A Crash Course on Visible Body’s Accessibility Features

Posted on 3/7/25 by Sarah Boudreau

Visible Body’s software is designed to engage learners. Through its signature interactive 3D models, students can interact with life sciences content in a visual and tactile way, and Visible Body’s newly expanded accessibility features mean that even more learners can use VB Suite and Courseware!

We’re going to give you a two minute crash course on Visible Body’s accessibility features. Buckle up!

Accessibility Mode in VB Suite 

Released in February 2025, Accessibility Mode in Visible Body Suite allows users to navigate the entire app with screen reader and keyboard navigation. This means that users can use their screen reader and keyboard to browse VB Suite’s extensive menu of 3D and 2D life sciences content, listen to text descriptions, search for specific structures, and even add and dissect structures. 

accessibility-mode-vb-suite

Navigating the info box with Accessibility Mode in VB Suite. 

We are proud that with the release of Accessibility Mode, Visible Body Suite and Courseware are now the most accessible 3D life sciences learning products on the market!

Accessible A&P Course

With Visible Body Courseware, instructors can use VB Suite’s comprehensive library of assets to create and assign dynamic assignments and assessments. The Visible Body team recently developed a new premade A&P course that is adapted for screen reader and keyboard control. 

Premade courses are fully customizable and allow instructors to save time and effort when developing course materials. The new, accessible Anatomy & Physiology: Essential Concepts course is no different—now, it’s even easier to use accessible content in the classroom.

Untitled design

This premade course in Courseware is screen reader and keyboard navigable and is packed full of interactive assignments that cover all major body systems. 

Listen Button 

Outside of Accessibility Mode, VB Suite has several great accessibility features that help all learners, like the Listen button. 

Wherever you see paragraphs of text in VB Suite, just click on the talking head icon, and your computer or mobile device will read it aloud!

listen-button-new-info-box

GIF from VB Suite. 

You can also click on the talking head icon next to any structure name to get a professional pronunciation of the term. This is especially helpful for building students’ confidence for in-class discussions and raising questions about the material. 

Here’s a tip for the multitaskers out there: When you click on the Listen button to read a definition aloud, try manipulating the model as you listen, looking for the surrounding structures and other spatial relationships mentioned in the definition. 

Keyboard Controls 

We talked about how you can navigate using a keyboard in Accessibility Mode, but even outside of Accessibility Mode, your keyboard can control a lot! For example, you can: 

  • Navigate Flashcards entirely using the keyboard 
  • Tap number keys 1 to 6 to move the camera to a predefined view, such as an anterior view
  • Use W, S, A, and D keys to pan the camera
  • Zoom in and out using the dash and equal sign keys

This support article has even more information about keyboard commands, including a printable PDF. 

appendicular-skeleton-flashcard-gif

Hit the spacebar to flip a Flashcard. GIF from VB Suite. 

 

Customizing Your VB Suite Experience

Users can customize their VB Suite experience, enhancing visibility and access, by:

  • Swapping between the seven languages in which VB Suite is available
  • Changing the background color
  • Adjusting the font size
  • Adding closed captioning for animations


Time’s Up!

We hope you enjoyed this super quick look at Visible Body’s accessibility features. For more in-depth information, you can visit the VB Suite and Courseware help center pages, and current customers can reach out to our Customer Engagement Team for assistance and training on how to use these features in your classroom. 

Don’t have Visible Body yet? You can sign up for a free instructor trial by filling out this form.

Be sure to subscribe to the Visible Body Blog for more anatomy awesomeness! 

Are you an instructor? We have award-winning 3D products and resources for your anatomy and physiology course! Learn more here.

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