Communicating in virtual worlds through an accessible Web 2.0 solution: (Winner of the inaugural Telstra-TJA Christopher Newell Prize for the best paper submitted to TJA demonstrating the benefits of telecommunications in assisting people with disabilities)

Online Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) make accessing information any time, any place and using any device a reality for more than a quarter of the world's population. The Internet can improve communication and increase the independence of people who have disabilities and those who are geographically or socially isolated. Despite this potential, Web 2.0 applications and 3D virtual worlds remain largely inaccessible to many people with disabilities. This paper describes the design and development of an open source accessible 3D virtual world environment and Web 2.0 solution incorporating features that address the identified accessibility limitations of currently available technologies.