Abstract:

360° video is proven to be an effective tool which enriches the teaching and learning process and promotes students’ participation and engagement. The use of 360 video technology in education has significantly increased over recent years and helped by:
- the availability of affordable equipment.
- the role it played during the global pandemic, enabling students to study at home.

Although using 360 video in education has benefited some, there is concern that it does not support students with disability, and it is estimated that 87 million people or 1 in 4 European adults currently have some form of disability. Accessibility legislation was introduced across Europe in 2018 by The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as part of their international Web Content Accessibility Guidelines – WCAG 2.1 accessibility standard.

Working on the 360Visi project https://360visi.eu/ provided an opportunity to evaluate how 360 video and associated technologies performed when supporting WGAC 2.1 standards. We produced a 360-video helping nursing students to understand the role of a community nurse whilst out in practice. The challenge was not shooting the video during the pandemic but complying with the four key accessible services to include a transcript, subtitles, audio description and sign language required as part of WGAC guidelines.

360 video is an immerging technology but there is little information available for the implementation of WGAC standards. We are not experts but would like to share our experiences on accessibility best practice and generate discussion on manual and automated testing and the tools we have found useful when testing for WGAC 2.1 compliance.

There are still lots of challenges ahead for example:
- how do we develop a fully inclusive and accessible 360° video experience?
- what needs considering when producing 360° videos?

Current 360o players barely meet the necessary accessibility requirements, and many are inherited from the traditional 2D video world. There is a lack of a standardised solution and accessibility seems to be an after thought when producing 360 video content. However, we should remember that accessible immersive experiences involve being able to deliver a customised experience to each individual in order that the content is understandable and accessible despite any disability or impairment a user may have.

We still have many unanswered questions, for example we are not convinced a 360-video can be accessible for all, and we are considering a second alternative resource to support our 360-video scenario.

Keywords:

Accessibility, 360-video, WCAG 2.1, Disability, Immersive technology, 360 Vision.