Flemish broadcaster VRT and start-up Soulmade build VR experience to raise awareness about media accessibility

About the Navigator project

Finding the right article, ensuring the font is readable, and enabling users to easily navigate to other content. It is all part of an online user experience that needs to be optimal for everyone. Here, it is important that developers of online apps or websites can put themselves in the shoes of a reader or viewer. With this notion in mind, VRT and Soulmade started the "Navigator" project, subsidised by Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO). Together, they built a VR experience to make software developers aware of the user requirements for blind and visually impaired people. Developers can experience what it is like, for example, to search for a news item without visual elements or to share an article on social media.

A virtual reality headset lets you experience everything through the eyes of the camera, allowing you to take on the perspective of a blind or visually impaired person. By experiencing the 'errors' on apps or websites and the associated frustrations, you not only become more aware, but you also empathise and feel engaged.

The VR experience will be part of a course for internal web developers. This will allow them to discover areas for improvement at first hand and take these into account for future apps and websites. In addition, VRT is also looking at how the training platform can be used more broadly with external partners.