Literature Reviews

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

• Contextual Scaffolding and Self-Efficacy: Supporting Computer Skill Development among Blind Learners in India

  Akshay Kolgar Nayak, Yash Prakash, Sampath Jayarathna, Hae-Na Lee, Vikas Ashok (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This paper presents a four-month contextual inquiry at two Indian computer training centers serving 94 blind or visually impaired (BVI) students — one urban center in Bengaluru focused on job-oriented ICT training (KEONICS certification) and one rura…

  • screen readers
  • blind and low vision
  • computer literacy
  • Global South accessibility
  • India
  • self-efficacy
  • scaffolding
  • contextual inquiry
  • culturally responsive pedagogy
  • vocational training
  • BVI learners
  • JAWS
  • NVDA
  • digital divide

• Developing usable CAPTCHAs for blind users

  Jonathan Holman, Jonathan Lazar, Jinjuan Heidi Feng, John D'Arcy (2007) — Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '07)

  This short ASSETS 2007 poster from a Towson University team led by Jonathan Lazar — joined by Jonathan Holman, Jinjuan Heidi Feng, and John D'Arcy of Notre Dame — addresses the long-standing accessibility problem that text-based CAPTCHAs (the distort…

  • CAPTCHA
  • audio CAPTCHA
  • blindness and low vision
  • screen readers
  • web accessibility
  • security
  • usability
  • universal usability
  • Turing test
  • visual impairment
  • multimodal
  • JAWS
  • Window-Eyes

• Information overload in non-visual web transaction: context analysis spells relief

  Jalal Mahmud (2007) — Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '07)

  This short ASSETS 2007 poster paper from Jalal Mahmud at Stony Brook University describes ongoing PhD research into reducing the information overload that blind users experience when completing multi-step web transactions — shopping, registrations, b…

  • screen readers
  • non-visual web access
  • web page segmentation
  • context analysis
  • web transactions
  • information overload
  • blindness and low vision
  • VoiceXML
  • machine learning
  • support vector machine
  • web accessibility
  • JAWS
  • IBM Home Page Reader

• Observing Sara: A Case Study of a Blind Person's Interactions with Technology

  Kristen Shinohara, Josh Tenenberg (2007) — Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  This paper from the University of Washington, Tacoma presents a rich, in-depth case study of Sara, a congenitally blind college student, observed and interviewed across multiple sessions as she interacts with a wide range of technologies in her home.…

  • blindness
  • assistive technology
  • case study
  • technology biographies
  • workarounds
  • screen readers
  • JAWS
  • braille
  • stigma
  • qualitative research
  • inclusive design
  • disability identity

• A Prototype of Google Interfaces Modified for Simplifying Interaction for Blind Users

  Patrizia Andronico, Marina Buzzi, Carlos Castillo, Barbara Leporini (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This demo paper from Italy's National Research Council and Università di Roma presents a prototype that restructures Google's search and results pages to be more usable for blind screen reader users. Previous research had shown that blind users took …

  • search engine accessibility
  • blind users
  • screen readers
  • JAWS
  • usability
  • Google
  • XSLT
  • heading structure
  • keyboard navigation

• Audio Enriched Links: Web Page Previews for Blind Users

  Peter Parente (2004) — Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper presents Audio Enriched Links (AEL), a JAWS screen reader extension for Internet Explorer that provides spoken previews of linked web pages before blind users follow a hyperlink. The system addresses a fundamental asymmetry in web browsing…

  • web accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • screen reader
  • web navigation
  • link preview
  • JAWS
  • speech
  • information retrieval
  • web browsing

• Towards a Tool for Keystroke Level Modeling of Skilled Screen Reading

  Shari Trewin, Bonnie E. John, John Richards, Cal Swart, Jonathan Brezin, Rachel Bellamy, John Thomas (2010) — Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper explores whether cognitive models of auditory interaction — specifically the Keystroke-Level Model (KLM) — can be adapted to predict task completion times for skilled screen reader users, with the goal of helping designers evaluate the usa…

  • screen readers
  • cognitive modeling
  • usability
  • keyboard navigation
  • JAWS
  • keystroke-level model
  • auditory interface
  • human-computer interaction

• Accessible Web Automation Interface: A User Study

  Yury Puzis (2012) — Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This doctoral consortium paper presents the evaluation of two web automation user interfaces designed to help blind and low-vision screen reader users complete web browsing tasks more efficiently. The fundamental problem is that while the web has bec…

  • web accessibility
  • web automation
  • screen readers
  • blind users
  • low vision
  • JAWS
  • browsing efficiency
  • user study
  • assistive technology
  • implicit automation

• 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

• From Screen Reading to Aural Glancing: Towards Instant Access to Key Page Sections

  Prathik Gadde, Davide Bolchini (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS 2014)

  This paper addresses a fundamental problem in screen reader navigation: while sighted users can glance at a web page to instantly understand its structure and locate relevant sections, screen reader users are forced to listen to content serially, mak…

  • screen readers
  • web navigation
  • blindness
  • visual impairment
  • e-commerce accessibility
  • aural browsing
  • crowdsourcing
  • JAWS