Literature Reviews

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

• Follow That Sound: Using Sonification and Corrective Verbal Feedback to Teach Touchscreen Gestures

  Uran Oh, Shaun K. Kane, Leah Findlater (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper proposes and evaluates two techniques for teaching touchscreen gestures to users with visual impairments: gesture sonification (mapping finger position to audio using pitch for the y-axis and stereo panning for the x-axis) and corrective v…

  • touchscreen accessibility
  • sonification
  • gesture learning
  • blind users
  • visual impairment
  • mobile accessibility
  • audio feedback
  • text-to-speech
  • VoiceOver
  • gesture recognition

• What Health Topics Older Adults Want to Track: A Participatory Design Study

  Jennifer L. Davidson, Carlos Jensen (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper presents a participatory design study investigating what health topics older adults (aged 65+) want to track using mobile health (mHealth) applications. The authors argue that most mHealth app developers fail to conduct needs assessments w…

  • older adults
  • aging
  • participatory design
  • mHealth
  • mobile accessibility
  • health technology
  • smartphone applications
  • aging in place
  • user-centered design
  • digital health

• Visual Complexity, Player Experience, Performance and Physical Exertion in Motion-Based Games for Older Adults

  Jan Smeddinck, Kathrin M. Gerling, Saranat Tiemkeo (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper investigates how visual complexity (graphical fidelity) affects player experience, in-game performance, and physical exertion in motion-based games designed for older adults. The study is motivated by the growing use of kinesiatric serious…

  • game accessibility
  • older adults
  • aging
  • visual complexity
  • serious games
  • rehabilitation
  • physical therapy
  • motion-based games
  • Parkinson's disease
  • exertion games
  • visual impairment

• How Accessible is the Process of Web Interface Design?

  Kirk Norman, Yevgeniy Arber, Ravi Kuber (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This short paper investigates the accessibility challenges faced by blind web interface developers through interviews with six legally blind participants (all male, aged 29-48) who had experience building websites and online applications. Five used J…

  • blind developers
  • web development
  • screen readers
  • programming accessibility
  • JAWS
  • collaborative design
  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript
  • workplace accessibility
  • developer tools

• Optimization of Switch Keyboards

  Xiao (Cosmo) Zhang, Kan Fang, Gregory Francis (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This short paper presents a method for optimizing the character layout of switch keyboards used by people with severe motor control difficulties, including those with locked-in syndrome resulting from spinal cord or brain injury. Switch keyboards wor…

  • switch access
  • text entry
  • motor disability
  • locked-in syndrome
  • keyboard optimization
  • scanning
  • AAC
  • assistive technology
  • spinal cord injury

• VBGhost: A Braille-Based Educational Smartphone Game for Children

  Lauren R. Milne, Cynthia L. Bennett, Richard E. Ladner (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This short paper presents VBGhost, an accessible educational smartphone game for blind and low vision children that reinforces Braille literacy through gameplay. The game is based on Ghost, a word-building game where players take turns adding letters…

  • braille
  • mobile accessibility
  • game accessibility
  • blind children
  • education
  • haptic feedback
  • touchscreen
  • braille literacy
  • Android
  • inclusive design

• Auditory Displays for Accessible Fantasy Sports

  Jared M. Batterman, Jonathan H. Schuett, Bruce N. Walker (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This short paper addresses the inaccessibility of online fantasy sports platforms for visually impaired users and presents an accessible fantasy football system built around auditory display techniques. Fantasy sports are a major social and recreatio…

  • auditory display
  • sonification
  • blind users
  • visual impairment
  • sports accessibility
  • earcons
  • spearcons
  • auditory graphs
  • screen readers
  • recreation
  • social inclusion

• Comparison of Reading Accuracy between Tactile Pie Charts and Tactile Band Charts

  Kosuke Araki, Tetsuya Watanabe (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This short paper compares the accuracy and efficiency of reading tactile pie charts versus tactile band charts for determining proportional data through touch. The authors are developing software that automatically generates tactile charts from CSV d…

  • tactile graphics
  • data visualization
  • blind users
  • braille
  • pie charts
  • band charts
  • tactile perception
  • accessible graphics
  • education

• Uncovering the Role of Expectations on Perceived Web Accessibility

  Amaia Aizpurua, Myriam Arrue, Markel Vigo (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This short paper investigates how user expectations shape the perception of web accessibility for blind users, arguing that guideline compliance alone does not guarantee a satisfying user experience. The authors note a key gap: prior research found t…

  • web accessibility
  • blind users
  • screen readers
  • user experience
  • perceived accessibility
  • expectations
  • usability testing
  • WCAG
  • qualitative research

• Designing an Accessible Clothing Tag System for People with Vision Impairments

  Michele A. Williams, Kathryn Ringland, Amy Hurst (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This short paper explores the design of accessible clothing identification systems for people with vision impairments. The authors note that many clothing characteristics — color, pattern, fabric type, care instructions — are inherently visual and th…

  • vision impairment
  • blind users
  • RFID
  • wearable technology
  • daily living
  • fashion accessibility
  • participatory design
  • independent living
  • QR codes
  • Arduino