Literature Reviews

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

• Find and Seek: Assessing the Impact of Table Navigation on Information Look-up with a Screen Reader

  Kristin Williams, Taylor Clarke, Steve Gardiner, John Zimmerman, Anthony Tomasic (2019) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper challenges the widely held assumption that HTML tables are inherently inaccessible to screen reader users. Web designers use visual cues like layout, typography, and spatial grouping to help sighted users navigate and understand page conte…

  • screen readers
  • web accessibility
  • table navigation
  • spatial layout
  • cognitive load
  • information architecture
  • transcoding

• Deep Learning Compensation of Rotation Errors During Navigation Assistance for People with Visual Impairments or Blindness

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Sergio Mascetti, Cristian Bernareggi, João Guerreiro, Uran Oh, Chieko Asakawa (2019) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper addresses a critical but often overlooked problem in turn-by-turn navigation assistance for people with visual impairments or blindness (VIB): rotation errors at turning points. While much navigation research focuses on improving localizat…

  • navigation assistance
  • visual impairment
  • blindness
  • deep learning
  • turn-by-turn navigation
  • indoor navigation
  • rotation errors
  • over-rotation

• Design for Social Accessibility Method Cards: Engaging Users and Reflecting on Social Scenarios for Accessible Design

  Kristen Shinohara, Cynthia L. Bennett, Wanda Pratt, Jacob O. Wobbrock (2020) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper introduces Design for Social Accessibility (DSA) method cards, a practical tool that helps designers incorporate social dimensions of accessibility into their work. The authors argue that most accessibility guidelines focus on functional a…

  • social accessibility
  • design methods
  • method cards
  • participatory design
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • inclusive design
  • design education

• Understanding Low Vision Graphical Perception of Bar Charts

  Yash Prakash, Akshay Kolgar Nayak, Sampath Jayarathna, Hae-Na Lee, Vikas Ashok (2024) — ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates how low-vision users who rely on screen magnifiers perceive and interact with bar charts, addressing a significant gap in data visualization accessibility research. While studies on chart perception have extensively examined s…

  • low vision
  • data visualization
  • bar charts
  • screen magnifier
  • graphical perception
  • magnification
  • chart accessibility
  • user study

• Accessibility through Awareness of Noise Sensitivity Management and Regulation Practices

  Emani Dotch, Avery Mavrovounioti, Weijie Du, Elizabeth Ankrah, Jazette Johnson, Aehong Min, Gillian R Hayes (2024) — ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates how people with noise sensitivity (PWNS) manage and regulate their responses to sound, and identifies opportunities for technology-mediated support. Noise sensitivity — experiencing sounds as disproportionately distressing, pa…

  • noise sensitivity
  • sensory processing
  • neurodiversity
  • self-regulation
  • awareness
  • interdependence
  • collaborative management
  • caregivers
  • assistive technology

• Beadwork Bridge: Understanding and Exploring the Opportunities of Beadwork in Enriching School Education for Blind and Low Vision (BLV) People

  Shumeng Zhang, Weiyue Lin, Zisu Li, Ruiqi Jiang, Chen Liang, Mingming Fan, Raul Masu (2024) — ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates how beadwork — the craft of creating patterns and objects by threading beads onto wire, string, or thread — serves as a rich educational tool for blind and low-vision (BLV) students, and explores what the HCI field can learn f…

  • blind and low vision
  • education
  • beadwork
  • tactile learning
  • embodied cognition
  • soma design
  • tangible interaction
  • mathematics education
  • creativity
  • vocational training

• TwIPS: A Large Language Model Powered Texting Application to Simplify Conversational Nuances for Autistic Users

  Rukhshan Haroon, Fahad Dogar (2024) — ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper presents TwIPS, a prototype texting application powered by a large language model that assists autistic users with the pragmatic and tonal aspects of text-based communication. Many autistic individuals experience difficulties interpreting …

  • autism
  • communication
  • large language models
  • text messaging
  • tone interpretation
  • masking
  • social cognition
  • AI-assisted communication
  • neurodiversity

• Understanding How Blind Users Handle Object Recognition Errors: Strategies and Challenges

  Jonggi Hong, Hernisa Kacorri (2024) — ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates how blind and low-vision users interact with object recognition systems, specifically focusing on how they identify and handle recognition errors. While object recognition technologies powered by computer vision and machine le…

  • blind users
  • object recognition
  • AI errors
  • computer vision
  • camera-based assistive technology
  • error handling
  • trust
  • machine learning

• Uncovering the New Accessibility Crisis in Scholarly PDFs: Publishing Model and Platform Changes Contribute to Declining Scholarly Document Accessibility in the Last Decade

  Anukriti Kumar, Lucy Lu Wang (2024) — ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper presents a large-scale analysis of 20,000 scholarly PDFs published between 2014 and 2023 to characterise the scope and trajectory of document accessibility in academic publishing. Most scholarly works are distributed as PDFs, a format that…

  • PDF accessibility
  • scholarly publishing
  • document accessibility
  • screen readers
  • tagged PDF
  • alt text
  • open access
  • automated testing
  • large-scale analysis

• Design and Evaluation of an Automatic Text Simplification Prototype with Deaf and Hard-of-hearing Readers

  Oliver Alonzo, Sooyeon Lee, Akhter Al Amin, Mounica Maddela, Wei Xu, Matt Huenerfauth (2024) — ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates the design preferences and interactions of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) readers with automatic text simplification (ATS) tools. Many DHH individuals who use sign language as their primary language experience English as a sec…

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • text simplification
  • reading accessibility
  • natural language processing
  • lexical simplification
  • syntactic simplification
  • plain language
  • user study