Literature Reviews

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

• DHTML Accessibility – Solving the JavaScript Accessibility Problem

  Becky Gibson, Richard Schwerdtfeger (2005) — Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This landmark paper from IBM researchers Becky Gibson and Richard Schwerdtfeger describes the foundational work that would become WAI-ARIA. At the time of writing, JavaScript was used on over 50% of websites, yet no accessibility solution existed for…

  • web accessibility
  • JavaScript
  • ARIA
  • screen readers
  • keyboard accessibility
  • accessibility API
  • DHTML
  • web standards

• Web Accessibility as a Side Effect

  John T. Richards, Kyle Montague, Vicki L. Hanson (2012) — Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper investigates the conjecture that improvements in web accessibility have arisen partly as unintentional side effects of changes in web technology and design practices, rather than from deliberate accessibility efforts. Building on a prior 1…

  • web accessibility
  • WCAG
  • CSS
  • semantic markup
  • search engine optimization
  • responsive design
  • web standards
  • longitudinal study
  • curb cut effect
  • accessibility trends

• 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

• Mathematics on the Web: Emerging Opportunities for Visually Impaired People

  Cristian Bernareggi, Dominique Archambault (2007) — Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from the @Science European thematic network surveys the state of the art in making mathematical content on the web accessible to visually impaired people, arguing that MathML adoption is the key to unlocking accessibility. The authors expl…

  • mathematical accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • blind users
  • MathML
  • braille
  • screen readers
  • STEM accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • web standards
  • education accessibility

• Accessibility for the HTML5 <video> element

  Silvia Pfeiffer, Conrad Parker (2009) — Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibililty (W4A)

  This paper documents early efforts to standardize how subtitles, captions, and other accessibility data should be associated with the then-new HTML5 <video> element. Written in 2009 when Firefox, Opera, and Safari were just beginning to implement <vi…

  • video accessibility
  • HTML5
  • captioning
  • subtitles
  • web standards
  • timed text
  • open source
  • Ogg

• Crosschecking the Mobile Web for People with Visual Impairments

  Luís Carriço, Rui Lopes, Rogério Bandeira (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper proposes a framework for evaluating mobile web accessibility for specific disability profiles by coherently merging three sets of guidelines: WCAG (web accessibility), W3C Mobile Web Best Practices (MWBP), and disability classifications fr…

  • mobile accessibility
  • blind and low vision
  • WCAG compliance
  • accessibility evaluation
  • web standards
  • user research

• WAI-ARIA Live Regions and HTML5

  Peter Thiessen (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper examines the interoperability of WAI-ARIA live regions with HTML5 semantic elements, testing whether screen readers can correctly handle dynamic DOM updates when live region attributes are applied to new HTML5 elements like section, nav, a…

  • WAI-ARIA
  • HTML5
  • screen readers
  • dynamic content
  • AJAX
  • web standards
  • accessibility testing
  • blind and low vision

• Experimental Evaluation of Usability and Accessibility of Heading Elements

  Takayuki Watanabe (2007) — Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This study by Takayuki Watanabe of Tokyo Woman's Christian University provides empirical evidence for something the accessibility community has long advocated: that proper semantic markup of heading elements (h1-h6) significantly improves both usabil…

  • semantic HTML
  • heading elements
  • screen readers
  • usability testing
  • blindness
  • content structure
  • web standards
  • user study

• Accessibility of Emerging Rich Web Technologies: Web 2.0 and the Semantic Web

  Michael Cooper (2007) — Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This keynote paper by Michael Cooper of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative examines the accessibility challenges and opportunities created by the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies in the mid-2000s. Cooper frames Web 2.0 as a paradigm shift characte…

  • WAI-ARIA
  • Web 2.0
  • Semantic Web
  • rich internet applications
  • web standards
  • assistive technology
  • accessibility API
  • dynamic content

• Semantic Web: The Story So Far

  Ian Horrocks (2007) — Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This W4A 2007 keynote paper by Ian Horrocks of the University of Manchester provides an overview of the Semantic Web vision and the progress made toward realizing it, with particular focus on the Web Ontology Language (OWL). The paper opens by identi…

  • semantic web
  • ontology
  • OWL
  • knowledge representation
  • web standards
  • linked data