Literature Reviews

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

• Say It My Way: Exploring Control in Conversational Visual Question Answering with Blind Users

  Farnaz Zamiri Zeraati, Yang Cao, Yuehan Qiao, Hal Daumé III, Hernisa Kacorri (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper investigates how blind users can exert control over responses generated by conversational visual question answering (VQA) systems built on vision-language models. While prompting and steering techniques are well established in gen…

  • blind users
  • generative AI
  • visual question answering
  • VQA
  • personalization
  • customization
  • prompt engineering
  • Be My AI
  • large language models
  • assistive technology

• Toward Enhancing Subtitle Features in Mobile Apps: Analyzing User Reviews for Accessibility and Usability Insights

  Wajdi M Aljedaani, Matheus Souza, Marcelo Medeiros Eler (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This large-scale study analyses user reviews from the Google Play Store to understand how people experience subtitle and caption features in mobile applications. The authors extracted roughly 180 million reviews from the top 340 Android apps across d…

  • subtitles
  • captioning
  • mobile applications
  • user reviews
  • app store analysis
  • sentiment analysis
  • hearing impairments
  • customization
  • multilingual accessibility

• Wii Remote as a Web Navigation Device for People with Cerebral Palsy

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

  This short paper evaluates the Nintendo Wii remote as an alternative web navigation device for people with cerebral palsy, compared to a standard wireless mouse. Despite the abundance of accessibility tools, customizable and inexpensive options for p…

  • cerebral palsy
  • alternative input device
  • motor impairment
  • web accessibility
  • Wii remote
  • game controller
  • customization
  • wheelchair users
  • assistive technology

• How 3D Virtual Humans Built by Adolescents with ASD Affect Their 3D Interactions

  Chao Mei, Lee Mason, John Quarles (2015) — ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

  This research investigates whether allowing adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to customize the appearance of virtual humans in a 3D training game improves their interaction performance and user experience. The authors developed "Imagina…

  • autism spectrum disorder
  • virtual reality
  • customization
  • hand-eye coordination
  • training games
  • 3D user interfaces
  • adolescents
  • motor skills
  • personalization
  • virtual humans

• ForeSee: A Customizable Head-Mounted Vision Enhancement System for People with Low Vision

  Yuhang Zhao, Sarit Szpiro, Shiri Azenkot (2015) — ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

  This paper presents ForeSee, a video see-through augmented reality system that enhances the visual experience for people with low vision. Unlike assistive technologies that bypass vision entirely (like screen readers), ForeSee leverages users' remain…

  • low vision
  • augmented reality
  • head-mounted display
  • vision enhancement
  • magnification
  • assistive technology
  • customization

• Firefixia: An Accessibility Web Browser Customization Toolbar for People with Dyslexia

  Vagner Figueredo de Santana, Rosimeire de Oliveira, Leonelo Dell Anhol Almeida, Marcia Ito (2013) — Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents Firefixia, a Mozilla Firefox browser extension toolbar designed to help people with dyslexia customise the presentation of web content according to their individual preferences. The authors note that while web accessibility effort…

  • dyslexia
  • web accessibility
  • browser extension
  • customization
  • assistive technology
  • reading accessibility
  • user testing
  • cognitive accessibility

• Value beyond function: analyzing the perception of wheelchair innovations in Kenya

  Giulia Barbareschi, Sibylle Daymond, Jake Honeywill, Aneesha Singh, Dominic Noble, Nancy N. Mbugua, Ian Harris, Victoria Austin, Catherine Holloway (2020) — Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This study evaluates a novel wheelchair service provision model called InnovATe, developed by Motivation UK, that uses Computer Aided Design (CAD) and 3D printing to manufacture bespoke wheelchairs in Kenya. Over five months at the Bethany Kids rehab…

  • wheelchairs
  • assistive technology
  • 3D printing
  • emotional design
  • service delivery
  • disability identity
  • Global South
  • participatory design
  • customization

• Nearmi: A Framework for Designing Point of Interest Techniques for VR Users with Limited Mobility

  Rachel Franz, Samantha Hornback, Diva Jayasinghe, Jolie Auricchio, John Porter III, John Googleddy, Kristen Shinohara (2021) — ASSETS '21: The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  Virtual reality presents significant accessibility barriers for people with limited mobility, yet relatively little research has addressed how to make VR navigation and exploration usable for this population. Franz et al. introduce Nearmi, a design f…

  • virtual reality
  • VR accessibility
  • limited mobility
  • motor impairments
  • point of interest
  • interaction design
  • customization
  • assistive technology

• Designing a Customizable Picture-Based Augmented Reality Application For Therapists and Educational Professionals Working in Autistic Contexts

  Tooba Ahsen, Christina Yu, Amanda O'Brien, Ralf W. Schlosser, Howard C. Shane, Dylan Oesch-Emmel, Eileen T. Crehan, Fahad Dogar (2022) — Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22)

  This paper presents CustomAR, a mobile augmented reality application designed to allow therapists and educational professionals to create and customize picture-based AR experiences for use in autism-related learning activities. The work addresses a c…

  • augmented reality
  • autism
  • visual supports
  • customization
  • therapy
  • education
  • participatory design
  • AAC

• Enhancing Non-Speech Information Communicated in Closed Captioning Through Critical Design

  May, Lloyd, Park, So Yeon, Berger, Jonathan (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper investigates the communication of non-speech information (NSI) in closed captioning for d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) viewers through a mixed-methods study combining needfinding interviews, prototype development, surveys, and evaluation…

  • captioning
  • non-speech information
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • critical design
  • sound communication
  • media accessibility
  • customization
  • video accessibility