Literature Reviews

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

• What My Eyes Can't See, A Robot Can Show Me: Exploring the Collaboration Between Blind People and Robots

  Mayara Bonani, Raquel Oliveira, Filipa Correia, André Rodrigues, Tiago Guerreiro, Ana Paiva (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This University of Lisbon and University of São Paulo study explores how assistive robots can go beyond information-giving technologies (like screen readers) by physically collaborating with blind people. The research consists of two studies. Study 1…

  • blindness
  • robotics
  • human-robot interaction
  • assistive robotics
  • collaboration
  • haptic technology
  • independence
  • Wizard of Oz

• Exploring the Performance of Facial Expression Recognition Technologies on Deaf Adults and Their Children

  Irene Rogan Shaffer (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This Boston University student research paper investigates how commercial facial expression recognition services perform on Deaf ASL signers and Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs) compared to hearing non-signers. The study is motivated by a critical pro…

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • sign language
  • facial expression recognition
  • emotion recognition
  • AI fairness
  • algorithmic bias
  • computer vision
  • ASL
  • CODA
  • deaf culture

• Exploring an Ambiguous Technique for Eyes-Free Mobile Text Entry

  Dylan Gaines (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This student research competition paper from Michigan Technological University presents Tap123, an ambiguous eyes-free keyboard for mobile text entry that does not require users to tap specific keys. The system is motivated by the limitations of exis…

  • blindness
  • low vision
  • text entry
  • mobile accessibility
  • eyes-free interaction
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • input methods
  • ambiguous keyboard

• A Demo of Talkit++: Interacting with 3D Printed Models Using an iOS Device

  Lei Shi, Zhuohao Zhang, Shiri Azenkot (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This Cornell Tech demo presents Talkit++, an iOS application that adds interactive multimedia labels to 3D printed tactile models for visually impaired students. Teachers of the visually impaired (TVIs) increasingly use 3D printers to create tactile …

  • blindness
  • low vision
  • 3D printing
  • tactile accessibility
  • computer vision
  • education
  • STEM accessibility
  • tactile graphics
  • multimodal interaction

• MathMelodies 2: a Mobile Assistive Application for People with Visual Impairments Developed with React Native

  Niccolò Cantù, Mattia Ducci, Dragan Ahmetovic, Cristian Bernareggi, Sergio Mascetti (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This demo paper from the University of Milan and University of Turin reports on MathMelodies 2, a cross-platform math education app for blind and visually impaired (BVI) children in grades 1-5, developed using React Native. The original MathMelodies …

  • blindness
  • low vision
  • mathematical accessibility
  • education
  • children
  • mobile accessibility
  • React Native
  • cross-platform development
  • screen reader
  • VoiceOver
  • TalkBack

• From Behavioral and Communication Intervention to Interaction Design: User Perspectives from Clinicians

  Yao Du, LouAnne Boyd, Seray Ibrahim (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This experience report from three clinicians-turned-researchers (a board certified behavior analyst from the US, and two speech and language therapists from the UK and US) reflects on the gap between clinical practice with neurodiverse children and H…

  • AAC
  • autism
  • children
  • behavioral intervention
  • speech and language therapy
  • neurodiversity
  • clinician perspectives
  • assistive technology design
  • sensory processing

• Usability Testing - An Aphasia Perspective

  Abi Roper, Ian Davey, Stephanie Wilson, Timothy Neate, Jane Marshall, Brian Grellmann (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This experience report from City, University of London presents how classic usability testing methods were adapted to include people with aphasia, co-authored with Ian Davey, a person with aphasia who participated in the adapted testing. Aphasia is a…

  • aphasia
  • usability testing
  • cognitive accessibility
  • stroke
  • communication accessibility
  • participatory design
  • speech and language therapy
  • inclusive research

• Designing an Animated Character System for American Sign Language

  Danielle Bragg, Raja Kushalnagar, Richard Ladner (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This University of Washington and Gallaudet University paper introduces the first animated character system prototype for sign language, addressing the fundamental problem that sign languages — used by approximately 70 million people worldwide as the…

  • sign language
  • deaf accessibility
  • ASL
  • writing systems
  • animation
  • literacy
  • participatory design
  • deaf culture
  • character systems

• Towards More Robust Speech Interactions for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users

  Raymond Fok, Harmanpreet Kaur, Skanda Palani, Martez E. Mott, Walter S. Lasecki (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This University of Michigan study addresses a largely overlooked accessibility gap: while much research has focused on providing deaf users access to spoken output (via captioning or sign language), almost no work has addressed improving deaf users' …

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • automatic speech recognition
  • deaf speech
  • crowdsourcing
  • speech intelligibility
  • voice interface
  • human computation
  • smart speaker

• "Siri Talks at You": An Empirical Investigation of Voice-Activated Personal Assistant (VAPA) Usage by Individuals Who Are Blind

  Ali Abdolrahmani, Ravi Kuber, Stacy M. Branham (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This UMBC and UC Irvine study is one of the first to examine how individuals who are blind use voice-activated personal assistants (VAPAs) like Siri, Amazon Echo, and Google Home, and what barriers they encounter. The researchers interviewed 14 legal…

  • blindness
  • voice interface
  • voice assistant
  • Siri
  • Amazon Echo
  • Google Home
  • smart speaker
  • mobile accessibility
  • privacy
  • social acceptability