Second Life Accessibility

Second Life can be ADA compliant, and it is important to train faculty to consider accessibility if they choose to use SL. In any online conference applications, voice chat is not instantly converted to text for persons with a hearing impairment. However, it is possible to have a real-time caption transcriptionist capture voice chat by using a chat messenger alongside the application used by a class.

Concerning the visual and 3-D environment of Second Life, you may be interested in what it can do:

• Provides mobility for residents that have MS, Cerebral Palsy, or other similar impairments (in fact there are nightclubs and other events specifically for the mobility challenged population). Many avatars created by users with mobility impairments use wheelchairs in SL.
• Text chat is not easily read by a screen reader. A screen readable text-only version of Second Life exists for residents without sight. Chat and voice logs can also be recorded for anyone that has a technical or cognitive impairment, or for later study.
• The SL interface and text size is customizable and makes use of alt-keys.
• Through an avatar, residents with real life (RL) physical deformities or obvious disabilities can become able-bodied.
• Autistic students practice social skills on Brigadoon Island.
• Disability awareness simulations can be structured using avatar wheelchairs, or by changing chat and voice options. Several scripts exist to provide avatar simulations for epilepsy, tourettes, and mental impairments. (Diversity experiments are also easy with the ability to change body type and race.)

Accessibility can be achieved in most applications with work from the facilitator hosting the event.

• Just as in real life, videos within SL must be captioned or a transcript provided.
• A real time streaming event, for instance a conference, would require real time captioning of voice chat for individuals that are hard of hearing or deaf. Another option would be interpreting. It would be difficult to follow voice captions or interpretation along with the text chat. Many individuals have a problem following two methods of communication simultaneously, not just those with a hearing impairment.
• Visual description should be available for any environment, as an explanation for odd sounds or text/voice chat references. For instance, it might be important to know that a class is taking place in a haunted graveyard, a forest, or nightclub.