Literature Reviews — A11y Paradise

Accessibility of 3D Game Environments for People with Aphasia: An Exploratory Study

Julia Galliers, Stephanie Wilson, Sam Muscroft, Jane Marshall, Abi Roper, Naomi Cocks, Tim Pring (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

This paper reports on an exploratory study investigating how people with aphasia interact with 3D game environments and related technologies. Conducted as part of the GReAT (Gesture Recognition in Aphasia Therapy) project at City University London, t…

How Voice Augmentation Supports Elderly Web Users

Daisuke Sato, Masatomo Kobayashi, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa, Jiro Tanaka (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

This paper from IBM Research Tokyo investigates how voice-based augmentation, originally developed for blind screen reader users, can be adapted to support older adults using web applications. The research addresses two key barriers that prevent elde…

Brazilian Sign Language Multimedia Hangman Game: A Prototype of an Educational and Inclusive Application

Renata Cristina Barros Madeo (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

This doctoral consortium paper presents a prototype educational game — a hangman game that uses Brazilian Sign Language (BSL/Libras) as its input method. Instead of typing letters on a keyboard, players perform fingerspelling signs from the Libras ma…

Empowering Individuals with Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology

Amy Hurst, Jasmine Tobias (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

This paper investigates the potential of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) approaches to address the persistent problem of assistive technology abandonment, where 35% or more of purchased AT devices end up unused. The authors argue that empowering non-engineers t…

Situation-based Indoor Wayfinding System for the Visually Impaired

Eunjeong Ko, Jin Sun Ju, Eun Yi Kim (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

This paper presents an indoor wayfinding system for visually impaired people that uses situation-aware color codes affixed to building walls to guide users to destinations in unfamiliar environments. The key innovation is a situation-based approach: …

Reading in Multimodal Environments: Assessing Legibility and Accessibility of Typography for Television

Penelope Allen, Judith Garman, Ian Calvert, Jane Murison (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

This demonstration paper from BBC Research & Development explores the legibility and accessibility of typography on television, an area that had received surprisingly little research attention despite the increasing complexity of text-based content o…

TypeInBraille: A Braille-Based Typing Application for Touchscreen Devices

Sergio Mascetti, Cristian Bernareggi, Matteo Belotti (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

This demonstration paper presents TypeInBraille, a novel text entry application for touchscreen smartphones that allows blind users to type using Braille code rather than the standard on-screen QWERTY keyboard. While screen readers like VoiceOver hav…

Analyzing Visual Questions from Visually Impaired Users

Erin L. Brady (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

This doctoral consortium paper presents an analysis of the types of visual questions that visually impaired users ask through VizWiz, a mobile phone application that provides near-realtime answers to visual questions. VizWiz allows users to take a ph…

Providing Haptic Feedback Using the Kinect

Brandon T. Shrewsbury (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

This poster paper presents a system that combines the Microsoft Kinect depth camera with a custom haptic glove to provide spatial awareness to people who are blind or visually impaired. The research addresses a gap in existing mobility aids: while ca…

StopFinder: Improving the Experience of Blind Public Transit Riders with Crowdsourcing

Sanjana Prasain (2011) — The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

This doctoral consortium paper presents StopFinder, a mobile system that uses crowdsourcing to collect and provide information about non-visual landmarks around bus stops for blind public transit riders. The research addresses a fundamental challenge…