Call for Consensus (CfC): APA Comment on WebXR Gamepads Module - Level 1

Colleagues:

We will be discussing this CfC on the call today.

This is a Call for Consensus (CfC) to the Accessible Platform Architectures (APA) Working Group testing for agreement on a formal comment on the WebXR Gamepads Module - Level 1 <https://www.w3.org/TR/webxr-gamepads-module-1/>.

An accessibility review was requested of the APA as part of our role in performing horizontal review of W3C documents for accessibility concerns.

I reviewed it and noticed that remapping wasn't explicitly addressed in the spec under review. I also noticed that neither this spec, its parent (WebXR Device API <https://www.w3.org/TR/webxr/>), nor the Gamepad spec (<https://www.w3.org/TR/gamepad/>) have an Accessibility Considerations section. We've therefore proposed the comment below, in order to engage with the group on how to address these concerns.

Note: on the call last week, we discussed other things such as haptics. These are not covered in any of the specs mentioned, so are out of scope for now.

*** Action to Take ***

This CfC is now open for objection, comment, as well as statements of support via email. Silence will be interpreted as support, though messages of support are certainly welcome.

If you object to this proposed action, or have comments concerning this proposal, please respond by replying on list to this message no later than 23:59 (Midnight) Boston Time, Friday 7 October.

NOTE: This Call for Consensus is being conducted in accordance with the APA Decision Policy published at: http://www.w3.org/WAI/APA/decision-policy


<APA Comment>

We have reviewed the WebXR Gamepads Module - Level 1, and we have a concern that  OS- or UA-level button remapping would be important for accessibility support. Whilst remapping is generally better done within an app/game, users need to have a fallback in case the app/game doesn't support it. (We note that there is a "Remapping" section in the related Gamepad spec from the WebApps WG, but it doesn't seem to cover user-controllable remapping.)

This could be discussed in an "Accessibility Considerations" section, but we believe you might find it preferable to add such a section to the parent API specification (WebXR Device API) rather than to this module document. If you prefer to address Accessibility Considerations in the parent API specification, we would note that there may be additional concerns we would want to have addressed before the API is finalized, but starting that process now would satisfy our concern with the current module. We are open to your proposal for a resolution to our concern.

</APA Comment>

best regards,


Matthew & Janina
-- 
Matthew Tylee Atkinson (he/him)
--
Principal Accessibility Engineer
TPG Interactive
https://www.tpgi.com

A Vispero Company
https://www.vispero.com

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Received on Wednesday, 5 October 2022 11:25:39 UTC