Literature Reviews

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

• Developing a Wearable Tactile Prototype to Support Situational Awareness

  Flynn Wolf (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This doctoral consortium paper from UMBC describes dissertation research into head-mounted tactile displays for spatial and situational awareness, with applications for people who are blind and those experiencing situational impairments. The research…

  • haptic technology
  • wearable technology
  • tactile accessibility
  • blindness
  • situational impairment
  • navigation
  • participatory design
  • spatial awareness

• Accessible Map Visualization Prototype

  Tania Calle-Jimenez, Sergio Luján-Mora (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from Ecuador's National Polytechnic School and the University of Alicante presents a prototype for making online geographic maps accessible to people with visual disabilities. The authors identify four key accessibility barriers in web-bas…

  • data visualization
  • visual impairment
  • color blindness
  • SVG
  • web accessibility
  • geographic information
  • keyboard accessibility
  • screen readers

• Learning Games for the Cognitively Impaired People

  Maria Claudia Buzzi, Marina Buzzi, Erico Perrone, Beatrice Rapisarda, Caterina Senette (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from the Italian National Research Council (CNR-IIT) presents an open-source web platform delivering personalized cognitive learning games for people with Down syndrome, with a particular focus on delaying the onset of early Alzheimer's di…

  • cognitive accessibility
  • Down syndrome
  • game-based learning
  • intellectual disability
  • tele-rehabilitation
  • dementia prevention
  • augmentative and alternative communication
  • educational technology

• A Usability Evaluation of Two Virtual Aids to Enhance Cursor Accessibility for People with Motor Impairments

  J. Eduardo Pérez, Xabier Valencia, Myriam Arrue, Julio Abascal (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from the University of the Basque Country presents and evaluates two virtual cursor enhancements designed to help people with motor impairments perform pointing and clicking tasks during web browsing. The "circular cursor" creates a transl…

  • motor accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • input devices
  • pointing devices
  • web accessibility
  • usability testing
  • cursor enhancement

• Wearables for All: Development of Guidelines to Stimulate Accessible Wearable Technology Design

  Jobke Wentzel, Eric Velleman, Thea van der Geest (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from the University of Twente and The Accessibility Foundation (Netherlands) presents the rationale and methodology for developing accessibility guidelines specifically for wearable technology — a domain where no dedicated accessibility st…

  • wearable technology
  • universal design
  • guidelines
  • visual impairment
  • multimodal interaction
  • digital divide
  • human-centered design

• Web Accessibility Guidelines for the 2020s

  Michael Cooper (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  Written by W3C/WAI staff member Michael Cooper, this paper provides an insider perspective on the strategic direction of web accessibility guidelines following the completion of the 2.0 suite — WCAG 2.0 (finalized 2008), ATAG 2.0 (2015), and UAAG 2.0…

  • web accessibility
  • WCAG
  • WAI-ARIA
  • standards
  • guidelines
  • W3C
  • cognitive accessibility
  • mobile accessibility
  • low vision

• A Platform to Support Personalized Training of People with Disabilities

  Carlos Cardonha, Andrea Britto Mattos, Rodrigo Laiola Guimarães (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from IBM Research Brazil presents a two-component platform for creating and delivering personalized vocational training courses to people with multiple types of disabilities. The system consists of a web-based course-authoring portal for i…

  • intellectual disability
  • educational technology
  • personalization
  • vocational training
  • mobile accessibility
  • inclusive design

• Contextual Language Learning with Capti ESL Assistant

  Yevgen Borodin, Yury Puzis, Andrii Soviak, Vikas Ashok, Andrii Melnyk, I. V. Ramakrishnan (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents Capti ESL Assistant, a web application designed to help English language learners develop reading and listening skills simultaneously while remaining accessible to users with print disabilities including dyslexia and vision loss. …

  • language accessibility
  • print disabilities
  • text-to-speech
  • dyslexia
  • education accessibility
  • universal design
  • natural language processing

• Towards Universal Rendering in MathJax

  Davide Cervone, Peter Krautzberger, Volker Sorge (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents the MathJax Consortium's effort to transform MathJax from a purely visual mathematics rendering library into a universal rendering solution that supports readers with visual, print, and motor impairments. The authors describe how …

  • STEM accessibility
  • mathematics accessibility
  • MathML
  • screen readers
  • universal design
  • assistive technology
  • web accessibility

• Widening access to online health education for lung cancer: a feasibility study

  Julia Mueller, Alan Davies, Simon Harper, Caroline Jay, Chris Todd (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents a feasibility study of "When2Go," a web-based lung cancer symptom appraisal tool designed to reach populations typically excluded from online health information: older adults with low education levels, low health literacy, and psy…

  • health literacy
  • healthcare accessibility
  • plain language
  • personalization
  • aging
  • digital inclusion
  • online health information
  • patient empowerment