IntoTheVerse — Web3 Gatekeepers: How can we make Web3 more accessible?
Welcome to another IntoTheVerse Journal!
A metaverse that is focused on creating utility, impact and provides players with total control.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” (Buckminster Fuller)
Web3 is often hailed as being the new ‘Wild West’ in the technology sector. It is still in the early stages of development, and although it has the potential to revolutionize how we interact with the internet, it can also be difficult to navigate and understand for newcomers.
Accessibility is vital to its longevity and as Web3 continues to evolve and grow, we wanted to study the potential gatekeepers that prevent wider audiences from engaging and how we can make it easier to use.
What are the main gatekeepers to accessibility in Web3?
The main gatekeepers are technical complexity, high barriers to entry, lack of user-friendly interfaces, and high costs associated with using and developing on Web3:
Web3 often requires a basic understanding of cryptography, blockchain, and smart contracts, which can be intimidating for many users.
It can become even more confusing when users are faced with a variety of different blockchain networks and platforms, each with its own set of protocols and standards. This can make seamless adoption of Web3 challenging and make the mass market opt-out instead of opting in.
Another barrier that stops many potential new users from onboarding to Web3 is the requirement to pay transaction fees in cryptocurrency. This can prove problematic for many users who may not have access to cryptocurrency or are not familiar with how to obtain it.
Perhaps, the most significant barrier, however, is that accessibility tools and assistive technologies are not yet widely available in Web3, which can make it difficult for users with disabilities to access and participate in platforms and applications.
How can we make Web3 more accessible?
Simplify user experience
Incorporating more intuitive interface designs would make navigating Web3 applications easier for non-technical and first-time users.
By implementing simple functionality developers can also create a more engaging user experience and attract people from many different demographics, countries, and varying ‘walks of life.’
Simplifying and normalizing the terminology used in Web3 applications would also make it easier for users to understand and ensure any of their interactions with cryptocurrency, NFT, and blockchain are less daunting.
Lower the cost of entry and transaction fees
Lowering the cost of entry would eliminate one of the biggest inconsistencies in Web3, enabling applications to become more accessible to a higher threshold of users, by creating an equal playing field that values them as a contributor, regardless of their technical expertise or financial resources.
Educate and raise awareness
Many potential new users of Web3 are not yet aware of its benefits or how to use it. Educating and raising awareness around Web3 is imperative for attracting a larger pool of users.
Developers, entrepreneurs, and investors can do this by creating educational resources and marketing campaigns to help users understand the value of Web3 and its potential to transform industries.
Creating content that breaks down what Web3 truly is and sharing information will also empower users and encourage greater mass market adoption.
Expand on the sense of community
Web3’s greatest strength is its decentralized nature, which optimizes community-driven development.
By expanding on its innate sense of community and fostering even greater collaboration and recognition among its developers, designers, and contributors, Web3 can attract even greater talent density, which would lead to an explosion of innovation and result in higher levels engagement, and user satisfaction.
Simplify the onboarding process
The process of onboarding in many Web3 applications can be long-winded and complex. Creating a simple signing-up process, that can be used over multiple platforms would encourage greater mass adoption.
Increase and improve scalability
To ensure mass adoption of Web3 developers need to focus on improving the network’s speed and efficiency to make it more accessible to users.
The current Web3 ecosystem also has many different blockchains, tokens, and applications operating alone. To improve accessibility, developers need to find ways to make these different components more interoperable, so users can access them seamlessly.
In conclusion, Web3 has the potential to have a positive long-lasting impact on our world, if it embraces measures to become more accessible. For example, mass adoption by users could influence the decentralization of industries, reduce the dominance of centralized entities and enable more people to participate in the economy.
Improved accessibility would also encourage greater innovation in the Web3 space, leading to the creation of new products and services that could empower individuals, create new business models that could transform industries, and improve social impact initiatives that could increase access to financial services and reduce inequality.
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Aimee Gilmore is a Creative Writer at IntoTheVerse. Come say hi to her on Twitter or Discord.
