Literature Reviews

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

• Quantitative Evaluation for Web Accessibility with Respect to Disabled Groups

  Pornpat Sirithumgul, Atiwong Suchato, Proadpran Punyabukkana (2009) — Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper proposes a methodology for evaluating web accessibility that goes beyond standard WCAG conformance levels to assess suitability for specific disability groups, particularly vision-impaired and hearing-impaired users. The authors argue that…

  • accessibility metrics
  • web accessibility
  • barrier walkthrough
  • quantitative evaluation
  • visual impairment
  • hearing impairment
  • disability-specific evaluation

• Using Acceptance Tests to Validate Accessibility Requirements in RIA

  Willian Massami Watanabe, Renata P. M. Fortes, Ana Luiza Dias (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper addresses a significant gap in automated accessibility testing: the inability of traditional static HTML evaluation tools to assess Rich Internet Applications (RIA) that use Ajax, JavaScript, and dynamically generated DOM content. The auth…

  • automated testing
  • acceptance testing
  • continuous integration
  • rich internet applications
  • keyboard accessibility
  • dynamic content
  • ARIA
  • test-driven development

• On the Testability of WCAG 2.0 for Beginners

  Fernando Alonso, José Luis Fuertes, Ángel Lucas González, Loïc Martínez (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper investigates whether WCAG 2.0 success criteria are truly "reliably human testable" — one of the standard's key design goals — when the evaluators are beginners rather than experts. The W3C defines reliably human testable as meaning that at…

  • WCAG evaluation
  • accessibility education
  • testability
  • inter-rater reliability
  • manual testing
  • accessibility training

• Transition of Accessibility Evaluation Tools to New Standards

  Amaia Aizpurua, Myriam Arrue, Markel Vigo, Julio Abascal (2009) — Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper addresses a practical challenge that faced the web accessibility community following the release of WCAG 2.0 in December 2008: how to update the large ecosystem of existing automated evaluation tools that were built around WCAG 1.0. The au…

  • automated testing
  • web accessibility
  • WCAG transition
  • evaluation tools
  • accessibility guidelines

• Designing Learning Systems to Provide Accessible Services

  Pythagoras Karampiperis, Demetrios Sampson (2005) — Proceedings of the 2005 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper addresses the architectural design of web-based learning systems that can deliver accessible educational content to learners with diverse access needs. The authors identify a fundamental problem with how accessible e-learning was being app…

  • e-learning accessibility
  • learning management systems
  • accessible design
  • metadata
  • learning objects
  • assistive technology
  • user preferences

• WAI-ARIA live regions: eBuddy IM as a case example

  Peter Thiessen, Stephen Hockema (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents a practical case study of implementing WAI-ARIA live regions in eBuddy, a web-based instant messaging application with over 100 million users that aggregated popular IM networks into a single browser client. The paper addresses th…

  • WAI-ARIA
  • live regions
  • screen readers
  • dynamic content
  • instant messaging
  • Rich Internet Applications
  • blind users
  • AJAX

• Adapting web content for low-literacy readers by using lexical elaboration and named entities labeling

  Willian M. Watanabe, Arnaldo Candido, Marcelo A. Amâncio, Matheus de Oliveira, Thiago A. S. Pardo, Renata P. M. Fortes, Sandra M. Aluísio (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents Educational FACILITA, a browser-based tool that uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to automatically adapt web content for low-literacy readers. Developed at the University of São Paulo as part of the PorSimples text simplifica…

  • low literacy
  • natural language processing
  • text simplification
  • lexical elaboration
  • named entity recognition
  • content adaptation
  • reading accessibility
  • cognitive accessibility
  • digital inclusion

• Hera-FFX: a Firefox add-on for semi-automatic web accessibility evaluation

  José L. Fuertes, Ricardo González, Emmanuelle Gutiérrez, Loïc Martínez (2009) — Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents Hera-FFX, a Firefox browser add-on for semi-automatic web accessibility evaluation against WCAG 1.0, developed as a complete redesign of the earlier Hera online tool. The authors first establish a comprehensive list of 11 desirabl…

  • accessibility evaluation
  • evaluation tools
  • semi-automatic evaluation
  • browser extensions
  • WCAG 1.0
  • manual evaluation

• A framework for filtering web accessibility guidelines

  Rehema Baguma, Roger G. Stone, Jude T. Lugega, Th. P. van der Weide (2009) — Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents a framework for organizing and filtering web accessibility guidelines such as WCAG according to four contexts of use, addressing the widely acknowledged problem that WCAG guidelines are difficult for their target audience to navig…

  • accessibility guidelines
  • WCAG usability
  • context of use
  • guideline filtering
  • developer tools
  • accessibility education

• Using galvanic skin response measures to identify areas of frustration for older web 2.0 users

  Darren Lunn, Simon Harper (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper investigates how older web users experience stress and frustration when interacting with Web 2.0 dynamic content, using galvanic skin response (GSR) measurements combined with eye-tracking data. GSR is a physiological indicator that measur…

  • older adults
  • physiological measurement
  • galvanic skin response
  • eye tracking
  • Web 2.0
  • dynamic content
  • cognitive load
  • user research
  • stress measurement