Literature Reviews

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

• Enhancing Android Accessibility for Users with Hand Tremor by Reducing Fine Pointing and Steady Tapping

  Yu Zhong, Astrid Weber, Casey Burkhardt, Phil Weaver, Jeffrey P. Bigham (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper introduces Touch Guard, a system-wide Android accessibility service developed as a Google intern research project that helps users with hand tremor interact more accurately with touchscreen devices. The core problem addressed is that conve…

  • mobile accessibility
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • hand tremor
  • motor impairment
  • Android
  • assistive technology
  • target acquisition
  • pointing performance

• AudioDraw: User Preferences in Non-Visual Diagram Drawing for Touchscreens

  William Grussenmeyer, Eelke Folmer (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates how people who are blind can independently create visual diagrams on touchscreen tablets, addressing a significant gap in accessibility. Diagram-building features in productivity tools like MS Word, PowerPoint, and UML editors…

  • blindness
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • diagram creation
  • non-visual interaction
  • STEM accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • design probe
  • user-centred design

• Math Melodies: Supporting Visually Impaired Primary School Students in Learning Math

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Valeria Alampi, Cristian Bernareggi, Andrea Gerino, Sergio Mascetti (2017) — Proceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents Math Melodies, a free iPad application designed to teach mathematics to primary school children who are blind or visually impaired, while simultaneously engaging sighted peers. Mathematics education poses particular …

  • visual impairment
  • blindness
  • education accessibility
  • mathematics accessibility
  • children
  • iPad
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • audio icons
  • multimodal interaction
  • inclusive design
  • screen reader
  • assistive technology
  • serious games
  • participatory design
  • text-to-speech

• Perception and Adoption of Mobile Accessibility Features by Older Adults Experiencing Ability Changes

  Rachel L. Franz, Jacob O. Wobbrock, Yi Cheng, Leah Findlater (2019) — Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents the first empirical study exploring how older adults experiencing progressive ability changes perceive and adopt built-in mobile accessibility features on smartphones and tablets. The researchers conducted interviews with 14 older…

  • aging
  • older adults
  • mobile accessibility
  • ability-based design
  • accessibility features
  • technology adoption
  • progressive disability
  • digital inclusion
  • stigma
  • touchscreen accessibility

• Making the Blockly Library Accessible via Touchscreen

  Logan B. Caraco, Sebastian Deibel, Yufan Ma, Lauren R. Milne (2019) — Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This demonstration paper presents two prototype designs for making Google's Blockly library — the foundation underlying popular block-based programming environments (BBPEs) like Scratch, MIT App Inventor, and the Code.org curriculum — accessible to u…

  • visual impairment
  • block-based programming
  • education
  • screen readers
  • ARIA
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • K-12 education
  • coding education

• GestureCalc: An Eyes-Free Calculator for Touch Screens

  Bindita Chaudhuri, Leah Perlmutter, Justin Petelka, Philip Garrison, James Fogarty, Jacob O. Wobbrock, Richard E. Ladner (2019) — Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This full research paper presents GestureCalc, an eyes-free, target-less gesture-based calculator for touch screens, along with a rigorous three-session longitudinal evaluation with eight screen reader users. The system replaces the spatial button la…

  • gesture-based interaction
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • blindness
  • visual impairment
  • screen reader
  • eyes-free interaction
  • mobile accessibility
  • calculator
  • input methods
  • conceptual metaphor
  • longitudinal study

• Demonstration of GestureCalc: An Eyes-Free Calculator for Touch Screens

  Leah Perlmutter, Bindita Chaudhuri, Justin Petelka, Philip Garrison, James Fogarty, Jacob O. Wobbrock, Richard E. Ladner (2019) — Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demonstration paper presents GestureCalc, an eyes-free, target-less digital calculator for touch screen devices that replaces traditional button-based input with intuitive gesture-based input. The core problem is that existing calculator apps re…

  • gesture-based interaction
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • blindness
  • visual impairment
  • screen reader
  • eyes-free interaction
  • mobile accessibility
  • calculator
  • input methods

• Pushpak: Voice Command-based eBook Navigator

  Shradha Holani, Akashdeep Bansal, M Balakrishnan (2019) — Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents Pushpak, a voice command-based eBook navigator designed to reduce the steep learning curve associated with screen reader software. The authors identify a key accessibility barrier: effective use of screen readers lik…

  • voice control
  • screen reader
  • NVDA
  • eBook
  • natural language understanding
  • visual impairment
  • STEM accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • speech recognition
  • touchscreen accessibility

• SoundLines: Exploration of Line Segments through Sonification and Multi-touch Interaction

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Cristian Bernareggi, Sergio Mascetti (2020) — Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This paper presents SoundLines, a mobile application designed to help children with visual impairments explore and understand line segments on a touchscreen using sonification and multi-touch interaction. The system addresses a fundamental challenge …

  • sonification
  • visual impairments
  • children
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • multi-touch interaction
  • audio feedback
  • tactile graphics
  • education

• Quantifying Touch: New Metrics for Characterizing What Happens During a Touch

  Junhan Kong, Mingyuan Zhong, James Fogarty, Jacob O. Wobbrock (2022) — Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22)

  This paper formalizes 15 target-agnostic metrics for characterizing what happens during a touch interaction on a touchscreen, moving beyond the traditional approach of treating touches as simple (x, y) coordinate events. The key insight is that touch…

  • touch input
  • motor accessibility
  • human performance
  • touch metrics
  • fine motor function
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • ability-based design