Week 14

Our grand opening for our Accessibility SIM when very well. We had people with disabilities attend and I was able to find out about some new products; also, that there are more browsers for SL than I realized. Alice Krueger's (Virtual Ability Island) assessment of our site was especially informative and I'm glad she took so much time to explain why and what she liked and thought we should change. Next week, Eelke Folmer, inventor of TextSL, the screen reader for SL, has agreed to do an assessment. It should be interesting as I couldn't get the hang of it when I tried (especially the navigation aspects), something like JAWS, the standard in screen readers.

Week 13

We finally finished up our SIM project on Accessibility & Distance Education. I'm glad we focused on the post-secondary aspect of the topic, as I hope our classmates will find some benefit to knowing more about the subject. I've been adding suggestions to the Department of Justice's update on Section 508 of the Rehab Act, and have included information about MUVE and education. As we get more people to go through our SIM and get feedback, we should be able to update the project. I'm now looking for spaces to relocate it after the class is finished and hope the College of Education will consider it. Also getting a group together to apply for grants to expand the project and set-up workshops for learning.

Week 12

Researching accessible features for Second Life (SL) has been eye opening and very encouraging. In the regular today-to-today part of my job, I have to deal with people who see this as more of a nuisance than any benefit to anyone. Having a whole new venue for people to use and be educated is exciting on many levels; it's also going to be a tough sell. People have a hard time "seeing" how anyone who has a sensory impairment, could enjoy SL they the way they do. Ironically, it's that way for the rest of their lives. Last Friday, I listened to a blind person describe all the obstacles she's had over her life (she was 55 years old), the biggest one was other people telling her what she could or could not do. This included her family and every employer she ever had. Hopefully, society will change its views.

Week 11

The design for the Final Group project is under way. The layout has a draft and we've begun to assign sims for everyone to create. The SL wiki has been very helpful in finding people working on various aspects of accessibility for SL, especially seeing impaired. This is without a doubt, the biggest hurdle to overcome with people's attitudes toward accessibility and Second Life immersion and the entire experience. Too bad we can't just ask a blind person what they think about it!

Week 10

This week's lecture by the Virtual Abilities Island people and see the other student's sims gave me an idea for our group project. The presentation needs to be utilizing the 3-D environment unique to SL. I'm going to propose having the learning stations separated by high walls and dark rooms, with the beginning ones narrow and expanding to larger, more accessible space as the learning process progresses. Sounds could be added with the music becoming lighter as it ends with a large open space surrounded with people.

Week Nine

Continued my research on accessibility and Second Life, I have found it to be more thorough than I had first thought. Good articles on blind users on Second Life Wiki and there seems to be an advocacy component which helps in justifying this medium to people in the disability field. I also found someone (group) attempting to build a Guide Gog for users, I need to look more into this type of assistive tech along with OpenSource browsers. The only thing bothering me is the apparent lack of current writing on the subject, 2008 seems to be a stopping point for much of the discussion on accessibility.

Week Eight

This week was the beginning of the group project and the topic of accessibility in Second Life. It's interesting to hear others' take on what this means. Being in the disabilities and accessibility field, I've become rather set in how I see it; more an audience expanding feature with benefits to many than a micro fix to accommodate a few. The question always seems to come up about how could anyone with sensory disabilities benefit from using a 3-D environment? Good question. Legally and ethically, if you're offering a course, everyone should be able to take it. The real question is how do you know they don't want to experience it? Blind and deaf people partake in, and want to experience, visually and audio based entertainment like anyone else, so why not something like Second Life?

Week Seven

Got into a Group for the final project assignment. Hopefully we'll be doing it about accessibility, just haven't narrowed it down to a single issue. Maybe accessibility in Second Life? One of the journal articles I read, stated "virtual worlds are not accessible". I contacted the President of Virtual Abilities about doing part of our annual conference in Second Life at their island. She agreed and is giving me more info about the various formats our presenters can use. Hope this pans out.

Week Six

Had a fun week exploring new sims, with an emphasis on role-playing. The first 2 I went to (Avillion and Tombstone) were not for me. I couldn't attend the planned events because of the time difference and I wasn't that into the scene of the sim. I then went to ROMA and took the role playing event offered me, that of following a run away assistant to the chief librarian of ROMA. Got around the city, took a boat trip, and raced the Chariots. Also looked at some ruins and was able to see how the building changed through the centuries. Great site! I'm going back.

Week Five

This week I spent most of my time exploring new sims and looking at how they are laid out. The detail range is very wide spread with some being very good (photo realistic) to simple (less lag time). This lag time is becoming a consideration for my evaluations as I'm finding it can make exploring rather difficult. I also took the time to change my outfit as I was beginning to see people who looked just like me at the various sites. The role playing sites were interesting, I'm finding the change of clothing required is more involved than I had imagined.

Week Four

I had another out of body experience in SL after Monday's class. During the t-shirt exercise, I lost my body, everything except my hair and shoes. It was very strange. Luckily for me, my partners, Pu and Molokai, tried to help and gave me some pointers on dressing (ha-ha). Catherine stayed with me for almost 2 hours, getting assistance from LindaB (I think she may have been from Finland) who ultimately got me back together. Having the two avatars discussing how I should look was an experience I will never forget. I can't thank Catherine enough for sticking it out and waiting until I was complete again. Learning about how the avatars are put together and things I need to be aware of, was worth the entire evening.

Week Three

Building things is something I didn't expect to enjoy in SL. I've had enough problems just getting around but I've narrowed it down to internet lag and an old mouse. Now the construction begins, what a great way to do it with accurate precision measurements and close-up camera controls. My only issue seems to be with the texture mode and how to apply it the way I want it to look.

I was lucky to find partners for the group project (actually, they found me) and learn new avenues to SL. They're much more advanced in the social aspects of Second Life and I got to see another side I hadn't before by myself. The socialization is a key component to finding out about what is possible. Just the few communication tips I got from talking with my partners, helped me in exploring new areas.

Week: Two

I went through the building videos and found the whole idea very interesting. The videos were good with the instructors clear about what was going on. I really liked the idea of displaying my photos using the box and putting everything in my inventory for future use...just need to find a gallery or two. My next build will be some sort of travel appliance, maybe a bicycle or motorcycle; just need to figure how to make it go (must be some script for movement). I also found an app for creating objects which I'll look into this weekend. I went to some different places over the last few days but am still not sure about what to do once I get there.

Week One

My first week on Second Life was mostly a technical challenge with microphone settings, mouse usage and dicey internet connections. I found the lag time to be my biggest challenge when navigating through the different worlds and the wait time for the area to be built (I got impatient). So far, so good. I enjoy the variety of the set-ups and look forward to meeting people with similar interests. Next, I plan to work on using tools and exploring.