Literature Reviews

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

• ArtfulSign: A Closed-Loop, Semantics-Grounded Mobile System for Learning Chinese Sign Language

  Yuan Zhao, Yueran Wang, Chenglong Tan, Siyang Tong, Dengfeng Yao, Wei Zhen (2026) — Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '26)

  ArtfulSign is a mobile iOS application that reframes Chinese Sign Language (CSL) learning as an embodied skill practiced through short closed-loop interaction cycles rather than passive video consumption. The authors argue that most existing sign lan…

  • Chinese Sign Language
  • sign language learning
  • embodied learning
  • closed-loop interaction
  • semantic grounding
  • mobile accessibility
  • on-device recognition
  • deaf accessibility
  • iconicity
  • practice-based learning

• It's Hip to Be Square: A Tangible User Interface for Quadrilateral Learning

  Scott George Lambert, Adish Pawar, Taliesin L. Smith, Jennifer Tennison, Emily B. Moore, Jenna Gorlewicz (2025) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents the Smart Quad, a tangible user interface (TUI) designed to make geometry learning accessible through physical manipulation of four-sided shapes. The Smart Quad pairs via Bluetooth with the PhET Quadrilateral Simulation, creating …

  • tangible user interface
  • TUI
  • blind and low vision
  • mathematics education
  • geometry
  • inclusive design
  • manipulatives
  • multimodal
  • sonification
  • embodied learning

• Teaching ASL Signs using Signing Avatars and Immersive Learning in Virtual Reality

  Lorna C. Quandt, Jason Lamberton, Athena S. Willis, Jianye Wang, Kaitlyn Weeks, Emily Kubicek, Melissa Malzkuhn (2020) — Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This demonstration paper presents SAIL (Signing Avatars & Immersive Learning), the first ASL instructional system built for immersive virtual reality. Developed at Gallaudet University by a majority-Deaf team, SAIL uses a signing avatar — a computer-…

  • sign language
  • American Sign Language
  • virtual reality
  • signing avatars
  • motion capture
  • embodied learning
  • Deaf accessibility
  • language learning
  • gesture tracking