Literature Reviews

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

• Designing a Scripting Language to Help the Blind Program Visually

  Kenneth G. Franqueiro, Robert M. Siegfried (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper addresses the significant barrier that GUI-based programming environments pose for blind programmers. While programming was historically one of the more accessible professions for blind individuals — with the American Federation for the Bl…

  • blind programmers
  • visual programming
  • graphical user interfaces
  • scripting languages
  • IDE accessibility
  • Visual Basic

• Nonvisual Tool for Navigating Hierarchical Structures

  Ann C. Smith, Justin S. Cook, Joan M. Francioni, Asif Hossain, Mohd Anwar, M. Fayezur Rahman (2004) — Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper presents the Aural Tree Navigator, an Eclipse IDE plug-in that enables blind programmers to navigate hierarchical program structures (such as package explorers, class hierarchies, and file systems) using keyboard commands and speech/sound …

  • IDE accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • programming
  • screen reader
  • tree navigation
  • auditory interface
  • software development
  • Eclipse
  • earcon
  • STEM accessibility

• Accessible Web Development: Opportunities to Improve the Education and Practice of web Development with a Screen Reader

  Claire Ferrari, Amy Hurst (2021) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper investigates accessibility barriers faced by blind web developers in both educational and professional contexts. The researchers employed a Comprehensive Literature Review (CLR) methodology—synthesizing academic literature, blog posts by b…

  • blind programmers
  • screen readers
  • web development
  • CSS
  • accessible education
  • IDE accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • inclusive curriculum
  • developer tools

• Addressing Accessibility Barriers in Programming for People with Visual Impairments: A Literature Review

  Aboubakar Mountapmbeme, Obianuju Okafor, Stephanie Ludi (2022) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This systematic literature review analyzes 70 papers published between 2000-2020 examining accessibility barriers in programming for people with visual impairments and proposed solutions. The review covers both professional programmers and students l…

  • visual impairment
  • blindness
  • programming
  • IDE accessibility
  • screen readers
  • code navigation
  • block-based programming
  • tangible programming
  • computer science education
  • literature review

• Interviews and Observation of Blind Software Developers at Work to Understand Code Navigation Challenges

  Khaled Albusays, Stephanie Ludi, Matt Huenerfauth (2017) — Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This exploratory study investigates code navigation challenges faced by 28 blind software developers using their preferred coding tools and assistive technologies. The researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology and University of North Texas con…

  • blindness
  • programming education
  • software engineering
  • screen readers
  • workplace accessibility
  • code navigation
  • IDE accessibility
  • assistive technology

• CodeWalk: Facilitating Shared Awareness in Mixed-Ability Collaborative Software Development

  Venkatesh Potluri, Maulishree Pandey, Andrew Begel, Michael Barnett, Scott Reitherman (2022) — Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22)

  This paper presents CodeWalk, a set of accessibility features added to Microsoft's Live Share extension for Visual Studio Code, designed to make remote synchronous code collaboration accessible to blind or visually impaired (BVI) developers. The COVI…

  • blind developers
  • collaborative programming
  • IDE accessibility
  • screen readers
  • workspace awareness
  • pair programming
  • VS Code
  • sonification

• AudioQ: A Debugging Extension for Visually Impaired Developers

  Sehej Kumar, Shreyas Kotla (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2023)

  This extended abstract presents AudioQ, a Visual Studio Code extension designed to improve the debugging experience for visually impaired software developers. The extension addresses a specific gap in current accessibility tools: while screen readers…

  • software development
  • blind and low vision
  • screen readers
  • debugging
  • IDE accessibility
  • Visual Studio Code
  • NVDA