Hand to Mouth: Shifting the Bare-Minimum Accessibility Paradigm in XR Through Crip-Hacking and Crip-Aesthetics

Abstract eXtended Reality (XR) technologies often embed ableist design assumptions, privileging hand-based interaction and vision-centric interfaces that presume a normative able-bodied user. As a result, many disabled people—including those with limited mobility or blindness—are excluded from the outset, with accessibility added only as an afterthought. We critique this dynamic through a critical disability studies lens, formulating the notion of a “ bare-minimum accessibility paradigm ”—a tendency to meet only minimal compliance requirements rather than rethinking access as a generative design concern. In response, we propose crip-hacking and crip-aesthetics as transformative frameworks for accessible XR design. Crip-hacking draws on disabled communities’ DIY technology adaptations while crip-aesthetics reimagines disability-centric creativity as a design asset. We illustrate these approaches through an autoethnographic account of an XR artwork co-created with disabled artists using mouth gestures. This case demonstrates how reimagining XR through disability experiences challenges entrenched ableist design norms and broadens the discourse at the nexus of disability theory, technology ethics, and inclusive design research.