Literature Reviews

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

• Speaking with My Screen Reader: Using Audio Fictions to Explore Conversational Access to Interfaces

  Mahika Phutane, Crescentia Jung, Niu Chen, Shiri Azenkot (2023) — ASSETS 2023: The 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper explores whether and how human-like conversational assistants could extend the screen reader experience for blind and low vision (BLV) users. Current screen readers provide linear, impersonal access to interfaces through keyboard-driven cu…

  • screen readers
  • conversational agents
  • blind and low vision
  • design fiction
  • voice assistants
  • nonvisual access
  • speculative design
  • anthropomorphism
  • assistive technology
  • AI accessibility

• Multimodal 3D printed urban maps for blind people. Evaluations and scientific investigations

  Malgorzata Telesinska (2023) — ASSETS 2023: The 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This poster paper presents a multimodal 3D printed urban map prototype that embeds capacitive touch sensors directly into the map body to provide location-specific audio descriptions when touched. The research, conducted at Wroclaw University of Scie…

  • tactile maps
  • 3D printing
  • blind and low vision
  • multimodal interaction
  • audio-tactile
  • urban accessibility
  • spatial cognition
  • haptic devices
  • smart cities

• Cripping Data Visualizations: Crip Technoscience as a Critical Lens for Designing Digital Access

  Stacy Hsueh, Beatrice Vincenzi, Akshata Murdeshwar, Marianela Ciolfi Felice (2023) — ASSETS 2023: The 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper applies crip technoscience as a critical, generative framework for rethinking how accessible data visualizations are designed. The authors argue that current approaches to visualization accessibility largely treat access as a technical pro…

  • data visualization
  • crip technoscience
  • crip theory
  • blind and low vision
  • speculative design
  • critical disability studies
  • alternative text
  • tactile graphics
  • sonification
  • accessible design

• Understanding Curators' Practices and Challenge of Making Exhibitions More Accessible for People with Visual Impairments

  Huang, Yuru, Zhang, Jingling, Jin, Xiaofu, Fan, Mingming (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper examines exhibition accessibility from the perspective of curators — a stakeholder group that plays a critical role in making museums and galleries accessible but has been largely overlooked in accessibility research. Through semi-structur…

  • museum accessibility
  • blind and low vision
  • curators
  • assistive technology
  • exhibition design
  • tactile
  • multi-sensory
  • indoor navigation
  • probe study

• Azimuth: Designing Accessible Dashboards for Screen Reader Users

  Srinivasan, Arjun, Harshbarger, Tim, Hilliker, Darrell, Mankoff, Jennifer (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents Azimuth, a prototype system that converts JSON-based dashboard specifications into web-based dashboards optimized for screen reader navigation, accompanied by automatically generated textual descriptions to support comprehension a…

  • data visualization
  • screen readers
  • dashboards
  • blind and low vision
  • co-design
  • text generation
  • accessible navigation
  • data analysis

• A Large-Scale Mixed-Methods Analysis of Blind and Low-vision Research in ACM and IEEE

  Thoo, Yong-Joon, Jeanneret Medina, Maximiliano, Froehlich, Jon E., Ruffieux, Nicolas, Lalanne, Denis (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper provides the most comprehensive mapping to date of research on technology for blind and low-vision (BLV) people published across ACM and IEEE venues between 2010 and 2022. The authors combined quantitative bibliometric methods — specifical…

  • blind and low vision
  • systematic review
  • bibliometrics
  • visual impairment
  • literature review
  • research trends
  • assistive technology
  • HCI

• AudioQ: A Debugging Extension for Visually Impaired Developers

  Sehej Kumar, Shreyas Kotla (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2023)

  This extended abstract presents AudioQ, a Visual Studio Code extension designed to improve the debugging experience for visually impaired software developers. The extension addresses a specific gap in current accessibility tools: while screen readers…

  • software development
  • blind and low vision
  • screen readers
  • debugging
  • IDE accessibility
  • Visual Studio Code
  • NVDA

• Understanding Digital Content Creation Needs of Blind and Low Vision People

  Lotus Zhang, Simon Sun, Leah Findlater (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2023)

  This mixed-method study investigates the digital content creation needs, interests, and experiences of blind and low vision (BLV) people through a large-scale survey (N=165) and follow-up interviews (N=15). The research addresses a gap in accessibili…

  • blind and low vision
  • content creation
  • creativity
  • digital accessibility
  • screen readers
  • visual content
  • ableism
  • social media

• Comparing Natural Language and Vibro-Audio Modalities for Inclusive STEM Learning with Blind and Low Vision Users

  Justin R. Brown, Stacy A. Doore, Justin K. Dimmel, Norbert Giudice, Nicholas A. Giudice (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2023)

  This study evaluates a multimodal touchscreen diagram system (MDS v 2.0) built on an iPhone that provides blind and low vision (BLV) users with two non-visual methods for accessing graphical STEM content: natural language (NL) descriptions delivered …

  • blind and low vision
  • STEM accessibility
  • data visualization
  • haptic technology
  • multimodal interaction
  • touchscreen
  • education accessibility
  • tactile graphics

• The Potential of a Visual Dialogue Agent In a Tandem Automated Audio Description System for Videos

  Abigale Stangl, Shasta Ihorn, Yue-Ting Siu, Aditya Bodi, Mar Castanon, Lothar D Narins, Ilmi Yoon (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2023)

  This paper presents and evaluates a tandem AI-based audio description (AD) system for videos that combines two complementary tools: NarrationBot, which delivers automated minimum viable descriptions (MVD) of video content, and InfoBot, a visual dialo…

  • audio description
  • blind and low vision
  • visual question answering
  • visual dialogue
  • AI
  • video accessibility
  • minimum viable description
  • human-in-the-loop