Literature Reviews

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

• Kirana: A Gesture-based Market App for Life Skills Learning for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

  Sumita Sharma, Saurabh Srivastava, Krishnaveni Achary, Blessin Varkey, Tomi Heimonen, Jaakko Hakulinen, Markku Turunen, Nitendra Rajput (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

  This demonstration paper presents Kirana, a gesture-based application that simulates the experience of purchasing items at a local Indian grocery store ("kirana") for individuals with developmental disabilities. The application was developed in colla…

  • developmental disability
  • gesture interaction
  • educational technology
  • cognitive accessibility
  • independent living
  • global accessibility
  • Global South accessibility
  • self-efficacy

• An active step toward a web content accessible society

  Joonho Hyun, Doojin Choi, Sukil Kim (2005) — Proceedings of the 2005 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the Korean Web Content Accessibility Guideline 1.0 (KWCAG 1.0), enacted in late 2004 as a national standard by Korea's Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA). The authors, from the Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and…

  • accessibility standards
  • accessibility policy
  • KWCAG
  • global accessibility
  • web accessibility guidelines
  • South Korea

• Global Considerations in Creating an Organizational Web Accessibility Policy

  David Sloan, Sarah Horton (2014) — Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from The Paciello Group examines the legislative and policy landscape for web accessibility across five countries — Australia, Brazil, China, India, and South Africa — to help multinational organisations develop global accessibility polici…

  • accessibility policy
  • accessibility law
  • global accessibility
  • WCAG compliance
  • organizational accessibility
  • disability rights
  • copyright accessibility
  • PDF accessibility

• A Web Accessibility Report Card for Top International University Web Sites

  Shaun K. Kane, Jessie A. Shulman, Timothy J. Shockley, Richard E. Ladner (2007) — Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from the University of Washington presents a comprehensive multi-method accessibility evaluation of the home pages of the top 100 international universities as ranked by the Times Higher Education Supplement 2006 World University Rankings.…

  • web accessibility
  • education
  • accessibility testing
  • WCAG compliance
  • automated testing
  • accessibility policy
  • global accessibility
  • higher education

• The National Accessibility Portal: An Accessible Information Sharing Portal for the South African Disability Sector

  L. Coetzee, N. Govender, I. Viviers (2007) — Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria describes the development of South Africa's National Accessibility Portal (NAP), a five-year research and development initiative led by the Meraka Institute in part…

  • global accessibility
  • digital divide
  • multilingual accessibility
  • developing countries
  • information sharing
  • community participation
  • inclusive design
  • Global South accessibility

• A Survey of Technology Accessibility Problems Faced by Older Users in China

  Dengfeng Yao, Yunfeng Qiu, Zaixin Du, Jianqing Ma, Harry Huang (2009) — Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the broadest survey of web accessibility for older users conducted in China at the time, with 180 valid responses from participants across all 25 Chinese provinces. The web-based questionnaire was supplemented with in-person discu…

  • aging
  • older adults
  • digital divide
  • global accessibility
  • survey research
  • China
  • accessibility barriers
  • accessibility policy

• Website Accessibility in Australia and the Australian Government's National Transition Strategy

  Vivienne L. Conway (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This short research proposal paper outlines a planned study to assess the effectiveness of Australia's Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy (NTS), released by the Australian Government in June 2010. The NTS mandated that all federal governm…

  • web accessibility
  • policy
  • WCAG compliance
  • government
  • accessibility standards
  • e-government
  • accessibility assessment
  • global accessibility

• Arabic web accessibility guidelines: Understanding and use by web developers in Kuwait

  Muhammad Saleem (2018) — Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This extended abstract describes a doctoral research project aimed at developing and implementing Arabic-language web accessibility resources for developers, web content managers, and designers in Kuwait and the broader Middle East. The paper highlig…

  • web accessibility
  • Arabic
  • Kuwait
  • Middle East
  • WCAG
  • global accessibility
  • language barriers
  • PDF accessibility
  • screen readers
  • right-to-left

• CaseGuide: Making Cheap Smartphones Accessible to Individuals with Visual Impairments in Informal Settlements

  Roos van Greevenbroek (2020) — Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This short paper presents CaseGuide, a low-cost concept for making cheap smartphones accessible to individuals with visual impairments living in informal settlements (IVIIS). The majority of visually impaired people live in low-income areas where les…

  • visual accessibility
  • mobile accessibility
  • global accessibility
  • Global South accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • digital divide
  • low vision
  • digital financial inclusion
  • inclusive design

• Improving Web and Mobile Accessibility Resources for Iranian Designers

  Laleh Nourian (2022) — Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22)

  This doctoral consortium paper presents early-stage research investigating how cultural differences affect accessible design practices, with a specific focus on Iranian designers. The author, Laleh Nourian at Rochester Institute of Technology, frames…

  • global accessibility
  • cultural accessibility
  • postcolonial computing
  • accessibility education
  • Global South accessibility
  • bidirectional interfaces
  • accessible design
  • WCAG