Literature Reviews

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

• Towards collaborative annotation for video accessibility

  Pierre-Antoine Champin, Benoît Encelle, Nicholas W. D. Evans, Magali O.-Beldame, Yannick Prié, Raphaël Troncy (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the ACAV (Collaborative Annotation for Video Accessibility) project, a French research initiative involving Dailymotion, the University of Lyon (LIRIS), and EURECOM, aimed at making web video accessible to blind and deaf users thr…

  • video accessibility
  • audio description
  • captioning
  • crowdsourcing
  • speech recognition
  • Braille
  • multimodal interaction
  • semantic web
  • collaborative annotation

• Towards Ubiquitous Accessibility: Capability-based Profiles and Adaptations, Delivered via the Semantic Web

  Matthew Tylee Atkinson, Matthew J. Bell, Colin H. C. Machin (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from Loughborough University proposes using semantic web technologies (RDF and OWL) to deliver capability-based user profiles and adaptive accessibility solutions across devices and platforms. The authors argue that the current assistive t…

  • adaptive interfaces
  • personalization
  • semantic web
  • user modeling
  • assistive technology
  • universal design
  • accessibility standards
  • user profiles

• A Web Compliance Engineering Framework to Support the Development of Accessible Rich Internet Applications

  Carlos A Velasco, Dimitar Denev, Dirk Stegemann, Yehya Mohamad (2008) — Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A 2008)

  This paper from Fraunhofer Institute introduces Web Compliance Engineering as a new discipline within Web Engineering, and presents a software framework (imergo) designed to support accessibility compliance for Rich Internet Applications. The authors…

  • web compliance engineering
  • rich internet applications
  • accessibility testing
  • semantic web
  • EARL
  • software engineering
  • quality assurance
  • automated testing

• Semantic Web: The Story So Far

  Ian Horrocks (2007) — Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This W4A 2007 keynote paper by Ian Horrocks of the University of Manchester provides an overview of the Semantic Web vision and the progress made toward realizing it, with particular focus on the Web Ontology Language (OWL). The paper opens by identi…

  • semantic web
  • ontology
  • OWL
  • knowledge representation
  • web standards
  • linked data

• A Semantic-Web Based Framework for Developing Applications to Improve Accessibility in the WWW

  Christos Kouroupetroglou, Michail Salampasis, Athanasios Manitsaris (2006) — Proceedings of the 2006 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents a Semantic Web application framework designed to improve web accessibility by adding a metadata annotation layer on top of existing web pages. The framework addresses a core problem for blind users: screen readers serialize web pa…

  • semantic web
  • ontology
  • web annotation
  • blind users
  • voice browser
  • screen readers
  • RDF
  • OWL
  • information seeking
  • crowdsourcing
  • web accessibility

• Developing a Semantic User and Device Modeling Framework That Supports UI Adaptability of Web 2.0 Applications for People with Special Needs

  Philip Ackermann, Carlos A. Velasco, Christopher Power (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents a semantic modeling framework for dynamically adapting web 2.0 application interfaces based on user preferences and device capabilities, developed within the EU-funded I2Web (Inclusive Future-Internet Web Services) project. The fr…

  • adaptive interfaces
  • user modeling
  • device modeling
  • personalization
  • semantic web
  • WAI-ARIA
  • model-driven engineering
  • content adaptation
  • interface plasticity

• GraSSML: Accessible Smart Schematic Diagrams for All

  Z. Ben Fredj, D. A. Duce (2006) — Proceedings of the 2006 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper addresses a persistent gap in web accessibility: making schematic diagrams (organizational charts, flowcharts, UML diagrams, etc.) accessible to people who cannot perceive visual representations. While previous approaches tried to work "bo…

  • accessible graphics
  • SVG
  • semantic web
  • diagram accessibility
  • alternative representations
  • multimodal
  • visual impairment
  • data visualization

• A survey of open accessibility data

  Chaohai Ding, Mike Wald, Gary Wills (2014) — Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper surveys the landscape of open accessibility data in the UK, focusing on geographic and location-based datasets that could help people with disabilities navigate physical spaces and plan travel. The authors examine five data sources: Wheelm…

  • open data
  • linked data
  • accessible travel
  • crowdsourcing
  • semantic web
  • wheelchair accessibility
  • transportation accessibility

• Web 2.0 and the Semantic Web: Hindrance or Opportunity? W4A -- International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility 2007

  Yeliz Yesilada, Simon Harper (2008) — SIGACCESS Access. Comput.

  This is the conference report for the 4th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A) 2007, held at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Canada, co-located with the World Wide Web (WWW) conference. The report summariz…

  • Web 2.0
  • semantic web
  • conference report
  • ARIA
  • assistive technology
  • screen readers
  • dynamic content
  • web accessibility evaluation
  • accessibility APIs

• Linked Data-Driven Decision Support for Accessible Travelling

  Chaohai Ding, Mike Wald, Gary Wills (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This doctoral consortium paper proposes using Linked Data principles to build a decision support system (DSS) for accessible travel planning, primarily targeting people with mobility difficulties. The core problem is that accessibility information ab…

  • linked data
  • semantic web
  • accessible travel
  • mobility impairment
  • decision support system
  • open data
  • wayfinding
  • route planning
  • data integration