So far in this series we’ve shown that the video conferencing user experience (UX) matches up to the usefulness, usability, and desirability portions of the seven-chambered UX Honeycomb. The fourth part of our series on user experience and video conferencing will focus on accessibility.
What is accessibility, and how does it apply to remote video communication? Continue reading to find the answers.
What is Accessibility?
According to the Interaction Design Foundation, “Accessibility is about providing an experience which can be accessed by users of a full range of abilities – this includes those who are disabled in some respect such as hearing loss, impaired vision, motion impaired or learning impaired.”
You may think it’s okay to ignore accessibility when UX designing, but consider the fact that about one billion people around the world live with a disability, per The World Bank. That’s a massive amount of potential customers to turn your back on. So, any new product, including video conferencing tools, must be designed to be as inclusive as possible.
Accessibility and Video Conferencing
Video conferencing plays a major role in making the world more accessible to those with disabilities. Some immediately obvious evidence is the visual element that allows hearing impaired users to communicate with sign language. But there are many more ways video conferencing includes disabled collaborators.
AI features are especially inclusive, removing much of the physical interaction once required to operate video conferencing equipment. Automatic FOV functions eliminate the clumsy manual controls that users who don’t have physical ability to make precise movements could struggle with. Speaker tracking technology automatically moves from presenter to presenter, so users don’t have to get up to go to the front. Presentation tracking sets an area for the camera to track without framing the presenter, which could be useful for those who have issues with uncontrollable movement or those who need others to physically assist them without detracting from the content on display. Also, True WDR lenses make it so someone whose eyes can’t handle much light can meet in a dim environment while still presenting a bright, professional image on the other end.
Super-easy plug-and-play setup for USB cameras is perfect for those who don’t have the ability to move heavy desks and crawl around on the floor plugging in a bunch of cables. Also, there’s no complicated driver installation to inhibit users with learning disabilities.
AVer Accessibility
Here at AVer we strive to make the world a better place by providing innovative video conferencing technology. In addition to offering devices packed with all the features mentioned above, many of our products are officially certified for use with world-leading video cloud-based video conferencing platform Zoom. According to certified UX accessibility pro Claudio Luis Vera at Smashing Magazine, Zoom is the favored video communication tool among users who deal with disabilities, thanks to its powerful yet simple features.
Video conferencing isn’t perfectly inclusive yet. However, the technology is always trending in that direction, thanks to UX designers’ focus on accessibility.