Literature Reviews

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

• ExNovo: A user interface that supports novices without encumbering experts

  Mark Blair, Amanda Klassen, Justin O'Camb, Cal Woodruff, Rollin Poe, Christine Chuong, Robin Barrett (2026) — ACM Games

  ExNovo is a novel hierarchical tree menu interface designed to bridge the long-standing divide between graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and keyboard hotkeys. Traditional GUIs scaffold novice users by making command options visible, but their reliance…

  • user interface design
  • keyboard accessibility
  • motor accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • novice-to-expert transition
  • human-computer interaction
  • one-handed input
  • cognitive load
  • hotkeys
  • game interfaces
  • extended reality

• Preferred Appearance of Captions Generated by Automatic Speech Recognition for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Viewers

  Larwan Berke, Khaled Albusays, Matthew Seita, Matt Huenerfauth (2019) — Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '19)

  This CHI 2019 Late-Breaking Work (6 pages) investigates a practical question that has received surprisingly little research: when Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) is used to caption small-group meetings for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) viewers, h…

  • captioning
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • automatic speech recognition
  • user interface design
  • typography
  • readability
  • videoconferencing accessibility

• WISE: A Wizard Interface Supporting Enhanced Usability

  Joshua M. Hailpern (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This poster paper from Carnegie Mellon University presents WISE (Wizard Interface Supporting Enhanced usability), an alternative operating system and application UI specifically designed to address the cognitive deficits of older adults (60+) rather …

  • older adults
  • cognitive accessibility
  • age-friendly design
  • linear interaction
  • cognitive decline
  • user interface design
  • gerontology

• Strategic Design for Users with Diabetic Retinopathy: Factors Influencing Performance in a Menu-Selection Task

  Paula J. Edwards, Leon Barnard, V. Kathlene Emery, Ji Soo Yi, Kevin P. Moloney, Thitima Kongnakorn, Julie A. Jacko, François Sainfort, Pamela R. Oliver, Joseph Pizzimenti, Annette Bade, Greg Fecho, Josephine Shallo-Hoffmann (2004) — Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper examines how interface design features affect menu selection performance for users with Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), a progressive eye condition affecting 40-45% of the approximately 18 million Americans with diabetes. The study involved 25 …

  • diabetic retinopathy
  • low vision
  • visual impairment
  • multimodal feedback
  • menu design
  • user interface design
  • accessibility settings
  • haptic feedback
  • auditory feedback
  • aging

• A Framework of Assistive Pointers for Low Vision Users

  Julie Fraser, Carl Gutwin (2000) — Proceedings of the Fourth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '00)

  This paper from the University of Saskatchewan proposes a four-dimensional framework for systematically exploring the design space of assistive mouse pointers for low vision computer users. The authors argue that while various pointer assistance tech…

  • low vision
  • mouse pointer
  • cursor movement
  • screen magnification
  • design frameworks
  • user interface design
  • visual accessibility
  • adaptive systems
  • target acquisition
  • design patterns

• User Interface of a Home Page Reader

  Chieko Asakawa, Takashi Itoh (1998) — Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This paper from IBM Japan's Tokyo Research Laboratory describes the design and evaluation of Home Page Reader, one of the earliest dedicated web browsers for blind users, which became an IBM Japan product in October 1997. The paper opens by framing t…

  • screen readers
  • web accessibility
  • blindness
  • text-to-speech
  • nonvisual web access
  • user interface design
  • assistive technology

• Designing Interfaces for an Overlooked User Group: Considering the Visual Profiles of Partially Sighted Users

  Julie A. Jacko, Andrew Sears (1998) — Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This position paper argues that partially sighted computer users represent a critically underserved population in interface design research. The authors identify a gap between two groups that have received significant attention — fully sighted users …

  • low vision
  • visual impairment
  • partial vision
  • visual profile
  • graphical user interface accessibility
  • user interface design
  • contrast sensitivity
  • visual acuity
  • human-computer interaction

• Designing Interface Toolkit with Dynamic Selectable Modality

  Shiro Kawai, Hitoshi Aida, Tadao Saito (1996) — Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper presents the Fruit (Flexible and Rearrangeable User Interface Toolkit) system, an architecture for building user interfaces that allow dynamic switching between interaction modalities at runtime. The authors argue that the rigid coupling b…

  • multimodal interaction
  • user interface design
  • assistive technology
  • abstract widgets
  • toolkit design
  • modality switching
  • screen reader
  • braille

• Hover or Tap? Supporting Pen-based Menu Navigation for Older Adults

  Karyn Moffatt, Sandra Yuen, Joanna McGrenere (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper investigates "drifting" — an error specific to pen-based (Tablet PC) interaction where users accidentally hover over an adjacent menu head, causing their intended menu to close and the wrong one to open. This occurs because inductive pen t…

  • aging
  • input methods
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • inclusive design
  • user interface design
  • motor accessibility
  • pen input
  • older adults
  • menu design

• PhotoTacs: An Image-Based Cell Phone Interface

  Michael J. Astrauskas (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper presents PhotoTacs, a simplified image-based cell phone interface designed to help people with cognitive or visual impairments navigate their phone contacts and make calls. The author begins by identifying the core problem: as cellular pho…

  • cognitive accessibility
  • mobile accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • visual impairment
  • user interface design
  • cognitive disabilities
  • image-based interface
  • simplified interface