Killough, Daniel; Ji, Tiger F.; Zhang, Kexin; Hu, Yaxin; Huang, Yu; Du, Ruofei; Zhao, Yuhang. (2026).听.听Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems – Proceedings, 1190.听
This study looked at how well existing accessibility guidelines for 3D games and virtual worlds work in extended reality, or XR, which includes technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality. Accessibility, often shortened to 鈥渁11y,鈥� means making digital experiences usable for people with different abilities. The researchers focused on XR because it uses interaction methods that are different from standard 3D environments, such as tracking body movement in space and using physical, movement-based actions. To understand what works in practice, they interviewed 25 XR professionals from different kinds of organizations and compared their development experiences with 20 widely accepted accessibility guidelines drawn from six major sources. These guidelines covered visual, motor, cognitive, speech, and hearing needs. The study found that the guidelines can be very helpful when they are used as tools to improve design rather than as simple checklists to follow. However, it also found important gaps between existing 3D guidelines and the needs of XR, which can make them harder to implement. Overall, the findings suggest that XR needs more specialized accessibility guidance and better support tools that reflect its unique features.
Figure 2:
Mapping research questions addressed by our findings. RQ1 identified technical solutions, headset limitations, and training gaps. RQ2 revealed ambiguity in applying 3D guidelines to XR contexts and tensions between immersion and a11y. RQ3 showed practitioners need automated checking, concrete examples, and code-first support. Overall, practitioners are willing to implement a11y but need help balancing effort versus impact.