How Well Can 3D Accessibility Guidelines Support XR Development? An Interview Study with XR Practitioners in Industry

TL;DR

This study evaluates how existing 3D accessibility guidelines apply to XR development through interviews with practitioners, revealing gaps and suggesting guidelines should act as transformation catalysts rather than strict checklists.

Contribution

First evaluation of 3D accessibility guidelines in XR context, highlighting mismatches and proposing a new perspective for guideline design and implementation.

Findings

Guidelines are effective as transformation catalysts, not just checklists.

Significant mismatches exist between guidelines and XR requirements.

Identifies design gaps and implementation barriers in XR accessibility.

Abstract

While accessibility (a11y) guidelines exist for 3D games and virtual worlds, their applicability to extended reality (XR)'s unique interaction paradigms (e.g., spatial tracking, kinesthetic interactions) remains unexplored. XR practitioners need practical guidance to successfully implement a11y guidelines under real-world constraints. We present the first evaluation of existing 3D a11y guidelines applied to XR development through semi-structured interviews with 25 XR practitioners across diverse organization contexts. We assessed 20 commonly-agreed a11y guidelines from six major resources across visual, motor, cognitive, speech, and hearing domains, comparing practitioners' development practices against guideline applicability to XR. Our investigation reveals that guidelines can be highly effective when designed as transformation catalysts rather than compliance checklists, but fundamental mismatches exist between existing 3D guidelines and XR requirements, creating both implementation barriers and design gaps. This work provides foundational insights towards developing a11y guidelines and support tools that address XR's distinct characteristics.