Literature Reviews

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

• Challenges in Automatic Speech Recognition for Adults with Cognitive Impairment

  Michelle Cohn, Alyssa Lanzi, Yui Ishihara, Chen-Nee Chuah, Georgia Zellou, Alyssa Weakley (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper quantifies how well state-of-the-art automatic speech recognition (ASR) handles voice commands produced by older adults with cognitive impairment, and asks which acoustic features actually predict transcription accuracy. The autho…

  • automatic speech recognition
  • ASR
  • dementia
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • mild cognitive impairment
  • AgeTech
  • voice assistant
  • Amazon Alexa
  • Whisper
  • aging in place
  • ability-based design
  • acoustic analysis
  • word error rate
  • smart home
  • human-in-the-loop

• Looking Beyond the Screen to Study the Technology Use of Older People Experiencing Cognitive Concerns

  Ruipu Hu, Eun Kyoung Choe, Amanda Lazar (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper is a week-long qualitative study of how ten older adults with cognitive concerns — nine with Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) and one with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), ages 50s–80s, six Mandarin-speaking — use videoconferenc…

  • older adults
  • aging
  • cognitive accessibility
  • cognitive concerns
  • subjective cognitive decline
  • mild cognitive impairment
  • videoconferencing
  • distributed cognition
  • diary study
  • reflexive thematic analysis
  • aging in place
  • design for aging

• Exploring the Role of Generative AI in Dementia Resilience Building Activities: Uncovering Opportunities and Challenges

  Sushant Kot, Margi Engineer, Elizabeth Gilman, Christopher Flathmann, Alisha Pradhan, Emma Dixon (2026) — ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction

  This qualitative HCI study examines how people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and mild-to-moderate dementia envision using commercially available generative AI applications in everyday life. Rather than designing for this population from the ou…

  • dementia
  • generative AI
  • large language models
  • resilience
  • cognitive accessibility
  • mild cognitive impairment
  • qualitative research
  • HCI
  • dementia advocacy
  • co-design

• Robot Characters: Co-Designing Dynamic Personalities for Cognitively Assistive Robots

  Dagoberto Cruz-Sandoval, Alyssa Kubota, Connie Guan, Soyon Kim, Laurel D. Riek (2026) — ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction

  The paper introduces the concept of a "robot character" — a holistic, context-sensitive framing of robot personality that extends beyond trait-based models such as Big Five by incorporating shared interests, cultural background, lived experiences, an…

  • cognitively assistive robots
  • robot personality
  • co-design
  • inclusive design
  • dementia
  • mild cognitive impairment
  • cross-cultural research
  • human-robot interaction
  • participatory design
  • disability justice

• Understanding How Sensory Changes Experienced by Individuals with a Range of Age-Related Cognitive Changes Can Affect Technology Use

  Emma Dixon, Amanda Lazar (2022) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This qualitative study investigates how sensory changes experienced by people with age-related cognitive changes—including dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and subjective cognitive decline (SCD)—affect their technology use. The researchers …

  • dementia
  • cognitive accessibility
  • mild cognitive impairment
  • sensory changes
  • older adults
  • qualitative research
  • assistive technology

• A Collaborative Approach to Support Medication Management in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment Using Conversational Assistants (CAs)

  Niharika Mathur, Kunal Dhodapkar, Tamara Zubatiy, Jiachen Li, Brian Jones, Elizabeth Mynatt (2022) — Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22)

  This paper presents MATCHA (Medication Action To Check-In for Health Application), a conversational medication management system built as a Google Action for the Google Home Hub, designed specifically for older adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment (…

  • mild cognitive impairment
  • older adults
  • medication management
  • conversational assistants
  • smart speakers
  • voice interface
  • aging
  • caregiving

• Exploring Videoconferencing for Older Adults with Cognitive Concerns Using a Dramaturgical Lens

  Ruipu Hu, Ge Gao, Amanda Lazar (2024) — Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)

  This paper examines how older adults with cognitive concerns — ranging from subjective cognitive complaints to diagnosed mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early-stage dementia — experience videoconferencing platforms like Zoom. Using Erving Goffman…

  • cognitive accessibility
  • older adults
  • videoconferencing
  • mild cognitive impairment
  • dementia
  • social participation
  • ageing

• Adapting UX Research for People Living with Alzheimer's, Dementia, and MCI: Improving the UX Research Process for Participants

  Krista D. Kleban (2024) — Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2024)

  This practitioner-focused paper shares first-hand lessons from conducting UX research with people living with Alzheimer's disease, other forms of dementia, and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The author, a UX researcher at the Alzheimer's Associatio…

  • cognitive accessibility
  • dementia
  • Alzheimer's
  • UX research
  • usability testing
  • inclusive research methods
  • participatory design
  • mild cognitive impairment