Literature Reviews

Reviewed research papers, articles, and publications relevant to digital accessibility.

• From Barriers to Blueprints: A Critical Systematic Review of Older Adults and Social VR

  Sho Conte, Cosmin Munteanu, Aava Sapkota (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Conte, Munteanu, and Sapkota conduct a critical systematic review of 85 HCI papers (2017-2024) on older adults and social VR, arguing that the dominant narrative — which frames older adults as deficient users who struggle to adopt VR — is itself a pr…

  • social VR
  • older adults
  • ageism
  • epistemic injustice
  • resistant reading
  • critical gerontology
  • metaverse
  • virtual reality accessibility
  • systematic review
  • design justice

• When the World Opens Up: Journeys of People with Intellectual Disabilities in Social Virtual Reality

  Alexandra Covaci, Winnie Tsang, Sophia Ppali, Paraskevi Triantafyllopoulou, Monica Perusquia-Hernandez, Oscar Zhou, Fotis Liarokapis, Marios Constantinides, Mohamed Khamis, Shujun Li (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper challenges the dominant remedial paradigm in HCI research on virtual reality and people with intellectual disabilities (ID), which has largely framed VR as a tool for training functional life skills (cooking, shopping, transport) …

  • intellectual disability
  • virtual reality
  • social VR
  • VRChat
  • disability justice
  • participatory design
  • self-determination
  • interdependence
  • digital citizenship
  • crip technoscience
  • reflexive thematic analysis
  • easy read

• Understanding the Use of a Large Language Model-Powered Guide to Make Virtual Reality Accessible for Blind and Low Vision People

  Jazmin Collins, Sharon Y Lin, Tianqi Liu, Andrea Stevenson Won, Shiri Azenkot (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Collins and colleagues present the first empirical user study of an AI-powered 'sighted guide' for blind and low-vision (BLV) users in social virtual reality. Social VR platforms like VRChat (40,000 concurrent players) are largely inaccessible: they …

  • virtual reality
  • social VR
  • blind and low vision
  • AI guide
  • large language model
  • sighted guide
  • embodied agent
  • avatar
  • human-AI interaction
  • user study

• The Guide Has Your Back: Exploring How Sighted Guides Can Enhance Accessibility in Social Virtual Reality for Blind and Low Vision People

  Jazmin Collins, Crescentia Jung, Yeonju Jang, Danielle Montour, Andrea Stevenson Won, Shiri Azenkot (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2023)

  This paper presents the first exploration of using sighted guides to enhance accessibility in social virtual reality for blind and low vision (BLV) people. The researchers built a VR prototype in Unity deployed on Meta Quest 2 headsets, featuring thr…

  • virtual reality
  • social VR
  • blind and low vision
  • sighted guide
  • navigation
  • assistive technology
  • avatar accessibility
  • AI guide

• Understanding Accessibility for Physically Disabled Users in VR: Interplay of Physical, Digital, and Experiential Layers

  Marvin Wolf, Kathrin Gerling, Dmitry Alexandrovsky, Merlin Steven Opp, Jan Ole Rixen (2025) — ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper presents a qualitative study with 16 physically disabled participants exploring how they engage with Virtual Reality across three interconnected layers: physical (hardware and interaction paradigms), digital (avatars and virtual world desi…

  • virtual reality
  • physical disability
  • VR accessibility
  • avatar design
  • interaction paradigms
  • social VR
  • VR gaming
  • embodiment
  • qualitative research

• "I Try to Represent Myself as I Am": Self-Presentation Preferences of People with Invisible Disabilities through Embodied Social VR Avatars

  Ria J. Gualano, Lucy Jiang, Kexin Zhang, Tanisha Shende, Andrea Stevenson Won, Shiri Azenkot (2024) — ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates how people with invisible disabilities want to represent their disability identity through avatars in social virtual reality environments. While prior research has explored avatar-based disability disclosure for blind and d/De…

  • invisible disability
  • virtual reality
  • avatars
  • self-presentation
  • disability disclosure
  • identity
  • social VR
  • ADHD
  • chronic conditions
  • neurodiversity

• Is it Part of Me? Exploring Experiences of Inclusive Avatar Use For Visible and Invisible Disabilities in Social VR

  Katrin Angerbauer, Phoenix Van Wagoner, Tim Halach, Jonas Vogelsang, Natalie Hube, Andria Smith, Ksenia Keplinger, Michael Sedlmair (2024) — ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates the lived experiences of people with disabilities (PWD) using inclusive avatars — avatars featuring disability signifiers — in the social VR platform VRChat. While prior research has documented accessibility barriers and haras…

  • virtual reality
  • avatars
  • invisible disability
  • visible disability
  • social VR
  • identity
  • self-representation
  • harassment
  • inclusion

• Accessible Nonverbal Cues to Support Conversations in VR for Blind and Low Vision People

  Crescentia Jung, Jazmin Collins, Ricardo E. Gonzalez Penuela, Jonathan Isaac Segal, Andrea Stevenson Won, Shiri Azenkot (2024) — Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)

  This paper addresses the inaccessibility of nonverbal communication for blind and low-vision (BLV) users in social virtual reality environments. Social VR platforms like VRChat, Rec Room, and Meta Horizon Worlds rely heavily on avatar-mediated nonver…

  • virtual reality
  • blind and low vision
  • nonverbal communication
  • haptic feedback
  • social VR
  • spatial audio