Literature Reviews

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

• Autonomous Navigation through the City for the Blind

  Jaime Sánchez, Natalia de la Torre (2010) — Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents a study on the use of an audio-based GPS navigation application designed to help blind people navigate independently through urban environments. The software, developed for PocketPC devices with Bluetooth GPS receivers, uses a clo…

  • blind navigation
  • GPS
  • orientation and mobility
  • mobile technology
  • assistive technology
  • audio navigation
  • urban accessibility
  • text-to-speech

• Using Accessible Math Textbooks with Students Who Have Learning Disabilities

  Preston Lewis, Steve Noble, Neil Soiffer (2010) — Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper reports results from Project SMART (Supported Math Accessibility Reading Tool), a classroom study conducted at the University of Kentucky with 48 eighth grade students who had learning disabilities. The project provided digital versions of…

  • learning disabilities
  • mathematics accessibility
  • MathML
  • DAISY
  • print disabilities
  • assistive technology
  • K-12 education
  • text-to-speech
  • digital textbooks

• EPG: Speech Access to Program Guides for People with Disabilities

  Michael Johnston, Amanda J. Stent (2010) — Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This demo paper from AT&T Labs Research presents an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) prototype that uses speech input and text-to-speech output to make television listing navigation accessible to people with visual disabilities or limited hand mobility…

  • speech recognition
  • voice interface
  • television accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • motor impairment
  • assistive technology
  • text-to-speech

• Evaluating a Tool for Improving Accessibility to Charts and Graphs

  Leo Ferres, Gitte Lindgaard, Livia Sumegi (2010) — Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents two formative usability studies of iGraph-Lite, a natural language-based assistive technology that enables blind and visually impaired people to interact with statistical line graphs through keyboard commands and text-to-speech ou…

  • data visualization
  • blindness
  • natural language generation
  • information graphics
  • screen readers
  • text-to-speech
  • usability evaluation
  • graph accessibility

• On the Intelligibility of Fast Synthesized Speech for Individuals with Early-Onset Blindness

  Amanda Stent, Ann Syrdal, Taniya Mishra (2011) — Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper reports on a pilot experiment comparing the intelligibility of fast synthesized speech across different text-to-speech (TTS) systems for individuals with early-onset blindness (onset before age seven). People who are blind increasingly use…

  • text-to-speech
  • screen readers
  • blindness
  • speech technology
  • speech intelligibility
  • assistive technology

• Thematic Organization of Web Content for Distraction-Free Text-to-Speech Narration

  Muhammad Asiful Islam, Faisal Ahmed, Yevgen Borodin, I.V. Ramakrishnan (2012) — Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper addresses a fundamental problem in how blind users experience web content through screen readers: the serial, linear narration of complex web pages that contain multiple thematic elements — news stories, ads, navigation taxonomies, and opi…

  • screen readers
  • web segmentation
  • text-to-speech
  • blind users
  • cognitive load
  • web accessibility
  • clustering
  • information retrieval
  • content organization

• IDEAL: A Dyslexic-Friendly eBook Reader

  Gaurang Kanvinde, Luz Rello, Ricardo Baeza-Yates (2012) — Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This demonstration paper presents the IDEAL eBook Reader, an Android application that displays ePub-formatted ebooks with a text layout specifically adapted for readers with dyslexia. The design is grounded in empirical research: layout guidelines we…

  • dyslexia
  • readability
  • ebook
  • ePub
  • text-to-speech
  • assistive technology
  • Android
  • text layout
  • reading accessibility
  • cognitive accessibility

• SymbolPath: A Continuous Motion Overlay Module for Icon-Based Assistive Communication

  Karl Wiegand, Rupal Patel (2012) — Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This demonstration paper introduces SymbolPath, an overlay module designed to improve the speed and ease of message formulation in icon-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. Traditional icon-based AAC devices require users t…

  • augmentative and alternative communication
  • AAC
  • motor impairment
  • speech impairment
  • icon-based communication
  • continuous motion input
  • text-to-speech
  • natural language processing
  • touch screen

• Follow That Sound: Using Sonification and Corrective Verbal Feedback to Teach Touchscreen Gestures

  Uran Oh, Shaun K. Kane, Leah Findlater (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper proposes and evaluates two techniques for teaching touchscreen gestures to users with visual impairments: gesture sonification (mapping finger position to audio using pitch for the y-axis and stereo panning for the x-axis) and corrective v…

  • touchscreen accessibility
  • sonification
  • gesture learning
  • blind users
  • visual impairment
  • mobile accessibility
  • audio feedback
  • text-to-speech
  • VoiceOver
  • gesture recognition

• WebAnywhere: A Screen Reader On-the-Go

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Craig M. Prince (2007) — Assets '07: Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This demonstration paper introduces WebAnywhere, a web-based, self-voicing screen reader that enables blind users to access the web from any computer with a standard browser and sound output, without needing to install specialized software. The paper…

  • screen readers
  • web accessibility
  • blind users
  • assistive technology
  • text-to-speech
  • web-based tools