An Equitable Experience? How HCI Research Conceptualizes Accessibility of Virtual Reality in the Context of Disability
Kathrin Gerling, Anna-Lena Meiners, Louisa Schumm, Jan Rixen, Marvin Wolf, Zeynep Yildiz, Dmitry Alexandrovsky, Merlin Opp · 2025 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing · doi:10.1145/3770755
Summary
This paper critically examines how the HCI and accessibility research community conceptualizes VR accessibility for disabled people. Through a systematic literature review of 28 papers (2018-2024), the authors investigate two questions: how accessibility is currently defined in VR research, and what role experiential accessibility—the opportunity for disabled people to have equitable experiences of presence and immersion—plays in this work. The theoretical foundation draws on multiple perspectives: societal definitions of accessibility, legal frameworks (UN CRPD, European Accessibility Act), critical disability studies concepts like "transformative access" and "access intimacy," and the experiential pillars of VR research (presence, immersion, body ownership). The authors argue that VR is fundamentally an experiential technology—its core purpose is creating the sense of "being there" in virtual environments—yet accessibility research rarely addresses whether disabled users achieve these experiences. The corpus spans publications primarily from ASSETS (32.1%) and CHI (25%), addressing motor/physical impairments (42.9%), blind or low vision (35.7%), deaf or hard of hearing (10.7%), and cognitive impairments (3.6%). Most work (92.9%) made empirical contributions, with 71.4% producing artifacts alongside research.
Key findings
The most striking finding is that none of the 28 papers explicitly defined accessibility in the context of VR—the term was used extensively but never operationalized. Research predominantly adopted a barrier-centric, problem-focused approach emphasizing safety, usability, and task performance metrics like NASA-TLX scores. While these concerns are legitimate, they represent a narrower view of accessibility than what VR research affords non-disabled users, where experience is routinely designed for and evaluated. Experience was rarely an explicit design goal: only 8 of 22 empirical papers considered user experience when making design decisions. Yet when disabled participants were given opportunities to provide qualitative feedback, they frequently discussed experiential aspects—presence, immersion, and body ownership—without prompting. Participants expressed concerns about factors that would "break immersion" and desires for avatars that accurately represented them, including disability-related features like cochlear implants. The authors found a disconnect between how researchers frame accessibility (removing barriers) and how disabled users value VR (having meaningful experiences). Ten papers acknowledged the relevance of experience in their discussions, often as limitations or future work, suggesting researchers recognize the gap but don't prioritize closing it.
Relevance
This paper contributes a working definition of VR accessibility that centers experience: "Accessibility of VR refers to the absence of barriers that would negatively impact how disabled people interact with and experience Virtual Reality, and is achieved when all user groups can experience immersion and presence in a way that is safe, and aligned with their abilities and preferences." For accessibility practitioners, this reframes the goal from merely removing barriers to ensuring equitable experiences. The practical recommendations include: (1) treat experience as an inherent accessibility requirement from project start, not a secondary consideration; (2) complement barrier-focused research with attention to facilitators of meaningful VR engagement; (3) embrace "third-wave HCI" approaches that center lived experience, meaningful participation, and human connection. The paper challenges the field to apply the same rigor to disabled users' experiences that VR research routinely affords non-disabled users. When mainstream VR research extensively studies presence and immersion, but accessibility research focuses only on whether disabled users can complete tasks safely, we are not providing equitable access—we are providing lesser access.
Tags: virtual reality · VR · accessibility · disability · experience · presence · immersion · literature review · HCI · inclusive design
Standards referenced: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities · European Accessibility Act · ISO 9241-11:2018