Literature Reviews

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

• Expression: A Google Glass Based Assistive Solution for Social Signal Processing

  ASM Iftekhar Anam, Shahinur Alam, Mohammed Yeasin (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demo paper presents Expression, a Google Glass-based assistive system that enables blind and visually impaired users to perceive non-verbal social signals during face-to-face conversations. Limited access to non-verbal cues — facial expressions,…

  • blindness
  • wearable technology
  • facial expression recognition
  • social interaction
  • Google Glass
  • affective computing
  • computer vision
  • sensory substitution

• Designing a Text Entry Multimodal Keypad for Blind Users of Touchscreen Mobile Phones

  Maria Claudia Buzzi, Marina Buzzi, Barbara Leporini, Amaury Trujillo (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents MTITK (Multimodal Text Input Touchscreen Keypad), a software-only text entry system for blind users of touchscreen phones that combines the familiar 12-key telephone keypad layout with multimodal audio-tactile feedback. The work i…

  • mobile accessibility
  • text entry
  • blindness
  • multimodal interaction
  • haptic feedback
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • Android

• The Blind Driver Challenge: Steering Using Haptic Cues

  Burkay Sucu, Eelke Folmer (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents a haptic steering interface that enables blind individuals to steer a vehicle on a track using vibrotactile cues, addressing the National Federation of the Blind's 2004 "Blind Driver Challenge." While self-driving vehicles could t…

  • blindness
  • haptic feedback
  • mobility
  • autonomous vehicles
  • driving
  • sensory substitution
  • simulation
  • vibrotactile

• Accessible Web Chat Interface

  Valentyn Melnyk (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper addresses the accessibility of web chat widgets — ubiquitous real-time communication tools embedded in web applications for customer support, social interaction, and service delivery. Screen readers like JAWS, VoiceOver, and NVDA do not re…

  • web accessibility
  • screen readers
  • dynamic content
  • ARIA
  • web widgets
  • chat accessibility
  • blindness

• Design of and Subjective Response to On-body Input for People with Visual Impairments

  Uran Oh, Leah Findlater (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper investigates on-body input — using the skin as an input surface — as an alternative or complement to touchscreen interaction for people with visual impairments. Since blind users do not need the visual display of a mobile device, on-body i…

  • mobile accessibility
  • on-body interaction
  • gesture interaction
  • blindness
  • wearable technology
  • eyes-free interaction
  • social acceptability
  • input methods

• Does It Look Beautiful? Communicating Aesthetic Information about Artwork to the Visually Impaired

  Caroline Marie Galbraith (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper explores how aesthetic information about visual art is communicated to people who are visually impaired, based on observational data from a study where blind individuals and sighted companions explored an art gallery together on the Univer…

  • visual art
  • museum accessibility
  • blindness
  • image description
  • communication
  • aesthetic experience
  • cultural accessibility

• Capti-Speak: A Speech-Enabled Accessible Web Interface

  Vikas Ashok (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents Capti-Speak, a speech-augmented screen reader interface for the web that allows blind users to issue voice commands alongside traditional keyboard shortcuts. Built on top of the Capti web browsing application (which provides a JAW…

  • screen readers
  • speech recognition
  • voice interface
  • web accessibility
  • blindness
  • web browsing
  • multimodal interaction

• Evaluating the Accessibility of Line Graphs through Textual Summaries for Visually Impaired Users

  Priscilla Moraes, Gabriel Sina, Kathleen McCoy, Sandra Carberry (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents the SIGHT (Summarizing Information GrapHics Textually) system, which automatically generates natural language summaries of line graphs found in online popular media articles such as newspapers and magazines. The system addresses a…

  • data visualization
  • natural language generation
  • information graphics
  • blindness
  • screen readers
  • alternative text
  • reading level
  • graph accessibility

• AccessBraille: Tablet-based Braille Entry

  Stephanie Ludi, Michael Timbrook, Piper Chester (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents AccessBraille, an iOS framework that provides a virtual Braille keyboard for iPad applications. The system is designed as a reusable framework that any iOS developer can integrate into their apps, rather than being a standalone ap…

  • braille
  • tablet
  • iOS accessibility
  • text entry
  • blindness
  • assistive technology
  • mobile accessibility
  • education

• OS-Level Surface Haptics for Touch-Screen Accessibility

  Suhong Jin, Joe Mullenbach, Craig Shultz, J. Edward Colgate, Anne Marie Piper (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demonstration paper introduces an operating system-level implementation of surface haptic feedback for Android tablets, built on the TPad Tablet platform developed at Northwestern University. The TPad combines a standard 7-inch Android tablet wi…

  • haptic feedback
  • touchscreen accessibility
  • surface haptics
  • variable friction
  • assistive technology
  • Android accessibility
  • blindness