Discussed by RQTF May 12th https://www.w3.org/2021/05/12-rqtf-minutes.html

@CityMouse @lseemann Please see the minutes above - we need some clarification on the user needs and practives that may determine requirements here.

Pinging @lseeman with one N. :)

Many thanks Mr @lseemann :-)

Adding @rainbreaw so she can track relevant issues

Users with cognitive disabilities can have difficulty determining what elements/components/features of a digital environment can be interacted with, and how to interact with them, as well as what the end result will be.

David F says: Personalization requires a user to first recognize what features don’t meet their needs, which in this case, would mean what buttons, links, controls, etc. they don’t recognize. If a user doesn’t recognize somethings there they won’t understand how, or even that they need, to change it.

The ownness should not be on the user with a cognitive impairment. It should be on the designer.

Asking a user to personalize content can be a cognitive heavy task. It shouldn’t be asked of a person with a cognitive impairment. At the same time it should still be available

Thanks @Helixopp understood. So what we need is some examples of what may be suitable affordances for people with cognitive disabilities in XR. Can you provide references/examples?

@Helixopp Please note that I find the COGA content usable doc to be good as an example of good advice and practice in this area, as it relates to issues with affordances with regular webpages etc. I think this is a good jumping off point for more complex affordances in XR.

The questions are, 'is this list sufficient'? Are there other aspects in XR that we should consider?

I note this is a duplicate of #12 - as this thread is more active I'm going to close 184. Will flag this to COGA group tomorrow to give due notice.

@joshueoconnor I know you'll be attending the COGA TF meeting tomorrow and going into this in more detail, but I'm also trying to suss out what you need from us in this issue.

Following the task force meeting tomorrow, I'll review the transcript and see if I better understand this particular issue.

What I'm trying to understand:

1. What information would help make the request more clear? From what I see, this is a request to state that any actionable affordance (target) must be identifiable, and it needs to be clear how to interact with it.
2. It may be fair to say that, from a game or test** standpoint, or if something is an "easter egg," that there are valid exceptions in these cases. The exception to ensuring that the affordance is clear and how to use it is understandable would only be when the actual experience is designed around accidental or tested discovery, and it is meant to be difficult for everyone. Even this exception, however, needs to be qualified with a reminder that it still needs to be equally possible for everyone to eventually access and activate it.
3. Following up on @Helixopp and David Fazio, personalization is not the answer here. The user needs to be able to know that the control exists, otherwise they won't even know to personalize, and many individuals with cognitive disabilities may find personalization too complex.

Also, if I understand correctly, at this point you are looking for more examples. Can you list the examples you already have, and/or point us directly to the place in the document where this is discussed, so that we can reference what has already been done?

@rainbreaw One of the things I am trying to understand is 'What are affordances that are particular to the user needs of people with cognitive disabilities in XR?'.

Regarding the comments on Personalization. How things are Personalized is really an implementation detail based on the users need. If there are particular requirements in the context of XR that we can add to the XR A11y User requirements document, then that would be helpful (and what I am getting at here). Is this clearer?

After the COGA call today I note that the issue #12 is NOT a duplicate, just similar, and has the addition suggested text for User Need 4:

COGA would like to include the following statement in User Need 4:
“Users with cognitive impairments need to understand what items in a visual display are actionable targets, and how to interact with them.”

@rainbreaw Also regarding personalization, if the XR environment was aware that the user had cognitive or learning disabilities then it could provide the customisation if we have clear idea of how to specify the requirements and customise various affordances (to make things more accessible etc to users with cognitive and learning disabilities) so the user doesn't have to.

Discussed by Research Questions Task force https://www.w3.org/2021/06/23-rqtf-minutes.html

Based on discussion in Research Questions - the task force feels these user needs/requirements are best expressed as a call for the development of suitable accessibility APIs. I've therefore drafted a note on same in this branch:

https://raw.githack.com/w3c/apa/COGA-XR-input/xaur/index.html#interaction-and-target-customization