XR Access is a research consortium based at Cornell Tech, the New York City campus of Cornell University, founded in 2019 by Prof. Shiri Azenkot of Cornell Tech and Larry Goldberg, former head of accessibility at Verizon Media. XR Access fosters and leads a community that engages, connects, and influences the field of XR to build and share knowledge, skills, tools, user experiences, and leading practices to make XR inclusive of all, regardless of abilities. The organization’s mission is to modernize, innovate, and expand XR technologies, products, content, and assistive technologies by promoting inclusive design in a diverse community that connects stakeholders, catalyzes shared and sustained action, and provides valuable, informative resources. XR Access envisions a future where inclusive design and accessibility become an unremarkable part of all XR creation, experience, and use through features such as multimodal inputs/outputs, accessibility of content, and multiple means of interaction; where resources on XR accessibility are widespread wherever XR technologies are created and updated frequently with latest research findings; where people with cognitive, physical/mobility, and sensory disabilities are integral to shaping the future by creating, testing, and providing feedback on XR technology products and content experiences; and where facets of intersectionality including abilities, age, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, gender identity, and socio-economic status are emphasized and explored. The organization’s values center on efficient and useful focus for present and future environments through evidence-based pairing of creators with users to define needs, co-design and user-test solutions; welcoming, enabling, and empowering diverse involvement through user-centered approach on needs of people with cognitive, physical/mobility, and sensory disabilities; and collaborative, catalytic, connected style that is nimble and adaptable to changing needs of the XR business and technology community.
Why it matters: XR Access addresses the reality that emerging XR technologies risk replicating or amplifying existing barriers for people with disabilities unless inclusive design becomes integral to creation rather than retrofitted afterward, requiring proactive intervention while the field is still taking shape. By pairing creators with users to co-design and user-test solutions and ensuring people with cognitive, physical/mobility, and sensory disabilities are integral to shaping XR’s future rather than passive recipients of technology designed without them, XR Access demonstrates that accessibility requires evidence-based collaboration between developers and disabled users from the earliest stages. The consortium’s vision that inclusive design becomes “unremarkable” reflects understanding that true accessibility is achieved not through special accommodations but when multimodal inputs/outputs and multiple means of interaction are standard features, making XR inclusive of all regardless of abilities while emphasizing intersectionality across diverse traits.
