Literature Reviews

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

• NarrAid: Supporting Storytelling of People with Aphasia via Generative Visual Scene Displays

  Xiangfei Hu, Xiuqi Zheng, Qi Liu, Zejian Li, Ying Zhang, Lu Wang, Xipei Ren (2026) — Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’26)

  NarrAid is a generative AI-driven Visual Scene Display (VSD) system designed to support storytelling, not just basic wants and needs, for people with aphasia (PWA). The authors argue that existing AAC tools, including traditional VSDs, support functi…

  • aphasia
  • augmentative and alternative communication
  • visual scene display
  • storytelling
  • generative AI
  • large language models
  • text-to-image
  • human-AI co-creation
  • assistive technology

• Human-Centered Explainable AI for Brain-Computer Interface-driven Rehabilitation

  Param Rajpura (2026) — Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’26)

  This CHI Extended Abstract presents a doctoral research agenda developing human-centered explainable AI (HCXAI) frameworks for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) used in stroke rehabilitation. Rajpura argues that current BCI systems prioritize technica…

  • brain-computer interface
  • explainable AI
  • stroke rehabilitation
  • aphasia
  • human-centered AI
  • participatory design
  • co-design
  • neurotechnology
  • trust calibration
  • Global South accessibility

• Mapping Movies: A Mind-Map Approach to Aphasia-Friendly Video

  Shayan Bali, Alexandre Nevsky, Filip Bircanin, Timothy Neate (2026) — Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '26)

  Bali, Nevsky, Bircanin, and Neate (King's College London) target an under-served corner of media accessibility: viewers with aphasia and other complex communication needs (CCNs) for whom subtitles, audio description, and existing simplified-media int…

  • aphasia
  • complex communication needs
  • video accessibility
  • cognitive accessibility
  • mind maps
  • artificial intelligence
  • media accessibility
  • text-to-speech
  • visualisation

• Do-It-Yourself AAC: Co-Designing User-Programmable AI Communication Tools with People with Aphasia

  Jong Ho Lee, Stephanie Valencia (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Lee and Valencia explore how people with aphasia (PWA) can become designers of their own AI-powered augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools rather than users of rigid, pre-built systems. The authors note that aphasia, a language disord…

  • aphasia
  • AAC
  • augmentative and alternative communication
  • end-user programming
  • generative AI
  • large language models
  • participatory design
  • co-design
  • visual programming
  • tangible interaction
  • cognitive accessibility
  • speech and language
  • stroke
  • assistive technology
  • personalization

• "Computer Says No": Disabled Welfare Experiences and Envisioned Futures Under AI Governance

  Humphrey Curtis, Adam D G Jenkins, Alistair Gentry, Sioban Zacharek, Sally McVicker, Timothy Neate, Filip Bircanin (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Curtis and colleagues investigate how people with aphasia — a language impairment most often caused by stroke that affects reading, writing, speech, and comprehension — experience the increasingly digitised and AI-automated UK welfare state, and how …

  • AI
  • artificial intelligence
  • AI governance
  • algorithmic decision-making
  • aphasia
  • welfare
  • digital exclusion
  • participatory design
  • design fiction
  • disability rights
  • critical HCI
  • government services
  • hostile design
  • communication disability

• A Sound Understanding — An In-Situ Deployment of an Accessible Audio-Media Player with People Living with Aphasia

  Filip Bircanin, Alexandre Nevsky, Madeline N Cruice, Ognjen Markovic, Timothy Neate (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Bircanin and colleagues argue that audio-only media — radio, podcasts, audiobooks — has been largely ignored in accessibility research and practice, even though it structures the daily lives of millions and is a significant barrier for people living …

  • aphasia
  • audio accessibility
  • podcasts
  • audiobooks
  • complex communication needs
  • in-situ deployment
  • research through design
  • generative AI
  • transcripts
  • co-design

• Helping Aphasic People Process Online Information

  Siobhan Devlin, Gary Unthank (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This short paper from the University of Sunderland describes the HAPPI (Helping Aphasic People Process Information) project, a web-based text simplification system designed to help people with aphasia access online content such as news stories. Aphas…

  • aphasia
  • text simplification
  • cognitive accessibility
  • lexical simplification
  • natural language processing
  • stroke
  • reading comprehension
  • alexia

• The Ethnographically Informed Participatory Design of a PDA Application to Support Communication

  Rhian Davies, Skip Marcella, Joanna McGrenere, Barbara Purves (2004) — Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper describes an ethnographically informed participatory design process for creating a PDA-based file management system to support communication for a person with aphasia. The research was conducted at the University of British Columbia with o…

  • aphasia
  • augmentative and alternative communication
  • participatory design
  • ethnography
  • mobile technology
  • assistive technology
  • communication disability
  • PDA
  • file management

• Naming Practice on an Open Platform for People with Aphasia

  Chris Benjamin, Jesse Harris, Alex Moncrief, Gail Ramsberger, Clayton Lewis (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper presents Banga, a prototype software system built on the Android open-source mobile platform to deliver word finding practice — a form of speech-language therapy — to people with aphasia. Aphasia, a language disorder typically caused by st…

  • aphasia
  • naming practice
  • word finding
  • mobile health
  • Android
  • telerehabilitation
  • speech-language therapy
  • open source
  • assistive technology

• Context aware documenting for aphasics

  Thomas de Wolf, Dirk W.H. Gooren, Jean-Bernard O.S. Martens (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper describes two student design projects aimed at creating tools for people with aphasia to document and share their everyday experiences. Aphasia, a communication impairment caused by brain damage (typically from stroke), affects about 0.3% …

  • aphasia
  • tangible interaction
  • context-aware computing
  • augmentative and alternative communication
  • storytelling
  • photo-based communication
  • participatory design
  • independent living