Literature Reviews

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

• AJAX Time Machine

  Andy Brown, Simon Harper (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper proposes the AJAX Time Machine, a Google Chrome browser extension that records states of dynamically updating web page regions and allows users to step backwards and forwards through those states at their own pace. The authors argue that d…

  • AJAX
  • dynamic content
  • cognitive accessibility
  • aging
  • screen readers
  • browser extension
  • web accessibility
  • DOM manipulation

• Improving the Accessibility of Dynamic Web Content for Older Users

  Darren Lunn, Simon Harper (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the SCWeb2 (Senior Citizens on the Web 2.0) Assistant Tool, a browser extension designed to help older users understand and interact with dynamic Web 2.0 content. The authors build on their previous research showing that older use…

  • aging
  • dynamic content
  • web accessibility
  • cognitive accessibility
  • AJAX
  • rich internet applications
  • user experience
  • browser extension

• Firefixia: An Accessibility Web Browser Customization Toolbar for People with Dyslexia

  Vagner Figueredo de Santana, Rosimeire de Oliveira, Leonelo Dell Anhol Almeida, Marcia Ito (2013) — Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents Firefixia, a Mozilla Firefox browser extension toolbar designed to help people with dyslexia customise the presentation of web content according to their individual preferences. The authors note that while web accessibility effort…

  • dyslexia
  • web accessibility
  • browser extension
  • customization
  • assistive technology
  • reading accessibility
  • user testing
  • cognitive accessibility

• DysWebxia 2.0! More Accessible Text for People with Dyslexia

  Luz Rello, Clara Bayarri, Azuki Gòrriz, Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Saurabh Gupta, Gaurang Kanvinde, Horacio Saggion, Stefan Bott, Roberto Carlini, Vasile Topac (2013) — Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This demo paper introduces DysWebxia 2.0, a model for making text more accessible to people with dyslexia by modifying both the presentation and content of text. The project is notable for being the first model to combine text presentation changes (f…

  • dyslexia
  • text simplification
  • readability
  • assistive technology
  • text presentation
  • cognitive accessibility
  • browser extension
  • natural language processing

• A plug-in to aid online reading in Spanish

  Luz Rello, Roberto Carlini, Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Jeffrey P. Bigham (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents CASSA, a free Chrome browser plug-in designed to help people read Spanish text on the web by providing simpler synonyms and definitions on demand for complex words. The tool builds on the CASSA (Context Aware Synonym Simplificatio…

  • text simplification
  • lexical simplification
  • dyslexia
  • cognitive accessibility
  • readability
  • browser extension
  • assistive technology
  • Spanish language

• Designing an Adaptive Web Navigation Interface for Users with Variable Pointing Performance

  Aqueasha Martin-Hammond, Foad Hamidi, Tejas Bhalerao, Christian Ortega, Abdullah Ali, Catherine Hornback, Casey Means, Amy Hurst (2018) — Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates how to design adaptive web navigation interfaces for people who experience variable pointing ability — difficulty using a mouse to click targets on screen that fluctuates over time due to conditions like early-stage Parkinson'…

  • adaptive user interface
  • motor impairment
  • pointing
  • assistive technology
  • web navigation
  • older adults
  • Parkinson's disease
  • user study
  • personalization
  • browser extension
  • bubble cursor
  • mixed-initiative design
  • user preferences
  • transparency
  • trust

• Accessify: An ML Powered Application to Provide Accessible Images on Web Sites

  Shivam Singh, Anurag Bhandari, Nishith Pathak (2018) — Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This demonstration paper presents Accessify, a browser plugin that uses machine learning to automatically generate alternative text descriptions for all images on a website, injecting them into the page’s DOM so screen readers can access them. The sy…

  • alternative text
  • image accessibility
  • machine learning
  • browser extension
  • computer vision
  • deep learning
  • screen readers
  • web accessibility
  • image captioning
  • TensorFlow

• DysHelper: The Dyslexia Assistive User Experience

  Tereza Pařilová, Romana Remšíková (2018) — Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This demonstration paper presents DysHelper, a web browser extension designed to assist people with dyslexia by visually modifying the appearance of web text without altering its content or meaning. The extension addresses the core visual processing …

  • dyslexia
  • browser extension
  • reading accessibility
  • typography
  • web accessibility
  • text adaptation
  • Czech language
  • cognitive accessibility
  • personalization

• Handsfree for Web: A Google Chrome extension to browse the web via voice commands

  Javier Pérez (2019) — Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents Handsfree for Web, a free Google Chrome browser extension that enables users to browse the web entirely through voice commands. The tool addresses a fundamental accessibility barrier: nearly all websites require manu…

  • voice control
  • speech recognition
  • motor disability
  • browser extension
  • web accessibility
  • hands-free interaction
  • Chrome extension
  • Web Speech API
  • assistive technology

• TableView: Enabling Efficient Access to Web Data Records for Screen-Magnifier Users

  Hae-Na Lee, Sami Uddin, Vikas Ashok (2020) — Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This paper addresses a significant usability challenge faced by people with low vision who use screen magnifiers to browse the web: the difficulty of comparing data records on websites such as job listings, flight search results, shopping products, a…

  • low vision
  • screen magnifier
  • web accessibility
  • usability
  • browser extension
  • data records
  • information extraction
  • assistive technology