Literature Reviews

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

• ACES: Aphasia Emulation, Realism, and the Turing Test

  Joshua Hailpern, Marina Danilevsky, Karrie Karahalios (2011) — Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper validates the realism of ACES (Aphasia Characteristics Emulation Software), a system that distorts a user's instant messages to simulate the communication effects of aphasia, allowing caregivers, therapists, and family members to experienc…

  • aphasia
  • empathy
  • disability simulation
  • language disorders
  • instant messaging
  • Turing test
  • speech and hearing science
  • caregiver training

• Ajax Live Regions: ReefChat Using the Fire Vox Screen Reader as a Case Example

  Peter Thiessen, Charles Chen (2007) — Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents ReefChat, an accessible Ajax chat application, and Fire Vox, an open-source screen reader extension for Firefox, as a proof-of-concept for WAI-ARIA live regions — one of the earliest practical demonstrations of this then-nascent s…

  • ARIA
  • live regions
  • web accessibility
  • AJAX
  • Web 2.0
  • screen readers
  • dynamic content
  • keyboard accessibility
  • instant messaging
  • open source

• AxsJAX: A Talking Translation Bot Using Google IM: Bringing Web-2.0 Applications to Life

  Charles L. Chen, T. V. Raman (2008) — Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from Google describes how the AxsJAX framework uses WAI-ARIA live regions to make Google Talk — an instant messaging client integrated into GMail — fully accessible to screen reader and self-voicing browser users, and demonstrates a compel…

  • ARIA
  • web accessibility
  • screen readers
  • live regions
  • Web 2.0
  • AJAX
  • dynamic content
  • multilingual accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • instant messaging
  • open source

• WAI-ARIA live regions: eBuddy IM as a case example

  Peter Thiessen, Stephen Hockema (2010) — Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents a practical case study of implementing WAI-ARIA live regions in eBuddy, a web-based instant messaging application with over 100 million users that aggregated popular IM networks into a single browser client. The paper addresses th…

  • WAI-ARIA
  • live regions
  • screen readers
  • dynamic content
  • instant messaging
  • Rich Internet Applications
  • blind users
  • AJAX

• LMS Weds WhatsApp: Bridging Digital Divide Using MIMs

  Jyotirmaya Mahapatra, Saurabh Srivastava, Kuldeep Yadav, Kundan Shrivastava, Om Deshmukh (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from Xerox Research Centre India reports on a three-month longitudinal field study integrating WhatsApp with a Learning Management System (TutorSpace) in a private engineering college on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India. The research addr…

  • digital divide
  • mobile accessibility
  • education accessibility
  • Global South accessibility
  • blended learning
  • instant messaging