Literature Reviews

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

• Blind Hero: Enabling Guitar Hero for the Visually Impaired

  Bei Yuan, Eelke Folmer (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper from the University of Nevada, Reno presents Blind Hero, a modification of the popular video game Guitar Hero that replaces visual stimuli with haptic feedback to enable visually impaired players to participate. The system uses a custom ha…

  • game accessibility
  • haptic feedback
  • visual impairment
  • sensory substitution
  • rhythm game
  • blind users
  • inclusive design
  • haptic glove

• Hover or Tap? Supporting Pen-based Menu Navigation for Older Adults

  Karyn Moffatt, Sandra Yuen, Joanna McGrenere (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper investigates "drifting" — an error specific to pen-based (Tablet PC) interaction where users accidentally hover over an adjacent menu head, causing their intended menu to close and the wrong one to open. This occurs because inductive pen t…

  • aging
  • input methods
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • inclusive design
  • user interface design
  • motor accessibility
  • pen input
  • older adults
  • menu design

• PowerUp: An Accessible Virtual World

  Shari Trewin, Vicki L. Hanson, Mark R. Laff, Anna Cavender (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper describes the design and validation of accessibility features for PowerUp, an IBM-developed multiplayer 3D virtual world educational game aimed at middle school students. The researchers were tasked with making the game usable by players w…

  • game accessibility
  • virtual reality
  • visual impairment
  • blindness
  • cognitive accessibility
  • motor disability
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • inclusive design
  • navigation
  • self-voicing interface
  • sonification

• Including Accessibility Within and Beyond Undergraduate Computing Courses

  Annalu Waller, Vicki L. Hanson, David Sloan (2009) — Proceedings of the 11th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '09)

  This paper describes the University of Dundee's approach to integrating accessibility and inclusive design throughout its entire four-year undergraduate computing curriculum, rather than treating accessibility as a standalone topic or elective module…

  • accessibility education
  • inclusive design
  • higher education
  • curriculum design
  • web accessibility
  • professional development
  • organizational accessibility

• Rock Vibe: Rock Band® Computer Games for People with No or Limited Vision

  Troy Allman, Rupinder K. Dhillon, Molly A.E. Landau, Sri H. Kurniawan (2009) — Proceedings of the 11th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '09)

  This paper presents Rock Vibe, a modification of the commercial Rock Band® video game that replaces visual cues with haptic vibrations and audio feedback to enable people with no or limited vision to play the drumming component. The system uses an Ar…

  • game accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • blindness
  • haptic feedback
  • sensory substitution
  • inclusive design
  • music accessibility

• Disability Studies as a Source of Critical Inquiry for the Field of Assistive Technology

  Jennifer Mankoff, Gillian R. Hayes, Devva Kasnitz (2010) — Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This keynote-style paper argues that the assistive technology (AT) research community should draw more deeply from disability studies scholarship to improve both the problems it chooses to address and its research methods. The authors — two of whom i…

  • disability studies
  • assistive technology
  • social model of disability
  • medical model
  • critical theory
  • inclusive design
  • participatory research
  • disability rights
  • autism
  • accessibility research

• Towards Accessible Touch Interfaces

  Tiago Guerreiro, Hugo Nicolau, Joaquim Jorge, Daniel Gonçalves (2010) — Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents an empirical evaluation of touch screen interaction techniques with 15 tetraplegic users, aiming to provide evidence-based guidance for designing accessible mobile touch interfaces. The authors recognized that while touch screen d…

  • touch screen accessibility
  • motor impairment
  • tetraplegia
  • mobile devices
  • interaction techniques
  • target acquisition
  • inclusive design

• Leveraging Large Data Sets for User Requirements Analysis

  Maria K. Wolters, Vicki L. Hanson, Johanna D. Moore (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper demonstrates a novel methodology for using large-scale demographic surveys to inform the design of accessible technology. Rather than conducting specialized usability studies with small samples, the authors repurpose the English Longitudin…

  • inclusive design
  • aging
  • spoken dialogue systems
  • telecare
  • user requirements
  • design exclusion
  • hearing
  • dexterity
  • mobility
  • literacy
  • older adults

• Developing for Autism with User-Centred Design

  Rachel Menzies (2011) — Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This short paper describes the development of software designed to help children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) explore social situations, specifically the concept of sharing. The author identifies a gap in the use of User-Centred Design (UCD) …

  • autism
  • user-centred design
  • social skills
  • inclusive design
  • ethnography
  • participatory design
  • educational technology

• Towards a Framework to Situate Assistive Technology Design in the Context of Culture

  Fatima A. Boujarwah, Nazneen, Hwajung Hong, Gregory D. Abowd, Rosa I. Arriaga (2011) — Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper presents findings from a cross-cultural qualitative study examining societal expectations, perceptions, and support structures for individuals with autism and other intellectual disabilities (AOID) across four countries: Kuwait, Pakistan, …

  • assistive technology
  • autism
  • cross-cultural design
  • intellectual disability
  • cultural accessibility
  • qualitative research
  • inclusive design