Literature Reviews

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

• TESSA, a System to Aid Communication with Deaf People

  Stephen Cox, Michael Lincoln, Judy Tryggvason, Melanie Nakisa, Mark Wells, Marcus Tutt, Sanja Abbott (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper describes TESSA (Text and Sign Support Assistant), an experimental system developed collaboratively by the University of East Anglia, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, and Televirtual Ltd. to facilitate communication between de…

  • deaf accessibility
  • sign language
  • British Sign Language
  • sign language avatar
  • speech recognition
  • motion capture
  • translation systems
  • communication accessibility

• Planning, Reasoning, and Agents for Non-Visual Navigation of Tables and Frames

  Enrico Pontelli, Tran Cao Son (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper from New Mexico State University extends previous work on a Domain Specific Language (DSL) for non-visual table navigation by reinterpreting it within the framework of formal action theory. The core problem addressed is that HTML tables an…

  • table accessibility
  • screen readers
  • non-visual navigation
  • semantic navigation
  • artificial intelligence
  • domain specific language
  • HTML tables

• Ongoing Investigation of the Ways in Which Some of the Problems Encountered by Some Dyslexics Can Be Alleviated Using Computer Techniques

  Anna Dickinson, Peter Gregor, Alan F. Newell (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper from the University of Dundee reports on the ongoing development and evaluation of SeeWord, a highly configurable word processing environment designed to alleviate visual difficulties experienced by dyslexic computer users. The authors ado…

  • dyslexia
  • cognitive accessibility
  • visual stress
  • reading accessibility
  • user-centred design
  • configurable interfaces
  • word processing

• From Assistive Technology to a Web Accessibility Service

  Peter G. Fairweather, Vicki L. Hanson, Sam R. Detweiler, Richard S. Schwerdtfeger (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper from IBM Research examines the challenge of making the increasingly complex World Wide Web accessible to people with sensory, cognitive, and motor disabilities. The authors argue that while evolving web architectures — moving from simple H…

  • web accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • adaptive interfaces
  • web services
  • proxy-based accessibility
  • content transformation

• Design and Implementation of Virtual Environments for Training of the Visually Impaired

  D. Tzovaras, G. Nikolakis, G. Fergadis, S. Malasiotis, M. Stavrakis (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper from the Informatics and Telematics Institute in Greece presents the ENORASI project, an EU-funded initiative to develop a haptic virtual reality training system for blind and visually impaired people. The system uses a CyberGrasp haptic g…

  • haptic technology
  • virtual reality
  • blindness and low vision
  • training
  • orientation and mobility
  • spatial cognition
  • force feedback
  • spatial audio
  • accessible graphics

• Speech-Based Cursor Control

  Azfar S. Karimullah, Andrew Sears (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper from UMBC investigates the effectiveness of speech-based cursor control for navigating graphical user interfaces, comparing a standard cursor with a predictive cursor designed to compensate for speech recognition delays. While speech recog…

  • speech recognition
  • cursor control
  • motor disability
  • pointing devices
  • assistive technology
  • voice interface
  • human-computer interaction

• An Invisible Keyguard

  Shari Trewin (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper from IBM T.J. Watson Research Center presents OverlapKeys, a software-based alternative to physical keyguards that filters overlap typing errors — instances where two keys are pressed simultaneously when only one was intended. Overlap erro…

  • keyboard accessibility
  • motor disability
  • typing errors
  • input filtering
  • assistive technology
  • keyguard
  • cerebral palsy
  • alternative input

• A New Generation of Communication Aids under the ULYSSES Component-Based Framework

  Georgios Kouroupetroglou, Alexandros Pino (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper from the University of Athens introduces ULYSSES, a component-based software framework for building customisable AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) devices. The core problem ULYSSES addresses is that AAC users have highly div…

  • augmentative and alternative communication
  • component-based framework
  • software engineering
  • assistive technology
  • speech synthesis
  • switch access
  • symbol communication
  • scanning

• Site-Wide Annotation: Reconstructing Existing Pages to Be Accessible

  Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa, Kentarou Fukuda, Junji Maeda (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper from IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory presents a system for making inaccessible web pages accessible through external annotations, without modifying the original pages. The core problem is "page fragmentation" — on visually designed web pages…

  • web accessibility
  • web transcoding
  • web annotation
  • screen reader
  • blindness and low vision
  • DOM
  • XPath
  • content adaptation

• Zooming Interfaces! Enhancing the Performance of Eye Controlled Pointing Devices

  Richard Bates, Howell Istance (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper from De Montfort University quantifies the performance problems of eye-based pointing on standard graphical user interfaces and demonstrates that adding a zoom facility dramatically improves usability. The researchers identified three fund…

  • eye tracking
  • pointing devices
  • assistive technology
  • motor disability
  • zoom interface
  • screen magnification
  • multimodal interaction
  • graphical user interface