Literature Reviews

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

• Exploring the Impacts of Background Noise on Auditory Stimuli of Audio-Visual eHMIs for Hearing, Deaf, and Hard-of-Hearing People

  Wenge Xu, Foroogh Hajiseyedjavadi, Debargha Dey, Tram Thi Minh Tran, Mark Colley (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper investigates a critical but overlooked accessibility question in the design of external Human-Machine Interfaces (eHMIs) for automated vehicles (AVs): how do Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) pedestrians experience audio-visual eHMIs…

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • external human-machine interface
  • automated vehicles
  • pedestrian safety
  • multimodal interaction
  • accessibility
  • virtual reality
  • auditory icons

• Conversational Gestures for Direct Manipulation on the Audio Desktop

  T. V. Raman (1998) — Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This paper by T. V. Raman of Adobe Systems' Advanced Technology Group presents a systematic methodology for designing auditory interfaces by decomposing visual interaction into "conversational gestures" — the atomic building blocks of human-computer …

  • auditory interface
  • audio desktop
  • speech-enabling
  • conversational gestures
  • direct manipulation
  • non-visual interaction
  • blind users
  • Emacspeak
  • auditory icons
  • game accessibility

• Planning Your Journey in Audio: Design and Evaluation of Auditory Route Overviews

  Nida Aziz, Tony Stockman, Rebecca Stewart (2022) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research develops and evaluates an auditory route overview system that enables blind users to preview walking routes before embarking on journeys. The system addresses a critical gap: while many navigation aids support live guidance, few tools a…

  • blind navigation
  • auditory display
  • route planning
  • auditory icons
  • earcons
  • sonification
  • wayfinding
  • user-led design
  • mental maps

• Semiotics Contributions to Accessible Interface Design

  María Inés Laitano (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This extended abstract argues that semiotic theory — the study of signs and meaning-making — can complement WCAG-based approaches to produce more meaningfully accessible interfaces. Laitano contrasts the WAI model, which centres on content (informati…

  • semiotics
  • interface design
  • WCAG
  • alt text
  • communication strategy
  • auditory icons
  • accessible design
  • design theory