Literature Reviews

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

• 3D HapticWebBrowser: towards universal web navigation for the visually impaired

  Nikolaos Kaklanis, Konstantinos Votis, Konstantinos Moustakas, Dimitrios Tzovaras (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the 3D HapticWebBrowser, a free open-source web browser that uses haptic (touch feedback) technology to enable visually impaired users to navigate web pages and explore 2D maps. The system transforms HTML elements into "hapgets" —…

  • haptic technology
  • visual impairment
  • blindness
  • multimodal interaction
  • accessible maps
  • web navigation
  • assistive technology
  • 3D interaction
  • open source

• Describing online videos with text-to-speech narration

  Masatomo Kobayashi, Tohru Nagano, Kentarou Fukuda, Hironobu Takagi (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from IBM Research Tokyo presents a technology platform that uses text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis to add audio descriptions (AD) to online videos at minimal cost. The system addresses the two main barriers that prevent most online video crea…

  • audio description
  • text-to-speech
  • video accessibility
  • speech synthesis
  • external metadata
  • visual impairment
  • assistive technology

• Tailored presentation of dynamic content

  Andy Brown, Caroline Jay, Simon Harper (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the SASWAT browser, a research prototype built as a self-voicing extension to Firefox (based on Fire Vox), designed to address a fundamental challenge of the Web 2.0 era: how should screen readers notify users about dynamic page u…

  • screen readers
  • dynamic content
  • AJAX
  • Web 2.0
  • eye tracking
  • ARIA live regions
  • assistive technology

• Farfalla Project: Browser-Based Accessibility Solutions

  Andrea Mangiatordi, Harpreet Singh Sareen (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents Farfalla, a free and open-source project from the University of Milano Bicocca that provides cloud-based assistive technology through the browser, eliminating the need for locally installed software. The core insight is that tradi…

  • assistive technology
  • cloud computing
  • web accessibility
  • accessibility tools
  • browser extension
  • low vision
  • text-to-speech
  • crowdsourcing
  • open source

• HapticRiaMaps: Towards Interactive Exploration of Web World Maps for the Visually Impaired

  Nikolaos Kaklanis, Konstantinos Votis, Panagiotis Moschonas, Dimitrios Tzovaras (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents HapticRiaMaps, a free open-source web application from the Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH) in Greece that makes online 2D maps accessible to visually impaired users through haptic force feedback and audio sonific…

  • blind and low vision
  • haptic technology
  • accessible maps
  • sonification
  • multimodal interaction
  • navigation
  • assistive technology
  • spatial cognition

• AccessibleNews DAISY: Newspapers in DAISY

  Gaurang Kanvinde, Saurabh Gupta (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents AccessibleNews DAISY, software developed by Accessible Systems in Mumbai, India, that automatically converts web-based newspaper and magazine content into DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) digital talking books. The au…

  • DAISY
  • blind and low vision
  • assistive technology
  • news accessibility
  • digital talking books
  • RSS
  • Global South accessibility
  • content accessibility

• Accessibility Approach to Adopting Web Technologies

  Neil King, Damien McCormack (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents findings from a comprehensive Australian Government-commissioned study by Vision Australia into the accessibility of the PDF format for people with disabilities. The three-phase research combined user consultation (focus groups wi…

  • PDF accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • blind and low vision
  • screen readers
  • document accessibility
  • government accessibility
  • user testing
  • accessibility policy

• Doing Math: Mathematics Accessibility Issues

  Nancy Alajarmeh (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This student award paper argues that mathematics accessibility for visually impaired students must move beyond rendering (displaying and reading mathematical notation) to support "doing the math" — the active manipulation of algebraic expressions, eq…

  • mathematical accessibility
  • blind and low vision
  • STEM accessibility
  • education accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • MathML

• Universal and Ubiquitous Web Access with Capti

  Yevgen Borodin, Andrii Sovyak, Alexander Dimitriyadi, Yury Puzis, Valentyn Melnyk, Faisal Ahmed, Glenn Dausch, I. V. Ramakrishnan (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This demo paper presents Capti, a cross-platform web browsing application designed to make web access more usable for both blind and sighted users. Capti addresses two interconnected problems: the inefficiency of traditional screen readers for findin…

  • screen readers
  • assistive technology
  • blind and low vision
  • text-to-speech
  • universal design
  • mobile accessibility
  • web accessibility

• Towards Ubiquitous Accessibility: Capability-based Profiles and Adaptations, Delivered via the Semantic Web

  Matthew Tylee Atkinson, Matthew J. Bell, Colin H. C. Machin (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from Loughborough University proposes using semantic web technologies (RDF and OWL) to deliver capability-based user profiles and adaptive accessibility solutions across devices and platforms. The authors argue that the current assistive t…

  • adaptive interfaces
  • personalization
  • semantic web
  • user modeling
  • assistive technology
  • universal design
  • accessibility standards
  • user profiles