Literature Reviews

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

• Disability Studies as a Source of Critical Inquiry for the Field of Assistive Technology

  Jennifer Mankoff, Gillian R. Hayes, Devva Kasnitz (2010) — Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This keynote-style paper argues that the assistive technology (AT) research community should draw more deeply from disability studies scholarship to improve both the problems it chooses to address and its research methods. The authors — two of whom i…

  • disability studies
  • assistive technology
  • social model of disability
  • medical model
  • critical theory
  • inclusive design
  • participatory research
  • disability rights
  • autism
  • accessibility research

• Disability and Technology: A Critical Realist Perspective

  Christopher Frauenberger (2015) — ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

  This theoretical paper argues that assistive technology (AT) research typically operates from a reductionist philosophical position, matching functional needs with technological opportunities while failing to address the full complexity of disabled e…

  • disability studies
  • philosophy
  • critical realism
  • medical model
  • social model
  • assistive technology
  • research methodology
  • participatory design

• The Fears, The Hopes, The Oscillations: A Critical Analysis of Tech Startups Targeting Autism

  Yihe Wang, Bhavani Seetharaman, Rosemary Steup, Norman Makoto Su, Kathryn E. Ringland (2025) — ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper employs thematic and critical discourse analysis to examine the websites of 38 autism tech startups founded in the U.S. since 2012, investigating how these companies construct problems, users, and technological legitimacy through their mar…

  • autism
  • disability representation
  • critical disability studies
  • marketing discourse
  • tech startups
  • medical model
  • social model
  • neurodiversity
  • discourse analysis
  • ableism