AVT: Accessible Virtual Tour Software
A plug and play digital accessibility solution for virtual spaces and digital twins.
"Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance."- Verna Myers
Access is everything. It is the gate to everywhere.
Digital Accessibility is a crucial practice that enables people with disabilities to fully participate in an increasingly digital society.
Barriers to digital accessibility have not been addressed sufficiently in the design of virtual tour platforms.
Some Numbers
- Over one billion people live with disabilities worldwide. (26% World Population)
- Over two billion people are “disability adjacent,” that is, connected to people
living with disabilities: spouses, children, caregivers. - 1 in 5 Americans has a disability.
That’s about 56.7M people (20% of population) - 74.1M Baby Boomers hitting 65-70.
- This is a lot of disability coming.
Barriers to Access and Inclusion
While there are many successful 360 tour platforms available to the marketplace, many people—particularly those relying on keyboard navigation, screen readers, and other assistive technologies—are unable to have an experience comparable to that of a user not requiring assistive technology. Thus, many people from the disability community have been excluded from being able to access these digital tools and, as a consequence, have not been able to participate in this growing segment of public life.
Digitally Accessible Navigation
A key component of digital accessibility for many people from the disability community is the ability to use the computer’s keyboard and/or a device’s accessibility features to navigate through a web-based interface and access functions within.
This is addressed in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), now in Version 2.1, which are the internationally recognized standards for digital accessibility.
AVT: Accessible Virtual Tour Software
In 2019, AVA Inclusivity, Inc. created the first digitally accessible virtual tour platform and produced a customized Virtual Accessibility Experience for Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Hollyhock House,” a Unesco World Heritage site.
Developed from its proprietary Virtual Accessibility Experience tour engine, AVA Inclusivity has created its copywritten and patent pending AVT software plugin, designed as a primarily plug and play accessibility solution for existing mass market consumer level virtual platforms.
Accessible AND Inclusive
The AVT plugin is designed to provide an experience that is commensurate to the standard tour by serving up ALL the tour’s features, including programmed points of interest and any corresponding media, in a digitally accessible manner that conforms to Web Accessibility Content Guidelines (WCAG 2.0).
Everyone Needs Community
Community Needs Everyone
AVT: Accessible Virtual Tour Software
In 2019, AVA Inclusivity, Inc. created the first digitally accessible virtual tour platform and produced a customized Virtual Accessibility Experience for Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Hollyhock House,” a Unesco World Heritage site.
Developed from its proprietary Virtual Accessibility Experience tour engine, AVA Inclusivity has created its copywritten and patent pending AVT software plugin, designed as a primarily plug and play accessibility solution for existing mass market consumer level virtual platforms.
Growing Trends
- There are currently tens of thousands of retail locations adopting virtual tours and this number is growing.
- Most colleges are adopting the use of virtual tours, not only for campus tours but also integrated into the curriculum.
- Virtual tours have become an important component in the tourism and hospitality industries, allowing people for whom travel an issue, even impossible, to visit and experience.
BELONGING
What Really Matters
Virtual Tours and Virtual Environments can be tools of inclusion and empowerment. While the ADA assures that public locations are accessible for people with disabilities, this need to extend into the realm of virtual spaces and locations is a new frontier. It is a logical next step.
Everyone deserves to feel as though they belong to something “bigger.” Accessible virtual tours of historic and culturally important sites allow all people to feel welcome, and to experience and explore our shared history.
The Right Plan for
your users