In today's rapidly evolving educational landscape, ensuring equitable access to learning resources and opportunities is paramount. With the increasing diversity of student populations, including those with impairments, it is imperative for educators in tertiary institutions to possess the knowledge and skills to create inclusive learning environments. To address this need, we present a pioneering free German-language certificate course in accessible teaching tailored specifically for tertiary educators in Germany. This certificate course includes 25+ hours of learning materials and comprises four comprehensive modules and their associated learning objectives. A confidential collection of exam questions is also part of the certificate project.

The four course modules are designed to equip educators with the essential tools and insights to effectively cater to the diverse needs of all learners. The first module, "Introduction," lays the groundwork by familiarizing participants with fundamental concepts of accessibility and inclusive teaching practices. Participants will explore concepts and terms related to accessibility, legal and ethical frameworks underlying requirements, current models of disability, general demographic information on disabilities, and the prevalence of disabilities and varied access needs among student populations.

The second module, "Diversity of User Needs," delves into the varied needs and experiences of people with various types of disabilities. Through videos, case studies and interactive exercises, educators will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by this population in general, and begin to reflect on what these challenges look like for students pursuing studies at a college or university.

"Accessibility in the Higher Education Context," the third module, examines specific challenges related to accessibility in tertiary education, in learning design, course evaluation and administrative support services. Participants will learn about Universal Design for Learning (UDL), best practices for developing an inclusive classroom, in terms of designing learning events and the need to create accessible materials.

The final module, "Technical Aspects," focuses on practical tools and technologies to enhance accessibility in educational materials and platforms. From creating accessible Word and PowerPoint documents, and multimedia content, to leveraging assistive technologies, participants will acquire hands-on skills to implement accessibility solutions in their teaching practice.

Throughout the course, participants will engage in self-paced active learning experiences, including case studies, remediation projects, and a course forum facilitated by expert instructors with extensive experience in inclusive education and accessibility. The final course task will be a comprehension 50-question multiple-choice test. Upon passing this final test, a certificate will be granted. By completing this certificate course, educators will be better equipped to foster an inclusive learning environment that promotes equity, diversity, and accessibility for all students.

This presentation will provide an overview of the MOOC-platform where the course is hosted, show examples of contents and interactive material, as well as a look at sample type questions that may be used in the final examination.

Introduction

Recently, the use of virtual reality applications has increased; this significant rising means that there are different types of virtual reality users with many preferences. From the developers and testers’ points of view, they should consider the number of users that use their applications. On the other hand, researchers play critical roles in conducting several studies to ensure ease of use and provide an environment that ensures human-computer interaction in a way that achieves effectiveness and efficiency for users. This study aims to determine the preferences of the menus from the user’s perspective by measuring usability and user satisfaction.

Firstly, let us define some terminology starting with human-computer interaction (HCI) which is an interdisciplinary area of study that focusses on the design of computer technology and more specifically the interaction between humans (the users) and computers. HCI has expanded to cover almost all forms of information technology design [1]. The user interface is defined as a component of human-computer interaction and users usually deal with it using other tools to get information from the system such as the keyboard or mentors. The concept of a 3D user interface is defined in the book "3D User Interfaces: Theory and Practice" (Bowman et al., 2005) as a user interface that involves interaction in three dimensions. According to the book, 3D interaction refers to the human-computer interaction where user tasks are performed directly within a spatial context defined in three dimensions [2]. The third definition Icon-based human-computer interaction (HCI) is this type, developers used icons and symbols to represent basic entities in a computer system. These entities can be processes or retrieves data, and their attributes, associations, or states can be indicated through a representation. Icons have a valuable ability to convey properties of system objects by sharing graphical elements. In certain situations, an icon interface can significantly reduce the need for other forms of media (such as commands). Moreover, it can provide a more user-friendly interaction due to its ability to convey significantly more descriptive information with fewer physical display spaces [3] [4][5].

In this paper, we propose an experiment to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of 2d and 3d icons as menus, we will measure usability using the System Usability Scale Questionnaire (SUS), and user satisfaction using the After-Scenario Questionnaire, time to finish the tasks (in seconds), and the number of unnecessary steps (errors).

State of Art

Virtual reality (VR) has been a focus of research in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI). An aspect of VR HCI is the design of virtual menus for efficient interaction. Traditional menus on tangible user interfaces are not well-suited for VR, leading to the exploration of new menu designs. Several studies have examined gesture recognition combined with virtual menus in mixed reality environments [6]. Another approach is traditional 2D techniques, such as pie menus in VR, which have shown significant sight in terms of usability and user satisfactions [7]. Additionally, integration of hands and eyes in the design of hand-attached menus has been explored, allowing users to interact with menus using the same hand while keeping the other hand free [8]. These developments in VR menu design aim to improve the efficiency and effectiveness in virtual environments.

Methodology

There are a variety of evaluation methods to assess the usability and user satisfaction of a system. One method is the system usability (SUS), which aims at measuring the usability of menus within a system. This is achieved through a questionnaire consisting of statements given to users after they have interacted with the system. The results were then converted into an SUS score on a scale of 0 to 100. A higher score indicates better usability, and the use of percentage can provide insight into how the score compares to a larger population. Another method is the After-Scenario Questionnaire (ASQ), which aims to measure users' satisfaction with the experiment. This is done using a questionnaire that likely includes questions related to user satisfaction with the system [12].

Nine subjects who have experience in virtual reality and games with ages from 20 to 30 will test our virtual reality 2d menu and 3d menu according to a given scenario. The scenario will be described clearly before the experiments. Each participant will try our virtual reality application twice, one with a 2d menu and the other with a 3d menu. We will record the time taken to achieve each scenario. completion of each experiment, every participant is required to complete the system usability scale SUS and then the scenario questionnaires.

Results

Overall results showed a clear preference for 3d menu icons by gamers from both SUS and ASQ results with less time and few error acording to senarios

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have proved their worth over the last 20 years and enjoy a high level of acceptance worldwide. In many countries, they are referenced in legal requirements for accessible digital user interfaces and content.

For accessibility professionals and web and software developers, the WCAG are ideally suited as a reference point and a set of rules for most aspects of digital accessibility (e-accessibility) for people with sensory and motor disabilities. Thanks to their technology-agnostic, highly abstract formulation, the current 87 WCAG success criteria cover most scenarios for the accessibility of digital user interfaces and provide useful guidance on how to resolve any accessibility problems.

However, the abstract formulation of the WCAG and the high level of detail of the application scenarios considered also mean that the hurdles for newcomers to find their way around the topic of digital accessibility are often very high and are therefore a risk of deterring interested newcomers.

In order to ensure the accessibility of digital content in institutions, e.g. in education, it is important that not only a few specialists are aware of the topic, but that the topic of accessibility is broadly positioned and anchored in the institutions in terms of cultural change. The topic permeates all areas of digitalization. If institutions want to ensure the accessibility of their external and internal processes and communication channels, hardly anyone involved will remain unaffected. Accessibility must be considered in the procurement of all components of the digital infrastructure. The authorship of digital content must consider the editorial aspects of digital accessibility and have the necessary tools at their disposal. Creative teams need to understand the role and limitations of visualizations, multimedia content or newer technologies such as gamification, virtual or augmented reality. It is helpful if everyone involved develops a common understanding of what digital accessibility is about. It helps if all employees whose familiar processes and responsibilities are to be adapted to the new challenges know why they should do this, which aspects are important and why, and which target groups, people with which disabilities, etc. will benefit from this. Building the various skills and basic background knowledge requires a great deal of resources and time, which is often not available.

The A11y Big Five, five aspects of accessibility that are easy to remember, intuitive to understand and have high practical relevance. The A11y Big Five have been developed in a continuous optimization process as part of a CAS on accessible communication as well as in courses and materials to at the same raise awareness and train teachers at ETHZ Zurich and at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, FHNW. The A11y Big Five allow to provide as many people as possible with a comprehensive understanding of e-accessibility and basic practical skills in the most efficient way. In addition, the A11y Big Five easily translate into accessibility quick tests for digital content and systems and thus prove to be easy to understand and comprehend for people, including decision-makers from politics and business, who have not yet dealt intensively with the topic of digital accessibility.

The following five easy to internalise aspects of the A11y Big Five largely cover the requirements for accessible content:

• Flexible output – content can be displayed flexibly:
  Quick test: Enlargement of content with board devices (e.g. [Ctrl] + [+]) > No loss of content, no horizontal scrolling; Windows High Contrast Mode
  Target groups: Visually impaired people
• Flexible input – Applications and interactive elements can always be operated with both a computer mouse and a keyboard:
  Quick test: Can all functions be reached and operated with standard keys?
  Target groups: People with motor disabilities, users of assistive technologies
• Info and explicit semantics – Explicit semantic information is given:
  Quick test: check semantic structure using appropriate tools, screen reader tests on widgets and forms.
  Target groups: users of assistive technologies (screen reader or voice input).
• The 2-Senses Principle – Information conveyed via images and multimedia content is always conveyed in at least one additional sensory channel:
  Quick Test: Do images have adequate alternative texts? Videos captions?
  Target Groups: People with visual and hearing impairments
• Colours and contrasts – Text, icons or form fields have a minimum contrast to the background and essential information is not conveyed by colour alone. Quick test: Contrast measurement at suspicious places, visual inspection for diagrams with colour legends.
  Target group: Visually impaired people