Accessibility for Virtual Tours: on Designing a Prototype for People with Visual Impairments

Virtual tours are tools that could be effectively used in many different contexts. The COVID-19 pandemic has let emerge how they can be useful and efficacy in those situations where it is not possible to access physical places and attend events. Besides that, they can be used for several goals in different contexts. In fact, in simple words, virtual tours are essentially based on using 3D images and videos, letting the users interact with the virtual environment and its points of interest through them, emphasizing the need for navigation and orienteering mechanisms within the virtual environment. Due to these characteristics, virtual tours represent digital barriers affecting users with disabilities, in particular those people with visual impairments. This paper presents an innovative solution we have adopted by designing and developing a prototype devoted to exploring a University Campus, with accessibility in mind. A preliminary evaluation has been conducted, and the obtained results are presented in the paper, which discusses some potentialities and limitations that emerged,