Literature Reviews

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

• Lessons from an evaluation of a domestic well-being indicator system

  Nubia M. Gil (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This short paper presents an evaluation of a domestic well-being indicator system designed to present sensor-collected data from older people's homes through two distinct user interfaces — one for the older person and one for their carer. The system …

  • aging
  • telecare
  • well-being monitoring
  • older adults
  • caregiving
  • user interface design
  • data visualization
  • independent living

• Developing Accessible TV Applications

  José Coelho, Carlos Duarte, Pradipta Biswas, Patrick Langdon (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper describes the GUIDE (Gentle User Interfaces for Elderly People) framework for developing accessible TV applications through multimodal interaction, user interface adaptation, and impairment simulation. The research combines a survey of 46 …

  • aging
  • multimedia accessibility
  • multimodal interaction
  • adaptive systems
  • personalization
  • user interface design
  • interactive television
  • motor accessibility
  • low vision
  • user research

• Design Recommendations for TV User Interfaces for Older Adults: Findings from the eCAALYX Project

  Francisco Nunes, Maureen Kerwin, Paula Alexandra Silva (2012) — Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper presents thirteen design recommendations for TV-based user interfaces for older adults, derived from the eCAALYX (Enhanced Complete Ambient Assisted Living Experiment) project. eCAALYX is a European health monitoring system that uses a TV …

  • older adults
  • interactive television
  • user interface design
  • design guidelines
  • ambient assisted living
  • health monitoring
  • usability testing
  • age-related changes
  • remote control
  • chronic conditions

• Mining Web Interactions to Automatically Create Mash-Ups

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Ryan S. Kaminsky, Jeffrey Nichols (2009) — Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2009)

  This paper introduces TX2, a Firefox browser extension that automatically creates meta-search mash-ups by mining the web interactions of multiple users to discover relationships between query forms on different websites. The deep web — information ac…

  • web accessibility
  • web development
  • information retrieval
  • end-user programming
  • personalization
  • user interface design

• Spindex (Speech Index) Improves Auditory Menu Acceptance and Navigation Performance

  Myounghoon Jeon, Bruce N. Walker (2011) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper introduces the "spindex" (speech index), a novel auditory cue designed to improve navigation through spoken menus on mobile devices. The spindex works by pronouncing the first letter of each menu item before the full text-to-speech (TTS) r…

  • auditory interfaces
  • mobile accessibility
  • text-to-speech
  • screen readers
  • user interface design
  • blindness
  • sonification

• Effects of Virtual Reality Properties on User Experience of Individuals with Autism

  Lal "Lila" Bozgeyikli, Evren Bozgeyikli, Andrew Raij, Redwan Alqasemi, Srinivas Katkoori, Rajiv Dubey (2018) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This study systematically examines how five virtual reality user interface attributes affect the experience of high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorder (HFASD). The research addresses a critical gap in VR design guidelines for autis…

  • autism spectrum disorder
  • virtual reality
  • user interface design
  • vocational training
  • user experience
  • cognitive accessibility

• Supporting People with Acquired Brain Injury to Use a Reminding App; Narrow-deep vs. Broad-shallow User Interfaces

  Matthew Jamieson, Marilyn Lennon, Breda Cullen, Stephen Brewster, Jonathan Evans (2022) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This study compares two contrasting user interface approaches for smartphone reminder apps used by people with acquired brain injury (ABI). "Broad-shallow" interfaces show lots of information on fewer screens (requiring scrolling), while "narrow-deep…

  • acquired brain injury
  • cognitive accessibility
  • user interface design
  • assistive technology
  • memory aids
  • prospective memory
  • mobile apps

• Social Media Apps: A Paradigm for Examining Usability of Mobile Apps for Working-Age Adults with Mild-Moderate Cognitive Disabilities

  Morris Huang, Greg McGrew, Cathy Bodine (2025) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This empirical usability study examines how working-age adults (18-65) with mild-to-moderate cognitive disabilities interact with five mainstream social media apps: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Tumblr. The research addresses a signif…

  • cognitive disability
  • intellectual disability
  • traumatic brain injury
  • social media
  • mobile apps
  • usability testing
  • inclusive design
  • user interface design

• A Tool for Capturing Essential Preferences

  Dana Ayotte, Michelle Brennan, Nancy Frishberg, Cynthia Jimes, Lisa Petrides, Whitney Quesenbery, Madeleine Rothberg, Rich Schwerdtfeger, Jim Tobias, Jutta Treviranus, Shari Trewin, Gregg C. Vanderheiden (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

  This demonstration paper presents the First Discovery Tool, a multimodal web-based application designed to help people discover and set essential accessibility preferences — such as large fonts, high contrast, speech output, or one-handed keyboard us…

  • personalization
  • accessibility tools
  • aging
  • education
  • inclusive design
  • digital literacy
  • user interface design
  • universal design

• Accessible Icon Design in Enterprise Applications

  Eric Stilan, Amy Chen, Lulit Bezuayehu (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from Oracle's design team presents case studies of designing accessible icons for enterprise software, focusing on the challenge of conveying complex meanings — conditional status, severity levels, data trends — within 16x16 pixel icons wi…

  • visual design
  • color contrast
  • color blindness
  • accessible design
  • user interface design
  • internationalization
  • WCAG compliance