Literature Reviews

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

• A Platform Agnostic Remote Desktop System for Screen Reading

  Syed Masum Billah, Vikas Ashok, Donald E. Porter, IV Ramakrishnan (2016) — ASSETS '16: Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  Sinter addresses a fundamental barrier to remote desktop accessibility: traditional remote desktop technology scrapes pixels from the remote screen and redraws them as bitmaps on the client, losing all semantic information that screen readers require…

  • screen reader
  • remote desktop
  • cross-platform accessibility
  • UI virtualization
  • blind accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • NVDA
  • JAWS
  • VoiceOver

• Supporting Orientation of People with Visual Impairment: Analysis of Large Scale Usage Data

  Hernisa Kacorri, Sergio Mascetti, Andrea Gerino, Dragan Ahmetovic, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

  This paper analyzes large-scale remote usage data from iMove, an iOS GPS-based orientation app for people with visual impairments, to understand how users interact with assistive navigation technology in real-world conditions. Traditional assistive t…

  • visual impairment
  • blindness
  • navigation
  • orientation and mobility
  • mobile accessibility
  • data collection
  • machine learning
  • user research
  • VoiceOver

• Blind Photographers and VizSnap: A Long-Term Study

  Dustin Adams, Sri Kurniawan, Cynthia Herrera, Veronica Kang, Natalie Friedman (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

  This paper reports on a two-month longitudinal study with 13 blind participants (ages 18-65, nine totally blind and two with some light perception, seven adventitiously and six congenitally blind) using VizSnap, a free iPhone app designed to help bli…

  • blindness
  • photography
  • mobile accessibility
  • social media
  • iPhone
  • VoiceOver
  • user research
  • image accessibility

• 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

• An empirical investigation of the situationally-induced impairments experienced by blind mobile device users

  Ali Abdolrahmani, Ravi Kuber, Amy Hurst (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates the situationally-induced impairments and disabilities (SIIDs) experienced by blind people when using mobile devices in real-world contexts. While prior SIID research has focused on sighted users encountering temporary impedim…

  • situational impairment
  • mobile accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • blindness
  • screen readers
  • VoiceOver
  • user research
  • qualitative research

• VERSE: Bridging Screen Readers and Voice Assistants for Enhanced Eyes-Free Web Search

  Alexandra Vtyurina, Adam Fourney, Meredith Ringel Morris, Leah Findlater, Ryen W. White (2019) — Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper identifies the complementary strengths and weaknesses of screen readers and voice assistants (VAs) for blind web searchers, then presents VERSE (Voice Exploration, Retrieval, and SEarch), a prototype that merges the best of both technologi…

  • screen readers
  • voice assistant
  • blind
  • web search
  • information retrieval
  • web accessibility
  • smart speaker
  • smartwatch
  • multimodal interaction
  • VoiceOver

• DarkReader: Bridging the Gap Between Perception and Reality of Power Consumption in Smartphones for Blind Users

  Jian Xu, Syed Masum Billah, Roy Shilkrot, Aruna Balasubramanian (2019) — Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents DarkReader, a modified Android screen reader that truly turns off the smartphone screen while preserving full touchscreen interaction for blind users, saving 24-52% of power compared to the default TalkBack screen reader. The work…

  • blind
  • screen readers
  • TalkBack
  • VoiceOver
  • Android
  • power consumption
  • battery life
  • privacy
  • mobile accessibility
  • shoulder surfing

• Demo: Expanding Blocks4All with Variables and Functions

  Jacqueline Shao Yi Ong, Nana Adwoa O. Amoah, Alison E. Garrett-Engele, Mariella Irene Page, Katherine R. McCarthy, Lauren R. Milne (2019) — Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This demonstration paper describes extensions to Blocks4All, an accessible blocks-based programming environment (BBPE) for iPad designed to enable children with visual impairments to learn programming through touchscreen interaction with screen reade…

  • programming education
  • blind
  • low vision
  • visual impairment
  • screen readers
  • VoiceOver
  • STEM accessibility
  • blocks-based programming
  • motor impairment
  • color blindness
  • robotics
  • Switch Control

• Personalization in the Interactive EPUB 3 Reading Experience: Accessibility Issues for Screen Reader Users

  Barbara Leporini, Clara Meattini (2019) — Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates the accessibility of interactive EPUB 3 digital books when accessed via screen readers. The authors designed and developed a multimedia, interactive EPUB 3 prototype — a digital guide to Sienese cuisine featuring 8 recipe chap…

  • EPUB
  • accessible publishing
  • screen reader
  • digital books
  • personalization
  • WAI-ARIA
  • visual impairment
  • assistive technology
  • VoiceOver
  • JAWS

• Making Mobile Augmented Reality Applications Accessible

  Jaylin Herskovitz, Jason Wu, Samuel White, Amy Pavel, Gabriel Reyes, Anhong Guo, Jeffrey P. Bigham (2020) — Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This paper tackles a fundamental accessibility gap in augmented reality: AR applications are overwhelmingly visual, mixing virtual 3D objects with the real world in ways that existing screen readers and accessibility services cannot interpret. The re…

  • augmented reality
  • visual accessibility
  • blindness and low vision
  • mobile accessibility
  • screen readers
  • VoiceOver
  • inclusive design
  • emerging technology