An SVG graphic is an object-oriented file for which each object has a label and description field. It has enormous potential as an improved method for displaying the kinds of information scientists love to show without the need to clutter figures with vast numbers of explanatory labels. The good structure and availability of label and description fields make SVG an ideal file for audio-graphic display as well. The SVG project is described in a paper in the 2001 CSUN conference. People with the ability to use the mouse can access labels and object descriptions by a click of the mouse.
Haptic access is useful but too limited to give adequate access to more complex graphics.
There are several research efforts, at the University of Toronto , and at NIST , aimed at making VRML more accessible by non-visual means. Although VRML is not intrinsically fully accessible, it it is a language capable of representing graphical information in a form that is at least in principle fully accessible. Until the advent of SVG there was no other common graphical language with this capability. We have constructed some prototype examples of VRML graphics that are interactive, and one is time-dependent. They contain everything necessary for accessibility by people who cannot see.