Literature Reviews

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

• Redesigning Educational Videos for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Learners

  Si Chen, Haocong Cheng, Suzy Su, Lu Ming, Sarah Masud, Qi Wang, Yun Huang (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Educational videos have exploded in higher education and online learning, but accessibility guidance for d/Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) learners has barely moved beyond captions and transcripts. Chen and colleagues argue this is a theoretical gap a…

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • video accessibility
  • captioning
  • multimedia learning
  • cognitive accessibility
  • educational technology
  • motion design
  • inclusive design

• ATTENPlay: A Game-Based Attention Network Test for Autistic Children

  Yuying Wan, Xin Tong, Kaishun Wu (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper addresses a long-standing methodological problem in autism research: the Attention Network Test (ANT) — the standard computerized tool for measuring alerting, orienting, and executive-control attention networks — is abstract, repe…

  • autism
  • autism spectrum disorder
  • attention network test
  • cognitive assessment
  • game-based assessment
  • serious games
  • tablet
  • co-design
  • inclusive design
  • child development
  • executive function
  • double empathy problem
  • pediatric
  • mobile accessibility

• Challenges in Automatic Speech Recognition for Adults with Cognitive Impairment

  Michelle Cohn, Alyssa Lanzi, Yui Ishihara, Chen-Nee Chuah, Georgia Zellou, Alyssa Weakley (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper quantifies how well state-of-the-art automatic speech recognition (ASR) handles voice commands produced by older adults with cognitive impairment, and asks which acoustic features actually predict transcription accuracy. The autho…

  • automatic speech recognition
  • ASR
  • dementia
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • mild cognitive impairment
  • AgeTech
  • voice assistant
  • Amazon Alexa
  • Whisper
  • aging in place
  • ability-based design
  • acoustic analysis
  • word error rate
  • smart home
  • human-in-the-loop

• Advancing Inclusive Digital Well-Being Tools: How Neurodivergent Students Use Distraction Blockers

  Marvel Chrismatheo Hariadi, Kevin Chow, Joanna McGrenere (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper asks whether digital distraction blockers — Apple Screen Time, Forest, Freedom, StayFocusd, and similar tools — actually serve the neurodivergent post-secondary students who are arguably their most marginal audience, or whether bl…

  • neurodivergence
  • ADHD
  • autism spectrum disorder
  • generalized anxiety disorder
  • distraction blockers
  • digital well-being
  • cognitive accessibility
  • inclusive design
  • assistive technology
  • self-regulation
  • hyperfocus
  • higher education
  • neuronormativity
  • reflexive thematic analysis
  • self-stigma

• FAME: Exploring Expressive Facial Avatars for Lyrical and Non-Lyrical Music Visualization for d/Deaf Individuals

  Suhyeon Yoo, Yifang Pan, Ashish Ajin Thomas, Karan Singh, Khai N. Truong (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper investigates whether expressive facial avatars can carry the emotional and structural richness of music — rhythm, pitch, melody, lyrics, and emotion — to d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) audiences in ways that captions and abstrac…

  • Deaf music
  • DHH
  • music accessibility
  • facial avatar
  • music visualization
  • scat singing
  • captions
  • lip-sync
  • sign language
  • aural diversity
  • design probe
  • multimodal interaction
  • Deaf culture

• "I Don't Trust Any Professional Research Tool": A Re-Imagination of Knowledge Production Workflows by, with, and for Blind and Low-Vision Researchers

  Omar Khan, JooYoung Seo (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper is an autoethnographically-grounded, mixed-methods study of how blind and low-vision (BLV) researchers actually do research inside an ecosystem of tools built with sighted workflows in mind. Written by two BLV researchers (one tot…

  • meta-research
  • blind and low vision
  • research workflows
  • academic accessibility
  • activity theory
  • mixed methods
  • reflexive thematic analysis
  • research tools
  • screen readers
  • ableism
  • epistemic injustice
  • qualitative analysis software
  • AI accessibility
  • scholarly publishing
  • disability studies

• Contextual Scaffolding and Self-Efficacy: Supporting Computer Skill Development among Blind Learners in India

  Akshay Kolgar Nayak, Yash Prakash, Sampath Jayarathna, Hae-Na Lee, Vikas Ashok (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This paper presents a four-month contextual inquiry at two Indian computer training centers serving 94 blind or visually impaired (BVI) students — one urban center in Bengaluru focused on job-oriented ICT training (KEONICS certification) and one rura…

  • screen readers
  • blind and low vision
  • computer literacy
  • Global South accessibility
  • India
  • self-efficacy
  • scaffolding
  • contextual inquiry
  • culturally responsive pedagogy
  • vocational training
  • BVI learners
  • JAWS
  • NVDA
  • digital divide

• Towards Inclusive External Human-Machine Interface: Exploring the Effects of Visual and Auditory eHMI for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People

  Wenge Xu, Foroogh Hajiseyedjavadi, Kurtis Weir, Chukwuemeka Eze, Mark Colley (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper is a companion to Xu et al. 2026 (10.1145/3772318.3791557) but with a broader, two-stage inclusive-design focus: selecting appropriate visual eHMI concepts for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) pedestrians and then evaluating how vis…

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • external human-machine interface
  • automated vehicles
  • pedestrian safety
  • multimodal interaction
  • accessibility
  • virtual reality
  • focus groups
  • inclusive design

• Exploring the Impacts of Background Noise on Auditory Stimuli of Audio-Visual eHMIs for Hearing, Deaf, and Hard-of-Hearing People

  Wenge Xu, Foroogh Hajiseyedjavadi, Debargha Dey, Tram Thi Minh Tran, Mark Colley (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper investigates a critical but overlooked accessibility question in the design of external Human-Machine Interfaces (eHMIs) for automated vehicles (AVs): how do Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) pedestrians experience audio-visual eHMIs…

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • external human-machine interface
  • automated vehicles
  • pedestrian safety
  • multimodal interaction
  • accessibility
  • virtual reality
  • auditory icons

• GeoVisA11y: An AI-based Geovisualization Question-Answering System for Screen-Reader Users

  Chu Li, Rock Yuren Pang, Arnavi Chheda-Kothary, Ather Sharif, Henok Assalif, Jeffrey Heer, Jon E. Froehlich (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper tackles a long-neglected corner of accessible data visualization: geovisualizations — choropleth maps, dot density maps, and similar spatially encoded displays that pack demographic, environmental, and public-health information in…

  • geovisualization
  • data visualization
  • accessible visualization
  • screen readers
  • large language models
  • natural language interfaces
  • blind and low vision
  • choropleth maps
  • spatial analysis