Literature Reviews

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

• Video Gaming for the Vision Impaired

  Manohar Swaminathan, Sujeath Pareddy, Tanuja Sunil Sawant, Shubi Agarwal (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This Microsoft Research demo paper presents the Responsive Spatial Audio Cloud (ReSAC), a novel interaction toolkit designed to make mainstream video games accessible to people with visual impairments. The research is motivated by the finding that vi…

  • blindness
  • game accessibility
  • spatial audio
  • sonification
  • 3D sound
  • video games
  • interaction toolkit

• Design and Evaluation of a Multimodal Science Simulation

  Brianna J. Tomlinson, Prakriti Kaini, Siyan Zhou, Taliesin L. Smith, Emily B. Moore, Bruce N. Walker (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '18)

  This demonstration paper presents a multimodal version of PhET's John Travoltage interactive physics simulation, designed to support learners with and without visual impairments in exploring static electricity concepts. The key design goal was creati…

  • STEM accessibility
  • sonification
  • multimodal interface
  • visual impairment
  • science education
  • PhET
  • auditory display
  • screen readers
  • universal design
  • inclusive design

• An experimental sound-based hierarchical menu navigation system for visually handicapped use of graphical user interfaces

  Arthur I. Karshmer, P. Brawner, G. Reiswig (1994) — Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94)

  This paper addresses the accessibility crisis created by the shift from character-based computer interfaces to graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in the early 1990s. The authors note that earlier text-based systems were well-served by assistive technol…

  • GUI accessibility
  • sonification
  • auditory interface
  • blind and low vision
  • menu navigation
  • screen readers
  • earcons

• Automatic impact sound generation for using in nonvisual interfaces

  A. Darvishi, E. Munteanu, V. Guggiana, H. Schauer, M. Motavalli, M. Rauterberg (1994) — Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94)

  This paper describes a joint research project between the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) aimed at developing an audio framework for non-visual interfaces based on physically modeled impact sounds. Rather than…

  • sonification
  • auditory display
  • non-visual interface
  • physical modeling
  • sound synthesis
  • impact sounds
  • audio framework
  • blind users
  • non-speech audio
  • earcon

• Audio formatting of a graph

  S. H. Zhang, M. Krishnamoorthy (1994) — Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94)

  This 1994 paper introduces Audio Formatting of a Graph (AFG), a software package designed to make graph theory accessible to visually impaired students and researchers. Graph theory — the mathematical study of relationships between objects represente…

  • sonification
  • graph theory
  • blind users
  • audio representation
  • mathematics accessibility
  • STEM accessibility
  • non-visual interaction
  • menu-driven interface

• 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

• Sound, Touch, or the Full Monty? A Comparative Study of Accessible Data Exploration Systems for Blind Users

  Pramod Chundury, J. Bern Jordan, Yasmin Reyazuddin, Niklas Elmqvist, Jonathan Lazar (2026) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents a controlled within-subject comparative study of three accessible data exploration systems representing different sensory modalities: Olli (a screen-reader-based system using hierarchical text descriptions and keyboard navigation)…

  • data visualization
  • sonification
  • tactile graphics
  • refreshable braille display
  • multimodal accessibility
  • blind users
  • screen readers
  • user study
  • data accessibility

• A Mobile Interactive Maps Application for a Visually Impaired Audience

  Nikolaos Kaklanis, Konstantinos Votis, Dimitrios Tzovaras (2013) — Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This demo paper presents "Open Touch/Sound Maps," an Android mobile application that makes interactive maps accessible to visually impaired and blind users through multimodal feedback. Web-based spatial information resources like OpenStreetMap are in…

  • visual impairment
  • accessible maps
  • sonification
  • haptic feedback
  • mobile accessibility
  • multimodal interaction
  • text-to-speech
  • blindness
  • navigation

• Accessible On-line Graphics

  Anuradha Madugalla (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This is an alternate ACM Digital Library entry (DOI: 10.1145/2745555.2746672) for the same paper also catalogued under DOI: 10.1145/2578726.2746672. Please see the full review under that DOI for complete summary, key findings, and relevance analysis.…

  • blindness
  • tactile graphics
  • accessible graphics
  • floor plans
  • SVG
  • image processing
  • sonification
  • indoor navigation
  • graphic transcription

• Accessible On-line Graphics

  Anuradha Madugalla (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This doctoral consortium paper proposes semi-automated methods for transcribing online graphics — particularly floor plans — into accessible formats for blind users. The research is motivated by the fundamental problem that screen readers and voice s…

  • blindness
  • tactile graphics
  • accessible graphics
  • floor plans
  • SVG
  • image processing
  • sonification
  • indoor navigation
  • graphic transcription