Literature Reviews

Reviewed research papers, articles, and publications relevant to digital accessibility.

• Fully Autonomous Vehicles for People with Visual Impairment: Policy, Accessibility, and Future Directions

  Paul D. S. Fink, Jessica A. Holz, Nicholas A. Giudice (2021) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This policy analysis examines how fully autonomous vehicles (FAVs) could transform mobility for people who are blind or visually impaired (BVI), while arguing that current US legislation fails to address their accessibility needs. With over 25 millio…

  • autonomous vehicles
  • transportation policy
  • blindness
  • visual impairment
  • accessible design
  • artificial intelligence
  • mobility

• Do You Hear What I Hear: The Balancing Act of Designing an Electronic Hockey Puck for Playing Hockey Non-Visually

  Tristan Cooper, Lauren Milne, Abhinav Shripad, Gayla Bassham (2022) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research investigates the design requirements for an electronic hockey puck that enables blind and visually impaired players to locate and track the puck through sound. Blind hockey currently uses a league-standard puck (LSP) containing ball bea…

  • blind sports
  • auditory feedback
  • sound localization
  • assistive sports equipment
  • accessible design
  • blind hockey

• Comic Spin: A Comic Creation Tool Enabling Self-expression for People with Aphasia

  Carla Tamburro, Timothy Neate, Abi Roper, Stephanie Wilson (2022) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  Comic Spin is a tablet application (iOS and Android) designed to enable people with aphasia to create comic strips through a constrained creativity approach. Aphasia, typically caused by stroke, affects language abilities including reading, writing, …

  • aphasia
  • creativity support tools
  • constrained creativity
  • self-expression
  • stroke
  • language impairment
  • accessible design
  • mobile application

• Implementing Ability-Based Design: A Systematic Approach to Conceptual User Modeling

  Amelie Nolte, Jacob Wobbrock, Torben Volkmann, Nicole Jochems (2022) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper addresses a critical gap in Ability-Based Design (ABD): while the concept has been influential in accessibility research for over a decade, it has lacked a systematic methodology for implementation. ABD, introduced by Wobbrock et al., shif…

  • ability-based design
  • user modeling
  • design methodology
  • requirements analysis
  • accessible design
  • inclusive design

• A3C: An Image-Association-Based Computing Device Authentication Framework for People with Upper Extremity Impairments

  Brittany Lewis, Priyankan Kirupaharan, Tina-Marie Ranalli, Krishna Venkatasubramanian (2024) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents A3C (Accessible image-Association-based Authentication for Computing devices), a novel authentication framework designed for people with upper extremity impairments (UEI). Over 20 million Americans have conditions—including trauma…

  • authentication
  • upper extremity impairments
  • graphical authentication
  • security
  • assistive technology
  • motor impairments
  • accessible design

• Accessibility and design: a failure of the imagination

  Bob Regan (2004) — Proceedings of the 2004 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  Written by Bob Regan of Macromedia (makers of Flash), this paper argues that the poor state of web accessibility represents a "failure of the imagination" — a failure by both the design community to engage with accessibility and by accessibility advo…

  • visual design
  • accessible design
  • Flash accessibility
  • CSS
  • web standards
  • design culture
  • accessibility advocacy

• Accessible Icon Design in Enterprise Applications

  Eric Stilan, Amy Chen, Lulit Bezuayehu (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from Oracle's design team presents case studies of designing accessible icons for enterprise software, focusing on the challenge of conveying complex meanings — conditional status, severity levels, data trends — within 16x16 pixel icons wi…

  • visual design
  • color contrast
  • color blindness
  • accessible design
  • user interface design
  • internationalization
  • WCAG compliance

• Designing Learning Systems to Provide Accessible Services

  Pythagoras Karampiperis, Demetrios Sampson (2005) — Proceedings of the 2005 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper addresses the architectural design of web-based learning systems that can deliver accessible educational content to learners with diverse access needs. The authors identify a fundamental problem with how accessible e-learning was being app…

  • e-learning accessibility
  • learning management systems
  • accessible design
  • metadata
  • learning objects
  • assistive technology
  • user preferences

• Accessibility at Early Stages: Insights from the Designer Perspective

  Adriana Martín, Alejandra Cechich, Gustavo Rossi (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper addresses a fundamental imbalance in web accessibility practice: while many tools exist to help developers evaluate accessibility after implementation, very few support designers in building accessibility into web applications from the sta…

  • accessible design
  • software engineering
  • aspect-oriented design
  • web engineering
  • model-driven development
  • user interface design
  • WCAG compliance
  • shift-left accessibility

• Semiotics Contributions to Accessible Interface Design

  María Inés Laitano (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This extended abstract argues that semiotic theory — the study of signs and meaning-making — can complement WCAG-based approaches to produce more meaningfully accessible interfaces. Laitano contrasts the WAI model, which centres on content (informati…

  • semiotics
  • interface design
  • WCAG
  • alt text
  • communication strategy
  • auditory icons
  • accessible design
  • design theory