Literature Reviews

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

• WeLi: A Smartwatch Application to Assist Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

  Hui Zheng, Vivian Genaro Motti (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This poster paper presents WeLi (Wearable Life), a smartwatch application designed to assist students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) in post-secondary educational environments. The system was developed for and deployed at Mas…

  • wearable technology
  • intellectual disability
  • developmental disability
  • special education
  • self-regulation
  • assistive technology
  • smartwatch

• VocalIDE: An IDE for Programming via Speech Recognition

  Lucas Rosenblatt (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This student research paper addresses the underrepresentation of people with upper-limb physical impairments in the developer community — while 6.7% of Americans have upper-limb impairments, less than 4% of developers report any physical disability. …

  • speech recognition
  • motor disability
  • programming accessibility
  • voice interface
  • upper-limb impairment
  • software development
  • assistive technology

• Using Participatory Design with Proxies with Children with Limited Communication

  Foad Hamidi, Melanie Baljko, Isabel Gómez (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper explores the use of Participatory Design with Proxies (PDwP) as a methodology for including children with severe communication limitations in the design of digital technologies. PDwP is a variation of participatory design where people fami…

  • participatory design
  • children with disabilities
  • communication accessibility
  • augmentative and alternative communication
  • design methodology
  • autism spectrum disorder
  • cerebral palsy
  • speech delay

• Speed-Dial: A Surrogate Mouse for Non-Visual Web Browsing

  Syed Masum Billah, Vikas Ashok, Donald E. Porter, IV Ramakrishnan (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper presents Speed-Dial, a system that uses an off-the-shelf Microsoft Surface Dial as a surrogate mouse for non-visual web browsing. The core problem it addresses is the fundamental mismatch between how sighted and blind users interact with t…

  • screen readers
  • web accessibility
  • blindness
  • haptic technology
  • input devices
  • semantic web
  • assistive technology
  • non-visual interaction

• The Effects of "Not Knowing What You Don't Know" on Web Accessibility for Blind Web Users

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Irene Lin, Saiph Savage (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper introduces and empirically investigates the concept of "Not Knowing What You Don't Know" (NKWYDK) in the context of blind web users. When a blind person encounters difficulty finding information on a web page, they face a fundamental uncer…

  • web accessibility
  • screen readers
  • blindness
  • usability
  • information foraging
  • user research

• CymaSense: A Novel Audio-Visual Therapeutic Tool for People on the Autism Spectrum

  John McGowan, Grégory Leplâtre, Iain McGregor (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper presents CymaSense, an interactive multimodal tool that generates real-time 3D visual representations of sound based on Cymatics — the study of visible patterns created by sound vibrations in physical media like water or metal plates. The …

  • autism spectrum disorder
  • music therapy
  • assistive technology
  • multimodal interaction
  • sensory processing
  • tangible interaction
  • audio-visual
  • communication
  • neurodiversity

• Design and Psychometric Evaluation of an American Sign Language Translation of the System Usability Scale

  Matt Huenerfauth, Kasmira Patel, Larwan Berke (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper addresses a significant gap in accessibility research methodology: the lack of standardized usability questionnaires available in American Sign Language (ASL) for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) participants. The System Usability Scale (SUS…

  • sign language
  • deaf accessibility
  • usability testing
  • survey translation
  • psychometrics
  • American Sign Language
  • research methods
  • inclusive research

• Introducing People with ASD to Crowd Work

  Kotaro Hara, Jeffrey P. Bigham (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper explores whether crowdsourcing platforms like Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) can provide viable employment opportunities for adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). With an estimated 50-75% unemployment rate among adults with ASD in the …

  • autism spectrum disorder
  • crowdsourcing
  • employment
  • micro-tasks
  • assistive technology
  • user-centered design
  • cognitive accessibility
  • workplace accessibility

• Good Background Colors for Readers: A Study of People with and without Dyslexia

  Luz Rello, Jeffrey P. Bigham (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper presents the first large-scale user study measuring the effect of background colors on screen readability for people with and without dyslexia, providing empirical evidence for the widely recommended but previously unvalidated practice of …

  • dyslexia
  • readability
  • color contrast
  • reading accessibility
  • visual design
  • web accessibility
  • typography
  • Meares-Irlen syndrome

• AMI: An Adaptable Music Interface to Support the Varying Needs of People with Dementia

  P. Frazer Seymour, Justin Matejka, Geoff Foulds, Ihor Petelycky, Fraser Anderson (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper presents AMI (Adaptable Music Interface), a tangible, modular music player designed to be reconfigured by caregivers to match the changing needs and preferences of individuals with dementia. Over 46 million people worldwide live with demen…

  • dementia
  • tangible interaction
  • music accessibility
  • personalization
  • aging
  • modular design
  • assistive technology
  • cognitive accessibility