Literature Reviews — A11y Paradise

Using Dynamic Audio Feedback to Support Peripersonal Reaching in Young Visually Impaired People

Graham Wilson, Stephen A. Brewster (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

This paper investigates whether dynamic audio feedback — sound that changes based on the proximity between a reaching hand and target objects — can improve the accuracy of peripersonal reaching (reaching within arm's length) for blind and visually im…

How People with Low Vision Access Computing Devices: Understanding Challenges and Opportunities

Sarit Felicia Anais Szpiro, Shafeka Hashash, Yuhang Zhao, Shiri Azenkot (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

This paper presents a contextual inquiry study examining how 11 people with low vision use mainstream computing devices (smartphones, tablets, and computers) to perform common tasks like reading email and browsing news. Low vision affects at least 3.…

Remote Access Programs to Better Integrate Individuals with Disabilities

Thomas Hahn, Hidayat Ur Rahman, Richard Segall, Christoph Heim, Raphaela Brunson, Ankush Sharma, Maryam Aslam, Ana Lara-Rodriguez, Md. Sahidul Islam, Neha Gupta, Charles S. Embry, Patrick Grossmann, Shahrukh Babar, Gregory A. Skibinski, Fusheng Tang (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

This experience report, written primarily from the perspective of the first author who is legally blind due to albinism, describes how remote access programs (such as TeamViewer and AnyDesk) combined with voice communication tools (Skype, Google Hang…

Real-Time Mobile Personalized Simulations of Impaired Colour Vision

Rhouri MacAlpine, David R. Flatla (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

This paper extends personalized simulations of Impaired Colour Vision (ICV) to work in real time on mobile devices, enabling people with typical colour vision to see the world through the camera as someone with ICV would perceive it. At least 5% of t…

Customizable 3D Printed Tactile Maps as Interactive Overlays

Brandon Taylor, Anind Dey, Dan Siewiorek, Asim Smailagic (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

This paper presents an end-to-end system that enables visually impaired individuals to independently design, customize, and interact with 3D printed tactile maps. Traditional tactile map production has been limited by high costs (Braille embossers ra…

BrailleSketch: A Gesture-based Text Input Method for People with Visual Impairments

Mingzhe Li, Mingming Fan, Khai N. Truong (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

This paper presents BrailleSketch, a gesture-based text input method for touchscreen smartphones designed for people with visual impairments who already know the Braille alphabet. Rather than requiring users to tap specific screen locations or use mu…

Investigating Microinteractions for People with Visual Impairments and the Potential Role of On-Body Interaction

Uran Oh, Lee Stearns, Alisha Pradhan, Jon E. Froehlich, Leah Findlater (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

This paper investigates how well microinteractions — brief, high-frequency mobile tasks that take sighted users only a few seconds to complete — are currently supported for people who are blind or visually impaired (VI). While modern smartphones are …

Imagining Artificial Intelligence Applications with People with Visual Disabilities using Tactile Ideation

Cecily Morrison, Edward Cutrell, Anupama Dhareshwar, Kevin Doherty, Anja Thieme, Alex Taylor (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

This paper presents a novel tactile ideation methodology for working with people with visual disabilities to imagine future AI applications, and reports on cross-cultural workshops conducted in the UK (6 participants) and India (8 participants). Rath…

NavCog3: An Evaluation of a Smartphone-Based Blind Indoor Navigation Assistant with Semantic Features in a Large-Scale Environment

Daisuke Sato, Uran Oh, Kakuya Naito, Hironobu Takagi, Kris Kitani, Chieko Asakawa (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

This paper presents NavCog3, a smartphone-based indoor navigation assistant for people with visual impairments, evaluated at scale in a 21,000 m² shopping mall in Japan. Unlike many prior indoor navigation prototypes that were tested only in constrai…

FluxMarker: Enhancing Tactile Graphics with Dynamic Tactile Markers

Ryo Suzuki, Abigale Stangl, Mark D. Gross, Tom Yeh (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

This paper presents FluxMarker, an inexpensive and scalable system that adds dynamic, movable tactile markers on top of static raised-line tactile graphics. Traditional embossed tactile graphics are static and cannot represent changing data, while ex…