Literature Reviews

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

• Augmenting Home and Office Environments

  Elizabeth Mynatt, Douglas Blattner, Meera M. Blattner, Blair MacIntyre, Jennifer Mankoff (1998) — Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This panel paper brings together five researchers from Xerox PARC, CommunityVision Inc., UC Davis/Lawrence Livermore, Columbia University, and Georgia Tech to discuss how augmented environments — homes and offices enhanced with sensors, computing, an…

  • home automation
  • augmented reality
  • ubiquitous computing
  • smart environments
  • multimodal interface
  • assistive technology
  • calm technology
  • environmental control

• A System for Controlling Assisted Living Environments Using Mobile Devices

  Paulo A. Condado, Fernando G. Lobo (2015) — ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

  This paper presents EasyHouse, a smartphone-based home automation system designed to be accessible for people with motor disabilities while remaining usable by all family members. The system addresses a gap in the smart home market: most domotic (hom…

  • home automation
  • smart home
  • motor disabilities
  • cerebral palsy
  • mobile accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • independent living
  • user-centered design
  • Android
  • X10 protocol

• Home Automation for an Independent Living: Investigating the Needs of Visually Impaired People

  Barbara Leporini, Marina Buzzi (2018) — Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This paper investigates the habits, expectations, and unmet needs of visually impaired people regarding home automation and remote control systems through an online survey of 42 participants (32 totally blind, 10 low vision; ages 18-70+; 64.3% male) …

  • smart home
  • blind
  • visual impairment
  • Internet of Things
  • independent living
  • home automation
  • screen readers
  • voice assistant
  • user research
  • Italy

• A Return to Community: Flintstones or Jetsons?

  Vivienne Conway (2020) — Proceedings of the 17th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This keynote-style paper uses the cultural lens of two iconic 1960s cartoons — The Flintstones and The Jetsons — to reflect on how automation and technology are shaping the lives of people with disabilities. Dr. Conway, writing from Western Australia…

  • digital accessibility
  • automation
  • assistive technology
  • disability representation
  • home automation
  • algorithmic bias
  • community
  • Internet of Things

• Characterizing Smart Home Technology Usage Among Users with Disabilities through Reddit

  Rebecca Moore, Jason Wiese (2025) — ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This study examines how people with disabilities use smart home technology (SHT) by analyzing publicly available Reddit discussions across 12 disability-focused and technology-focused subreddits. The researchers collected 233 posts and comments from …

  • smart home technology
  • disability
  • accessibility
  • Reddit
  • qualitative research
  • voice control
  • home automation
  • Internet of Things
  • online communities
  • universal design