Literature Reviews

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

• Is Wikipedia Usable for the Blind?

  Marina Buzzi, Barbara Leporini (2008) — Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper evaluates the accessibility and usability of Wikipedia for blind screen reader users by analyzing three key interaction modes: browsing the home page, searching and viewing results, and editing content. The authors tested both the English …

  • screen readers
  • blind users
  • wiki accessibility
  • usability
  • Wikipedia
  • JAWS
  • collaborative environments
  • keyboard accessibility
  • WAI-ARIA
  • e-learning

• Profiling Learners with Special Needs for Custom E-Learning Experiences, a Closed Case?

  Paola Salomoni, Silvia Mirri, Stefano Ferretti, Marco Roccetti (2007) — Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from the University of Bologna tackles the problem of creating comprehensive learner profiles that capture both user accessibility needs and device capabilities — two dimensions that existing standards addressed separately but not together…

  • e-learning
  • user profiling
  • content adaptation
  • assistive technology
  • device capabilities
  • accessibility standards
  • learning objects
  • mobile accessibility

• E-learning 2.0: You Are We-LCoME!

  Stefano Ferretti, Silvia Mirri, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Marco Roccetti, Paola Salomoni (2008) — Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents We-LCoME (Wiki e-Learning Compound Multimedia Environment), a collaborative platform for creating and enriching accessible multimedia e-learning resources. Built on top of DokuWiki, the system allows a community of "prosumers" — l…

  • e-learning
  • multimedia accessibility
  • collaborative authoring
  • Web 2.0
  • SMIL
  • content adaptation
  • captions
  • learning objects
  • wiki
  • ATAG

• One World, One Web ... But Great Diversity

  Brian Kelly, Liddy Nevile, EA Draffan, Sotiris Fanou (2008) — Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This provocative paper challenges the dominant WAI/WCAG-centric model of web accessibility, arguing that its narrow focus on guideline conformance of individual digital resources fails to account for the diversity of user needs, contexts of use, and …

  • WCAG
  • accessibility policy
  • social model of disability
  • learning disabilities
  • Web 2.0
  • personalized accessibility
  • accessibility metadata
  • inclusive design
  • e-learning
  • holistic accessibility

• Remote IT Education for Senior Citizens

  Hironobu Takagi, Akihiro Kosugi, Tatsuya Ishihara, Kentarou Fukuda (2014) — Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper addresses the challenge of teaching IT skills to senior citizens in Japan, where the elderly population ratio has reached 25% nationally and up to 40% in some regions. The authors identified that peer teaching — skilled seniors teaching un…

  • aging
  • digital literacy
  • digital divide
  • education
  • remote learning
  • senior citizens
  • tablet devices
  • gesture interaction
  • e-learning

• Designing an App to Help Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to Recognize Abuse

  Thomas Howard, Krishna Venkatasubramanian, Jeanine L M Skorinko, Pauline Bosma, John Mullaly, Brian Kelly, Deborah Lloyd, Mary Wishart, Emiton Alves, Nicole Jutras, Mariah Freark, Nancy A. Alterio (2021) — The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2021)

  This paper presents the design of Recognize, a mobile app intended to teach individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) how to identify and report abuse. The work addresses a critical safety issue: abuse of people with I/DD is…

  • intellectual disability
  • developmental disability
  • co-design
  • abuse prevention
  • mobile app
  • self-advocacy
  • e-learning
  • empowerment
  • safeguarding

• VeasyGuide: Personalized Visual Guidance for Low-vision Learners on Instructor Actions in Presentation Videos

  Mohamad Elayyan Sechayk, Himanshu Singh, Jan Smeddinck, Chakkrit Tantithamthavorn (2025) — ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper introduces VeasyGuide, a tool designed to make presentation videos more accessible for low-vision (LV) learners by automatically detecting and highlighting instructor actions such as pointing, marking, and sketching. The authors identify a…

  • low vision
  • video accessibility
  • e-learning
  • motion detection
  • visual guidance
  • personalization
  • presentation videos
  • magnification