Literature Reviews

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

• NavCog: A Navigational Cognitive Assistant for the Blind

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Cole Gleason, Chengxiong Ruan, Kris Kitani, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI '16)

  This paper introduces NavCog, an iPhone-based turn-by-turn navigation assistant designed to guide blind users through unfamiliar indoor and outdoor environments without requiring expensive infrastructure or structural modifications. The authors argue…

  • blind navigation
  • indoor navigation
  • wayfinding
  • orientation and mobility
  • assistive technology
  • mobile accessibility
  • turn-by-turn navigation
  • bluetooth low energy
  • localization
  • points of interest
  • blindness and low vision

• Usability and Accessibility Issues in the Localization of Assistive Technology

  Ira Jhangiani (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This doctoral consortium paper from Virginia Polytechnic Institute examines the usability and accessibility challenges that arise when assistive technology software designed in one country is localized for users with disabilities in another. The rese…

  • assistive technology
  • localization
  • internationalization
  • usability
  • low vision
  • partial sight
  • design guidelines
  • universal design
  • cultural accessibility

• Multilingual Website Assessment for Accessibility: A Survey on Current Practices

  Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez, Anton Bolfing (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This short paper presents results from a survey of 67 web accessibility professionals exploring how multilingual websites are assessed for accessibility. The authors note that when a monolingual website is localized into multiple languages, the acces…

  • web accessibility
  • multilingual web
  • localization
  • accessibility assessment
  • internationalization
  • evaluation methods

• Introducing Web Accessibility to Localization Students: Implications for a Universal Web

  Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper explores the intersection of web accessibility and web localization, arguing that localization professionals — the people who adapt digital content for different languages and cultural contexts — should be trained in web accessibility as p…

  • web accessibility
  • localization
  • internationalization
  • multilingual web
  • accessibility education
  • translation studies
  • training

• Accessibility Perspectives on Enabling South African Sign Language in the South African National Accessibility Portal

  Louis Coetzee, Guillaume Olivrin, Ilse Viviers (2009) — Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper investigates the feasibility and effectiveness of embedding animated South African Sign Language (SASL) content into the South African National Accessibility Portal (NAP), a government-backed information sharing platform for the disability…

  • sign language
  • deaf accessibility
  • web accessibility
  • localization
  • South Africa
  • digital divide
  • animated sign language
  • developing countries

• Alipi: Tools for a Re-Narration Web

  T. B. Dinesh, Venkatesh Choppella (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This companion demo paper to the full Alipi framework paper presents the concrete open-source toolset that implements the re-narration web concept. The authors frame the accessibility challenge around the "next billion" internet users — people who ma…

  • social accessibility
  • web accessibility
  • localization
  • multilingual accessibility
  • collaborative accessibility
  • mobile accessibility
  • digital inclusion

• Alipi: A Framework for Re-Narrating Web Pages

  T. B. Dinesh, S. Uskudarli, Subramanya Sastry, Deepti Aggarwal, Venkatesh Choppella (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper introduces Alipi, a distributed and participatory framework for re-narrating web pages to make them more accessible to diverse audiences. The name "alipi" means "print illiterate" in Kannada and other Indian subcontinent languages, reflect…

  • social accessibility
  • web accessibility
  • crowdsourcing
  • localization
  • multilingual accessibility
  • collaborative accessibility
  • DOM manipulation

• Measuring the Impact of Automated Evaluation Tools on Alternative Text Quality: A Web Translation Study

  Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents the first empirical study on web accessibility conducted around a translation task, investigating how automated evaluation tools affect the quality of image text alternatives produced by web translators. Twenty-eight professional …

  • alternative text
  • image accessibility
  • web translation
  • localization
  • automated testing
  • controlled language
  • screen readers
  • multilingual accessibility

• Cross-Cultural Web Design Guidelines

  Rukshan Alexander, David Murray, Nik Thompson (2017) — Proceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper develops evidence-based cross-cultural web design guidelines that go beyond simple language translation to address culturally specific design preferences in layout, navigation, links, multimedia, visual representation, colour, and text. Th…

  • cross-cultural design
  • web design guidelines
  • cultural factors
  • internationalization
  • localization
  • usability
  • HCI
  • Hofstede
  • inclusive design
  • Australia
  • China
  • Saudi Arabia
  • web accessibility

• Achieving Practical and Accurate Indoor Navigation for People with Visual Impairments

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Masayuki Murata, Cole Gleason, Erin Brady, Hironobu Takagi, Kris Kitani, Chieko Asakawa (2017) — Proceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents improvements to the NavCog indoor navigation system that achieve sub-meter localization accuracy for blind pedestrians while significantly reducing the infrastructure cost of deploying BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) beacon networks. G…

  • indoor navigation
  • visual impairment
  • blindness
  • BLE beacons
  • Bluetooth Low Energy
  • localization
  • pedestrian dead reckoning
  • particle filter
  • NavCog
  • smartphone
  • wayfinding
  • assistive technology
  • user study
  • sensor networks
  • turn-by-turn navigation