Improving Event Accessibility with Augmented Reality

Augmented reality, or AR, is one of the top trends in event management, with a forecasted market volume of $13 billion this year. Businesses across all industries are using AR to improve user engagement and elevate experiences.

As companies develop improved features designed to educate, entertain, and engage, others are leveraging AR for a different application: accommodating the 15% of the world’s population that experience some form of disability. By incorporating these features into your AR solutions, you can stay ahead of the pack and reach more attendees.

How is AR for Events Currently Used?

AR has been a hot topic among business owners in live experiences for years. Pokémon Go, which incorporated AR as a key feature, had millions of players worldwide at the height of its popularity. IKEA released IKEA Place several years ago, which lets customers see how furniture would look in their homes before they buy.

Event managers have also embraced AR with open arms, using it to create interactive and engaging experiences for their attendees. AR for events has seen wide adoption throughout many industries, from games and product demos to meetings and educational demonstrations.

Why Focus on Accessibility?

By incorporating accessible design in their AR software development, event managers can target a significant number of the population that might otherwise be excluded. The CDC and World Health Organization (WHO) report that 1 in 4 adults in the US, and 1 in 6 people around the world, experience some form of disability. Accessibility features break down some of the barriers these individuals face, helping them take part alongside their able-bodied peers.

How Accessible Development Benefits Companies

Accessibility features aren’t just good for attendees: They benefit the businesses behind them, too. Companies that identify as disability-inclusive enjoy 28% higher revenue than their counterparts, enhanced productivity, and improved innovation. Accessible content also ranks higher in search results and reflects well on corporate image. A 2016 survey found that the positive impact made by accessibility helped 85% of private sector and 77% of public sector organizations establish a social vision for their company. 

Incorporating accessible development now can also make your business more profitable and efficient in the future. A Microsoft-Forrester study noted that accessibility not only lets employers widen their potential hiring pool but also allows them to keep capable employees for longer as they age and develop disabilities. The same study also found that accessible web design reduces the rate at which users abandon websites, leading to an estimated €2.3 million, or $2.4 million, increase in annual revenue.

Who Benefits from Accessible AR for Events?

Unsurprisingly, people with disabilities benefit the most from accessible AR in events. However, that doesn’t mean they’re the only ones who can enjoy these features. 

Well-designed accessibility often encourages innovation and improves technology for everyone, as seen with tools like Siri and speech-to-text. Many people will also experience a disability at some point in their lives, either due to age, illness, or an accident, meaning that disability features could potentially help anyone.

Remote Attendees

Attending events in person isn’t always an option for some people: whether it’s because they have mobility issues that make it difficult to walk or climb stairs, have compromised immune systems, or are halfway across the globe. Regardless of their reason, these individuals may still wish to take part in an event even if they can’t make it there in person. 

AR can make this possible by bringing product demos to people's homes and recreating immersive experiences like AR displays and interactive elements. It can also allow people to “attend” in an AR capacity. During conferences and trade shows, business owners can use AR to form valuable connections with other entrepreneurs even if they’re miles away from the venue.

Mobility Issues

While the best thing event managers can do for attendees with mobility issues is incorporate ramps, elevators, and ADA-compliant restrooms in their venues, AR in events can still further enhance their experiences. 

An attendee can take an AR tour of a venue to check for accessibility issues, gauge the distances between key locations, and plan their route ahead of time. Once they arrive, AR can give them real-time directions to the most accessible paths for their destinations. It can also save lives, guiding attendees to alternative routes in the event of an evacuation.

Hard of Hearing

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that roughly 15% of adults in the US report some trouble hearing. During the height of an event, when even the average attendee might struggle to hear a speaker or intercom announcements over the din of the crowd, this portion of the population can be left behind. 

Accessible AR apps for events can help hard of hearing visitors have a better time by providing real-time captions, offering venue guidance, and even enhancing primarily auditory experiences with visual elements. Companies can also send instructions directly to visitors’ phones, and some apps convert speech-to-text to reduce communication barriers during direct conversations. 

It can also help with crisis management. Hard of hearing attendees may not be able to hear instructions in the event of an emergency, but AR apps can provide visual directions to emergency routes, even in outside venues. 

Non-Native Speakers

People with hearing impairments aren't the only ones who benefit from transcription software. More than 50 million international visitors traveled to the US in 2022, jumping from 22 million in 2021. 

With so many attendees coming from different parts of the world, your event is likely to have non-native speakers who can’t understand everything that's said and written. AR in events handles this problem by translating text and direct conversations. Some apps can also provide live captioning and automatic translation during performances and meetings.  

Visually Impaired

For most of its history, AR has relied heavily on visual cues, making it challenging for the blind and visually impaired. Fortunately, AR software developers have acknowledged and addressed this issue. Attendees can now use AR in events to read signs out loud and describe nearby people or objects. 

If they can’t find a specific attraction, AR can work in tandem with navigation solutions like geofencing to guide them to where they need to be. If a user is having a challenging time at an event, they can connect with sighted volunteers who, through live video feed, can help them with whatever they’re struggling with. 

Challenges and Considerations

While the technology used for AR in events has come a long way, it still has its flaws and other unique challenges users must contend with. AR software captures and collects visual, personal, and occasionally auditory data on users and their surroundings. This data, if not properly stored, can be vulnerable to data breaches and misuse. 

Additionally, if you want to incorporate more advanced accessibility features in your AR solution, you’ll need developers with the appropriate accessibility experience, understanding, and expertise to pull it off.

Event managers can tackle these challenges by custom-building their own AR solutions. By partnering with an AR software development partner, businesses can safeguard their users’ data and offer specialized features for their events. 

The Future of Accessible AR for Events

Consumers have reached the point where accessibility features aren’t a request, but an expectation. A study in the United Kingdom (UK) found that 71% of users with a disability will leave a website that isn’t accessible. Incorporating accessibility features into AR for your events can help you meet ADA requirements and avoid possible legal trouble.

As technology advances, so will the tools used in AR software development, along with accessibility software and standards. If you want to stay ahead of the curve and attract the largest number of attendees, it’s important to consider implementing accessibility-based software sooner rather than later.

If you’re ready to incorporate AR-based accessibility, contact FullStack Labs today. Our teams can create the custom software solutions you need to improve your events for millions of potential attendees.