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Cited by 25Digital Accessibility for DisabilitiesVirtual Reality Applications and ImpactsDisability Rights and Representation

Inclusive Avatar Guidelines for People with Disabilities: Supporting Disability Representation in Social Virtual Reality

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Zhang, Kexin, Spencer, Edward Glenn Scott, Manikandan, Abijith, Li, Andric, Li, Ang, Yao, Yaxing, Zhao, Yuhang·2025·Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
DOI 10.1145/3706598.3714230
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Abstract

Avatar is a critical medium for identity representation in social virtual reality (VR). However, options for disability expression are highly limited on current avatar interfaces. Improperly designed disability features may even perpetuate misconceptions about people with disabilities (PWD). As more PWD use social VR, there is an emerging need for comprehensive design standards that guide developers and designers to create inclusive avatars. Our work aim to advance the avatar design practices by delivering a set of centralized, comprehensive, and validated design guidelines that are easy to adopt, disseminate, and update. Through a systematic literature review and interview with 60 participants with various disabilities, we derived 20 initial design guidelines that cover diverse disability expression methods through five aspects, including avatar appearance, body dynamics, assistive technology design, peripherals around avatars, and customization control. We further evaluated the guidelines via a heuristic evaluation study with 10 VR practitioners, validating the guideline coverage, applicability, and actionability. Our evaluation resulted in a final set of 17 design guidelines with recommendation levels.

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Zhang, K., Spencer, E. G. S., Manikandan, A., Li, A., Li, A., Yao, Y., & Zhao, Y.
Affiliations
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
  • Virginia Tech (US)
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Publisher
ACM
Published
2025-04-25
Pages
1-26
DOI
10.1145/3706598.3714230
OpenAlex
W4409747852
Cited by
25
References
5
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 8
FWCI
30.63
Type
conference paper
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (publishedVersion, cc-by-nd)
  • VTechWorks (Virginia Tech) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nd)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (cc-by)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (IIS-2328182, IIS-2328183)
  • Meta Research Award
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Human Factors and Ergonomics › Digital Accessibility for Disabilities
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Disability Rights and Representation
Keywords
avatar design, disability representation, social virtual reality, inclusive design, design guidelines, people with disabilities, avatar appearance, body dynamics, assistive technology, avatar customization, identity representation, heuristic evaluation

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