The Third Workshop on Building an Inclusive and Accessible Metaverse for All

The Metaverse is envisioned as a shared, persistent experience that encompasses both augmented and virtual reality, representing the convergence of a virtually enhanced physical reality and interconnected persistent virtual spaces. It has the potential to break down physical boundaries, connecting people from all walks of life together through digital technology. As the Metaverse is still evolving, there is a unique opportunity to shape its development into an inclusive, all-encompassing space that is accessible for all. However a key challenge lies in designing the Metaverse from the ground up to ensure inclusivity and accessibility. This workshop aims to explore how to build an open, inclusive Metaverse and develop methods for evaluating its success. Key outcomes will include identifying new opportunities to enhance inclusivity, establishing evaluation methodologies, and outlining considerations for designing accessible environments and interactions within the Metaverse.

The Metaverse, envisioned as a shared, persistent, and interconnected technology encompassing augmented and virtual reality, has the potential to transcend physical and social boundaries, connecting individuals from all walks of life. However, designing it to be inclusive and accessible for everyone is a significant challenge. Building on the success of our 2023 and 2024 CHI workshops, this hybrid workshop will explore how the Metaverse can be designed to serve diverse communities on the "digital fringe", including people with disabilities, those in geographically isolated areas, culturally diverse groups, and marginalised socio-economic communities. The discussions will focus on four key themes: (1) Conceptualisation and Prototyping, (2) Methods and Metrics for Evaluation, (3) Supporting Inclusive Access, and (4) Future Considerations.

We invite submissions for position papers (up to 6 pages, excluding references, in single-column CEUR-WS Format) that address at least one of the workshop's key themes and present original work. Papers should also include a statement on the research goals and the problems being addressed. Alternatively, participants may submit a motivation statement outlining their reasons for attending, contributions to the workshop, and the research goals and issues they aim to explore. For more information, contact callum {dot} parker {at} sydney.edu.au.

Papers will be peer-reviewed and published on CEUR-WS, with selection based on relevance to the workshop themes and the quality of the work. Submissions should be non-anonymous. At least one author of each accepted paper must attend, and all participants must register for the workshop.

Position papers can be submitted via Microsoft CMT - https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/Metaverse4All2025