Literature Reviews

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

• Legion Scribe: Real-Time Captioning by the Non-Experts

  Walter S. Lasecki, Christopher D. Miller, Raja Kushalnagar, Jeffrey P. Bigham (2013) — Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This demo paper introduces Legion Scribe, a system that enables real-time captioning of speech by harnessing 3-5 ordinary typists working simultaneously, rather than relying on expensive professional stenographers. Real-time captioning provides text …

  • captioning
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • crowdsourcing
  • real-time captioning
  • communication accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • human computation

• Helping students keep up with real-time captions by pausing and highlighting

  Walter S. Lasecki, Raja Kushalnagar, Jeffrey P. Bigham (2014) — Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper addresses a fundamental problem with real-time captioning for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students: the mismatch between speaking rates (approximately 170 words per minute) and reading rates, which causes students to fall progressively …

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • captioning
  • real-time captioning
  • education
  • inclusive classrooms
  • reading speed
  • gaze switching

• Responsive Design for Personalised Subtitles

  Chris J. Hughes, Mike Armstrong, Rhianne Jones, Michael Crabb (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from BBC R&D and the University of Dundee proposes applying responsive web design principles to subtitle display, moving away from the legacy Teletext format that has constrained subtitling since 1979. Traditional subtitles are pre-blocked…

  • subtitles
  • captions
  • responsive design
  • video accessibility
  • personalization
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • web video
  • media accessibility

• Evaluation of Real-time Captioning by Machine Recognition with Human Support

  Hironobu Takagi, Takashi Itoh, Kaoru Shinkawa (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from IBM Research Tokyo investigates a hybrid approach to real-time captioning that combines Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) with human correction to make workplace meetings accessible for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) employees. Profe…

  • real-time captioning
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • automated speech recognition
  • workplace accessibility
  • Japanese
  • speech recognition
  • captioning

• A mean for communication between deaf and hearing pairs in inclusive educational settings: the Sessai app

  Soraia Silva Prietch, Emanuel José dos Santos, Lucia Vilela Leite Filgueiras (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This extended abstract presents Sessai, an Android application designed to facilitate communication between Deaf or Hard of Hearing (D/HH) students and their hearing peers and teachers in inclusive classroom settings in Brazil. The app uses a WhatsAp…

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • sign language
  • inclusive education
  • mobile application
  • assistive technology
  • speech-to-text
  • real-time communication
  • Brazilian Sign Language

• Introducing Game Elements in Crowdsourced Video Captioning by Non-Experts

  Hernisa Kacorri, Kaoru Shinkawa, Shin Saito (2014) — Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from CUNY Graduate Center and IBM Research Tokyo presents a gamified crowdsourcing platform for video captioning that combines ASR output with non-expert human transcription to improve caption accuracy without monetary rewards. The system …

  • captioning
  • crowdsourcing
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • gamification
  • automatic speech recognition
  • human computation

• Barriers to Employment: The Deaf Multimedia Authoring Tax

  Christian Vogler, Abraham Glasser, Raja Kushalnagar, Matthew Seita, Mariana Arroyo Chavez, Keith Delk, Paige DeVries, Molly Feanny, Bernard Thompson, James Waller (2025) — Proceedings of the 22nd International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from Gallaudet University describes through firsthand experience the enormous additional burden — termed the "deaf multimedia authoring tax" — that deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people face when creating accessible multimedia content for …

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • sign language
  • content creation
  • workplace accessibility
  • captioning
  • audio description
  • text-to-speech
  • disability employment

• The Effects of Automatic Speech Recognition Quality on Human Transcription Latency

  Yashesh Gaur, Walter S. Lasecki, Florian Metze, Jeffrey P. Bigham (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan empirically investigates when automatic speech recognition (ASR) output helps or hinders human transcriptionists producing captions for deaf and hard of hearing people. Manual …

  • speech recognition
  • captioning
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • crowdsourcing
  • human computation
  • automatic speech recognition

• Delivering Sign Language in a Live Planetarium Show Using Head-Mounted Displays and Infrared Light

  Michael D. Jones, M. Jeannette Lawler (2019) — Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents a system for delivering real-time American Sign Language (ASL) narration during live planetarium shows using head-mounted displays (HMDs) and infrared light. Planetariums pose unique accessibility challenges for deaf and hard-of-h…

  • sign language
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • head-mounted display
  • augmented reality
  • informal learning
  • museum accessibility
  • STEM education
  • ASL

• A Portable Hong Kong Sign Language Translation Platform with Deep Learning and Jetson Nano

  Zhenxing Zhou, Yisiang Neo, King-Shan Lui, Vincent W.L. Tam, Edmund Y. Lam, Ngai Wong (2020) — Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demonstration paper presents a portable platform for translating Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) into spoken language using deep learning and edge computing hardware. The system addresses a significant communication gap: Hong Kong has over 155,00…

  • sign language recognition
  • deep learning
  • edge computing
  • mobile accessibility
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • assistive technology
  • Hong Kong Sign Language