Literature Reviews

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

• Feedback-based evaluation tool for web accessibility

  Daisuke Asai, Masahiro Watanabe, Yoko Asano (2007) — Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  This short Assets '07 demonstration paper from NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories proposes a feedback-driven approach to improving automated web-accessibility evaluation tools. The authors frame the familiar problem that automated checkers such as Bobb…

  • web accessibility
  • automated testing
  • accessibility evaluation
  • crowdsourcing
  • WCAG
  • accessibility tools
  • evaluation rules

• Accessibility Designer: Visualizing Usability for the Blind

  Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa, Kentarou Fukuda, Junji Maeda (2003) — Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '04)

  This paper from IBM's Tokyo Research Laboratory presents Accessibility Designer (aDesigner), a tool that goes beyond conventional accessibility checkers by visualising the usability of web pages for blind screen reader users rather than merely checki…

  • web accessibility
  • accessibility testing
  • screen reader
  • blindness and low vision
  • accessibility tools
  • usability
  • automated testing
  • skip navigation
  • alt text
  • heading hierarchy
  • accessibility evaluation

• A Tool for Capturing Essential Preferences

  Dana Ayotte, Michelle Brennan, Nancy Frishberg, Cynthia Jimes, Lisa Petrides, Whitney Quesenbery, Madeleine Rothberg, Rich Schwerdtfeger, Jim Tobias, Jutta Treviranus, Shari Trewin, Gregg C. Vanderheiden (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

  This demonstration paper presents the First Discovery Tool, a multimodal web-based application designed to help people discover and set essential accessibility preferences — such as large fonts, high contrast, speech output, or one-handed keyboard us…

  • personalization
  • accessibility tools
  • aging
  • education
  • inclusive design
  • digital literacy
  • user interface design
  • universal design

• Automatic accessibility evaluation of dynamic web pages generated through XSLT

  André Pimenta Freire, Renata Pontin de Mattos Fortes (2005) — Proceedings of the 2005 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from researchers at the University of São Paulo addresses a gap in accessibility evaluation tooling: the inability of automated checkers to test dynamically generated web pages. In 2005, tools like Bobby, LIFT, and WAVE could only evaluate…

  • automated testing
  • web accessibility evaluation
  • XML
  • XSLT
  • dynamic web pages
  • accessibility tools

• A conceptual framework for accessibility tools to benefit users with cognitive disabilities

  Paul Ryan Bohman, Shane Anderson (2005) — Proceedings of the 2005 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from WebAIM researchers at Utah State University proposes a conceptual framework to guide the development of accessibility tools that address the needs of users with cognitive disabilities. The authors argue that existing accessibility eva…

  • cognitive accessibility
  • accessibility tools
  • evaluation and repair tools
  • cognitive disabilities
  • scenario-based evaluation
  • web accessibility

• Analysis and integration of web accessibility metrics

  Maia Naftali (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This Google Student Award paper presents OceanAcc, a semi-automatic accessibility evaluation and analysis tool developed as a thesis project at the University of Buenos Aires. OceanAcc addresses a practical gap: while several accessibility metrics ha…

  • accessibility metrics
  • accessibility evaluation
  • automated testing
  • barrier walkthrough
  • WCAG compliance
  • accessibility tools

• An educational tool to support the accessibility evaluation process

  Christopher Bailey, Elaine Pearson (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper describes the Accessibility Evaluation Assistant (AEA), a web-based knowledge management tool designed to help novice auditors — primarily computing students — conduct meaningful accessibility evaluations without expert knowledge or access…

  • accessibility evaluation
  • accessibility education
  • WCAG compliance
  • barrier walkthrough
  • accessibility tools
  • user-centered evaluation

• AChecker: open, interactive, customizable, web accessibility checking

  Greg Gay, Cindy Qi Li (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper introduces AChecker, an open-source web accessibility checker developed at the University of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resource Centre. AChecker was designed to address two fundamental shortcomings of existing accessibility evaluation …

  • automated testing
  • accessibility evaluation
  • open source
  • WCAG compliance
  • accessibility tools

• Farfalla Project: Browser-Based Accessibility Solutions

  Andrea Mangiatordi, Harpreet Singh Sareen (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents Farfalla, a free and open-source project from the University of Milano Bicocca that provides cloud-based assistive technology through the browser, eliminating the need for locally installed software. The core insight is that tradi…

  • assistive technology
  • cloud computing
  • web accessibility
  • accessibility tools
  • browser extension
  • low vision
  • text-to-speech
  • crowdsourcing
  • open source

• An Educational Tool for Generating Inaccessible Page Examples Based on WCAG 2.0 Failures

  Atheer S. Al-Khalifa, Hend S. Al-Khalifa (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the Accessibility Example Generator (AEG), an online educational tool from King Saud University and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, designed to help instructors create modular examples of inaccessib…

  • accessibility education
  • WCAG compliance
  • accessibility evaluation
  • accessibility tools
  • web development