is dynamically loaded or updated, ensuring that relationships between components are preserved. Lastly, managing high-speed dynamic updates is important to mitigate accessibility issues such as missed updates, navigation difficulties, disrupted focus and context, increased cognitive load, and challenges for users relying on assistive technology. By implementing these measures, Google can significantly improve the accessibility and usability of Google Classroom for all users.

Aaron Preece

When we speak of accessibility, we almost always focus on the accessibility of relatively static apps, software and websites. With resources such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) providing solutions for most elements one might find in traditional interfaces, accessibility across these mediums looks quite similar and most access issues have been solved.

Due to their complex visual nature and varying mechanics, implementing accessibility into a video game for someone who is disabled can be a much more difficult task. That being said, in the past 5 or so years, providing wide ranging accessibility has become almost mainstream, with many AAA titles including customization options aiming to even the playing field for people with disabilities.

In this article, we will provide an introduction to game accessibility, its intricacies, history, and some specific examples for implementing accessibility for a range of disabilities, with a focus on providing access for those who are blind or have low vision.

History

There's a reason we are bringing attention to this topic now. Historically, accessible video games were not considered by mainstream developers, or when they were, they were incredibly few and far between and very niche. The most famous example of an early attempt at an accessible game was Real Sound: Kaze no Regret, released in 1997 for the Sega Saturn. The game was specifically developed because the programmer heard from gamers who were blind or have low vision that they specifically appreciated his games for their rich soundscapes which allowed them to make headway in playing the games with sound alone. Otherwise, most accessible games were created by hobbyists, most commonly people who had disabilities themselves, either individually or on very small teams. An example of an early audio based game developed by a blind developer was 2001's Shades of Doom. This game aimed to provide a similar experience to the popular first-person shooters of the day and was arguably a tremendous success. The game was one of the first audio games to provide a similar experience to that which was available to sighted gamers.

In addition to developing their own audio based games or other adaptive games, hobbyist developers have also begun creating modifications or mods for existing video games to make them accessible. An early example of this was 2005's Audio Quake, which brought accessibility to the original quake video game. Probably the most famous example to date, is the Hearthstone Access mod for Blizzard's Hearthstone collectible card game. The Hearthstone Access mod has allowed blind or low vision players to compete on equal footing to their sighted counterparts, making it a landmark in accessible gaming. During the 2010s independent video game developers began adding accessibility where feasible to their games. To see the effect of this, check out the AppleVis directory of accessible games for iOS. As you can see, many small games have been made accessible since smartphone gaming became available with the release of Apple's voiceover screen reader in 2009.

The first AAA video game to include full accessibility was 2020's The Last of Us Part II. There had been attempts by mainstream AAA game developers to add accessibility to games previously, but The Last of Us 2 was the first time that a developer went above and beyond to attempt to make their game playable to as many people as possible. The game includes a massive and extensive set of accessibility options to aid gamers from a wide array of disabilities. Since this release, other games have followed suit including 2022's God of War Ragnarok and 2023's Diablo IV. Much like the explosion of audio description availability that occurred after Netflix made efforts to include as much audio description in their programming as possible, the release of The Last of Us II's accessibility options have spurred other developers to include similarly extensive accessibility suites in their own games.

The Importance of Text

Adding accessibility to video games can be a complex and involved process considering the number of disabilities one must consider when making adaptations. That being said, one of the most important and universal aspects of game accessibility is to ensure that all game text can be read by as many people as possible. Many games can be made entirely accessible by making sure that the text itself can be read by people with varying disabilities. One benefit to this is that it is also possible to use existing guidelines on text accessibility when designing video games. Something like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is a good start. When considering how to make your game's text accessible for those who will be reading the printed text but might have difficulty doing so, such as those with dyslexia or with low vision, consider allowing adjustments to text such as font, color, foreground and background color, text speed (when appropriate), and size.

In addition, when making game text accessible to those who cannot otherwise read the text, it is important that all text be spoken aloud in some form. When developing a game for Windows PCs, as well as the mobile platforms iOS and Android, it is possible to make the game interact with the user's screen reader so that text is read aloud using a user's preferred voice, speed, inflection and personal dictionary. When it is required to create a screen reader for your game from scratch, it is important to keep these features in mind as well. Be sure to include options for adjusting text rate, pitch, volume, and voice if applicable. In addition, consider how a screen reader interacts with text in normal apps. For example when moving through a list of items, it is important that when I navigate from one item to another that text playback is stopped for the previous item and starts for the next item even if the previous item has not been fully read. This small feature drastically improves efficiency when navigating through textual items.

Some types of text information might be requested at specific times. Think of a video game that has statistics for something like health, stamina, or ammunition. A user might not want these items read all the time, but would like to check them on the fly. In this case, it can be useful to assign a key to read these types of values.

Accessibility Overview, Multiple Disabilities

In this section we'll be detailing some things you can do to make games more accessible for a range of different disabilities.

Cognitive disabilities

With cognitive disabilities being such a wide ranging number of potential conditions, the types of adaptations that might help specific users vary widely. This article provides a solid rundown on many of these possibilities. There are some more straightforward solutions that will aid specific groups of people. Consider following guidelines from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and other organizations in regards to seizure causing visuals. These visuals are similar in video gaming as they would be in relatively static images or traditional videos allowing there to be robust guidelines as to what choices could be made.

Hearing Loss

When adapting content for someone with a loss of hearing, consider if there are specific sounds in the game that must be heard by players. In the game Alien: Isolation, listening for the approach of the alien or other enemies and being careful what sounds you make are key components. Allowing a user to toggle a feature that will display visual cues for required sounds will help in these areas. In addition, all spoken dialogue should be transcribed in text. This is common for cutscenes but less so for something like non-player characters who speak as you pass by or guards shouting to each other as you're infiltrating a military installation.

If possible, it is very useful to include real-time translation of voice messaging for cooperative or player versus player games. Improvements in technology makes automating this process easier than ever.

Motor

When considering adaptations for those with motor disabilities, be sure to support various peripherals such as sip and puff devices or switches when possible. Microsoft has created an adaptive xbox controller which has a modular design so that it can be adapted by people with different types of physical disabilities. Because of this and similar technologies such as the one-handed controller, be sure that all game controls are configurable to the user's preference.

Consider allowing the adjustment of time required to react to specific actions. As an example, take the instance in many games where a user must press a series of buttons at specific times, commonly called a quick time event, to progress. Consider allowing users to adjust the timing of these types of events or to allow problematic content to be skipped or automatically completed when adaptation is impossible.

Low vision

When thinking of the needs of those with relatively high functioning low vision, who will not be relying primarily on sound to play your game, contrast and visibility are key. Consider following WCAG guidelines on game text in regards to color and contrast, while for games themselves, consider allowing users to adjust colors to their preference or include high contrast modes. Consider using bright colors for certain objects that might need to be tracked-something that can be toggled by an individual player. As an example of the use of bright colors for objects, take a look at the player-selectable outlines around certain objects in Diablo IV.

Basics for Including Accessibility for Those Who Are Blind

Including accessibility for those who are completely blind in a video game can be a complex task. In this section we'll be reviewing some simple solutions that can be implemented for common game elements.

One of the simplest methods that can be used to communicate information is the use of panning audio. This means that sounds that come from the left of the player come from the left speaker while sounds from the right come from the right speaker. A player will know when they are close to a given object, or in line with an object when that object sound emits from the center of both speakers. The very first Super Mario Brothers game makes for a good example. In the very first level the player must run right along a 2D plane. The first obstacle the player encounters is an enemy approaching them from the right to the left. This enemy can be made identifiable to someone who is blind or low vision by playing a continuous sound for the enemy's position or even simply playing something like a footstep as the enemy approaches. This allows the player to know the distance between their character and the enemy. In the case of Super Mario Brothers, the player can then jump and center the sound of the enemy beneath them to defeat it. This works well for many situations, but in some cases extra information is needed, such as when something is behind or below the player. Consider a horror game. If a player hears the sound of an approaching monster and needs to escape from it, they will need to determine if that creature is in front of them or behind them to know which way to run. One way to do this is by adjusting the pitch of objects that are either behind or below the player.

Oftentimes, two dimensional games that have vertical movement will have objects have their sounds played at a lower pitch when they are below the character while they play at a regular pitch when they're at the same level of the character or a higher pitch when they are above the character. Likewise in games where the player is being seen from the top down, or from a first person view, lowering the pitch of sounds behind can alert the player which way they're facing and the position of objects around them. To illustrate this, we have prepared a recording demonstrating the navigation and sound options in the popular Manamon audio role playing game. Notice that sounds that are to the south of the player or behind them in many cases are played at a lower pitch. Objects ahead of or to the north of the player or on the same north south axis as the player are played at a slightly higher pitch. The game also makes use of panning to determine if objects are to the left or to the right of the player. Note that in this game in particular, objects give off a continuous sound to indicate their position. This is just one method for providing information about nearby objects.

Consider this alternative method used in the audio role playing game A Hero's Call. Note that sounds only play when conditions around the player change instead of constantly playing. Both methods are equally valid. Also consider the extra navigation options provided by both of these games. Manamon, which relies on the user navigating maze like areas as a key part of gameplay, does not provide too many extra navigation options aside from ambient sounds or the flyers that can be left by players to mark positions in confusing areas. On the other hand, A Hero's Call, which is much more focused on the combat between player and environment, has a beacon system for navigating its complex environments so that a player can focus on the role playing aspects and not concern themselves with navigating if they do not wish to reach specific goals.

Resources

1. Able Gamers, A foundation focused on promoting video gaming among people with disabilities through a number of programs
2. Can I Play That? an online resource which includes a database of games and their access features
3. AudioGames.Net, a site containing a database of hundreds of games completely accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. The site also includes an active forum where accessible games are discussed and new releases are announced.