Investigating Accessibility Requirements in Open-source VR Projects: An Empirical Study

Investigating Accessibility Requirements in Open-source VR Projects: An Empirical Study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Investigating Accessibility Requirements in Open-source VR Projects: An Empirical Study Yi Wang, Xiao Liu, Chetan Arora, Thuong Hoang, John Grundy, Longfei Liang, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8338894/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Context: In website, mobile, and desktop software applications, mature accessibility solutions and best practices have been established by the software engineering community. However, in the virtual reality (VR) software community, there is a lack of understanding of comprehensive accessibility requirements for open-source VR projects. Objective: To fill this gap, we collected 1,757 high-quality open-source VR projects and 10 VR accessibility toolkits from GitHub. Methods: We developed a comprehensive VR accessibility evaluation checklist based on the XR (Extended Reality) Accessibility User Requirements (XAUR) to assess the extent to which these projects satisfied accessibility requirements. Results: Our results indicate that accessibility requirements are often lacking in open-source VR projects, with some projects completely overlooking them. The results also revealed that, although certain VR accessibility toolkits made meaningful contributions in their early stages, many exhibit clear limitations, including outdated components and a lack of sustained support. Conclusion: Therefore, we advocate for strengthening accessibility practices within the open-source VR community and highlight several directions for future research to support the development of an inclusive VR community. Accessibility Requirement Virtual Reality Open-source VR Project. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8338894","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":587509895,"identity":"a1121d29-306e-4e5d-8435-52f7506e0b4f","order_by":0,"name":"Yi 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Project.","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8338894/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8338894/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContext:\u003c/strong\u003e In website, mobile, and desktop software applications, mature accessibility solutions and best practices have been established by the software engineering community. 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