Literature Reviews

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

• Toward Independent Online Shopping of the Visually Impaired Through Voice-based Computer-Using Agent

  Subin Shin, Jeesun Oh, Suhyun Kim, Seoyeon Eom, Sangwon Lee (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper investigates how visually impaired users might shop online independently by interacting with a voice-based Computer-Using Agent (CUA) — an AI agent built on a Large Multimodal Model (LMM) that can perceive a screen, reason about i…

  • visual impairment
  • blindness
  • low vision
  • voice interface
  • conversational user interfaces
  • AI agents
  • large multimodal models
  • online shopping
  • e-commerce accessibility
  • human-AI interaction
  • wizard-of-oz
  • qualitative research

• Accessibility for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users: Sign Language Conversational User Interfaces

  Abraham Glasser, Vaishnavi Mande, Matt Huenerfauth (2020) — Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Conversational User Interfaces (CUI '20)

  This short CUI 2020 position paper (3 pages, presented at the CUI@CHI workshop) lays out the research agenda for making voice-based conversational user interfaces (CUIs) — Alexa, Google Assistant, and similar personal assistant devices — accessible t…

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • sign language
  • conversational user interfaces
  • personal assistants
  • american sign language
  • automatic speech recognition
  • universal design
  • voice interface

• Deaf Users' Preferences Among Wake-Up Approaches during Sign-Language Interaction with Personal Assistant Devices

  Vaishnavi Mande, Abraham Glasser, Becca Dingman, Matt Huenerfauth (2021) — Extended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '21)

  This CHI 2021 Extended Abstract investigates a narrow but previously unexplored question: if future personal-assistant devices (Alexa, Google Assistant, etc.) could recognise sign language, how should Deaf users wake them up? Current wake-up mechanis…

  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • sign language
  • personal assistants
  • voice interface
  • conversational user interfaces
  • american sign language
  • deaf culture
  • privacy
  • qualitative research

• Reading Between the Guidelines: How Commercial Voice Assistant Guidelines Hinder Accessibility for Blind Users

  Stacy M. Branham, Antony Rishin Mukkath Roy (2019) — Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents a qualitative document review of public-facing voice assistant design guidelines published by five leading commercial vendors — Amazon (Alexa), Google (Google Assistant), Microsoft (Cortana), Apple (Siri), and Alibaba (Xiao AI) — …

  • voice assistant
  • blind
  • visual impairment
  • conversational user interfaces
  • design guidelines
  • Alexa
  • Siri
  • Google Assistant
  • screen readers
  • accessibility barriers

• Accessible conversational user interfaces: considerations for design

  Kate Lister, Tim Coughlan, Francisco Iniesto, Nick Freear, Peter Devine (2020) — Proceedings of the 17th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents the first comprehensive review of accessibility considerations for conversational user interfaces (CUIs) — a category that includes chatbots, voice-activated personal assistants (like Amazon Alexa and Apple Siri), interactive voic…

  • conversational user interfaces
  • chatbots
  • voice assistants
  • cognitive accessibility
  • mental health
  • autism
  • inclusive design
  • universal design

• Implementing an Accessible Conversational User Interface: Applying Feedback from University Students and Disability Support Advisors

  Francisco Iniesto, Tim Coughlan, Kate Lister (2021) — Proceedings of the 18th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents results from a beta trial of the ADMINS (Assistants for the Disclosure and Management of Information about Needs and Support) virtual assistant, developed at The Open University (UK) to help students disclose disabilities and rece…

  • conversational user interfaces
  • disability disclosure
  • higher education
  • participatory design
  • chatbots
  • virtual assistants
  • user experience
  • accessibility testing

• Toward a User Experience Tool Selector for Voice User Interfaces

  Andreas M. Klein (2021) — Proceedings of the 18th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This doctoral consortium paper proposes the development of a UX tool selector for voice user interfaces (VUIs), presented as a web application that recommends appropriate measurement tools for evaluating VUI quality. Voice assistants such as Alexa, G…

  • voice user interfaces
  • user experience
  • evaluation methods
  • voice assistants
  • conversational user interfaces
  • accessibility testing