Literature Reviews

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

• Humsher: A Predictive Keyboard Operated by Humming

  Ondrej Polacek, Zdenek Mikovec, Adam J. Sporka, Pavel Slavik (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper presents Humsher, a novel text entry system controlled entirely by humming — short melodic and rhythmic vocal gestures distinguished by pitch (high/low) and duration (short/long). The system targets people with severe upper-limb motor impa…

  • text entry
  • alternative input
  • assistive technology
  • motor disability
  • non-verbal vocal interface
  • predictive keyboard
  • adaptive language model
  • quadriplegia
  • cerebral palsy
  • humming

• Optimization of Switch Keyboards

  Xiao (Cosmo) Zhang, Kan Fang, Gregory Francis (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This short paper presents a method for optimizing the character layout of switch keyboards used by people with severe motor control difficulties, including those with locked-in syndrome resulting from spinal cord or brain injury. Switch keyboards wor…

  • switch access
  • text entry
  • motor disability
  • locked-in syndrome
  • keyboard optimization
  • scanning
  • AAC
  • assistive technology
  • spinal cord injury

• Improved Inference and Autotyping in EEG-based BCI Typing Systems

  Andrew Fowler, Brian Roark, Umut Orhan, Deniz Erdogmus, Melanie Fried-Oken (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper presents improvements to the RSVP Keyboard, a brain-computer interface (BCI) typing system designed for people with severe motor disabilities, particularly those with locked-in syndrome (LIS) resulting from ALS or brain stem stroke who can…

  • brain-computer interface
  • BCI
  • EEG
  • text entry
  • locked-in syndrome
  • ALS
  • AAC
  • language models
  • P300
  • assistive technology
  • motor disability

• Co-designing Socially Assistive Sidekicks for Motion-based AAC

  Stephanie Valencia, Michal Luria, Amy Pavel, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Henny Admoni (2021) — Proceedings of the 2021 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI '21)

  This paper explores how socially assistive robots, framed as "sidekicks," could provide AAC users with a nonverbal channel of communication to support their conversational goals. While AAC devices enable speech-based communication through synthesized…

  • AAC
  • nonverbal communication
  • socially assistive robots
  • co-design
  • human-robot interaction
  • cerebral palsy
  • motor disability
  • participatory design

• Improving Programming Interfaces for People with Limited Mobility Using Voice Recognition

  Xiomara Figueroa Fontánez, Patricia Ordóñez (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper describes an effort to make programming more accessible to people with motor impairments by integrating voice recognition into an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The work is motivated by the specific case of a computer scientist …

  • programming accessibility
  • voice interface
  • speech recognition
  • motor disability
  • spinal muscular atrophy
  • IDE
  • open source
  • participatory design

• Explorations on Breathing Based Text Input for Mobile Devices

  Jackson F. Filho, Thiago Valle, Wilson Prata (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents progress on PuffText, a breathing-based text input system for mobile phones designed for people with motor disabilities who cannot handle a mobile device manually. The system uses the phone's built-in microphone to detect "puffs" …

  • text entry
  • alternative input
  • motor disability
  • sip-and-puff
  • mobile accessibility
  • breathing input
  • assistive technology

• The Gest-Rest: A Pressure-Sensitive Chairable Input Pad for Power Wheelchair Armrests

  Patrick Carrington, Amy Hurst, Shaun K. Kane (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper introduces the Gest-Rest, a pressure-sensitive input device designed to fit over a standard power wheelchair armrest, enabling users to perform touch and gesture interactions without needing to reach for or hold a separate device. The conc…

  • wheelchair accessibility
  • alternative input
  • gesture interaction
  • motor disability
  • pressure input
  • assistive technology
  • chairable technology
  • spinal cord injury

• Text Entry Using a Compact Keypad with OSDS

  Torsten Felzer, Stephan Rinderknecht (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demo paper presents OSDS (OnScreenDualScribe), a Windows software tool that enables people with neuromuscular diseases to replace a standard full-size keyboard with a compact 19-key numeric keypad called the DualPad. For people with conditions t…

  • text entry
  • alternative input
  • keyboard replacement
  • neuromuscular disease
  • motor disability
  • word prediction
  • assistive technology

• Filteryedping: Design Challenges and User Performance of Dwell-Free Eye Typing

  Diogo Pedrosa, Maria da Graça Pimentel, Amy Wright, Khai N. Truong (2015) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper introduces Filteryedping, a dwell-free eye typing technique designed to help people with severe motor disabilities communicate through eye gaze. Traditional dwell-based eye typing requires users to fixate on a key for a specific duration (…

  • eye tracking
  • eye typing
  • dwell-free
  • motor disability
  • ALS
  • Duchenne muscular dystrophy
  • AAC
  • text entry
  • gaze interaction

• Playing Music with the Head

  Emeline Brulé (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

  This short paper describes the co-design process leading to an open source music-playing software for M., a person living with severe motor, dexterity, and speech impairments in a nursing home in France. The system uses an infrared camera mounted on …

  • music accessibility
  • motor disability
  • co-design
  • participatory design
  • DIY assistive technology
  • open source
  • alternative input
  • creative arts
  • head tracking