Literature Reviews

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

• Lambda: A Multimodal Approach to Making Mathematics Accessible to Blind Students

  Alistair D N Edwards, Heather McCartney, Flavio Fogarolo (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper presents the Lambda System, a European Union-funded project designed to make mathematics accessible to blind students through a multimodal mathematical editor. Mathematics relies heavily on visual two-dimensional notation — fractions are s…

  • visual impairment
  • mathematics
  • braille
  • education
  • MathML
  • multimodal interface
  • screen reader
  • STEM accessibility

• Indoor Wayfinding: Developing a Functional Interface for Individuals with Cognitive Impairments

  Alan L. Liu, Harlan Hile, Henry Kautz, Gaetano Borriello, Pat A. Brown, Mark Harniss, Kurt Johnson (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper from the University of Washington describes the design and user evaluation of an indoor wayfinding system for individuals with cognitive impairments, including traumatic brain injury, Down syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder, and ce…

  • cognitive impairment
  • wayfinding
  • indoor navigation
  • wizard of oz
  • multimodal interface
  • adaptive interface
  • traumatic brain injury
  • Down syndrome
  • cerebral palsy
  • assistive technology

• 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

• Touching and Hearing GUIs: Design Issues for the PC-Access System

  Christophe Ramstein, Odile Martial, Aude Dufresne, Michel Carignan, Patrick Chassé, Philippe Mabilleau (1996) — Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This 1996 paper from Canada's Centre for Information Technology Innovation presents PC-Access, a pioneering multimodal system that combines haptic (touch) and auditory feedback to make Microsoft Windows graphical user interfaces accessible to visuall…

  • haptic technology
  • force feedback
  • multimodal interface
  • GUI accessibility
  • blind users
  • sonification
  • haptic feedback
  • accessibility history
  • assistive technology

• Learning Non-Visual Graphical Information Using a Touch-Based Vibro-Audio Interface

  Nicholas A. Giudice, Hari Prasath Palani, Eric Brenner, Kevin M. Kramer (2012) — Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper evaluates a vibro-audio interface on a commercial Samsung Galaxy tablet that provides non-visual access to graphical information through synchronized vibration and audio feedback triggered by touch exploration. When users trace their finge…

  • visual impairment
  • blind users
  • tactile graphics
  • haptic feedback
  • vibro-audio interface
  • information graphics
  • bar graphs
  • spatial learning
  • tablet
  • Android
  • multimodal interface

• EZ Ballot with Multimodal Inputs and Outputs

  Seunghyun Lee, Xiao Xiong, Liu Elaine Yilin, Jon Sanford (2012) — Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This demonstration paper presents the EZ Ballot, a prototype accessible voting system that fundamentally reconceptualizes ballot design to provide an equal voting experience for all voters regardless of ability. Current accessible voting machines add…

  • accessible voting
  • multimodal interface
  • cognitive accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • dexterity
  • universal design
  • gestural input
  • iPad
  • civic participation

• Multimodal Perception of Histological Images for Persons Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

  Ting Zhang, Bradley S. Duerstock, Juan P. Wachs (2017) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research addresses a critical barrier preventing blind or visually impaired (BVI) students and scientists from participating in STEM laboratory work: the inability to perceive real-time visual scientific data from instruments like light microsco…

  • blindness
  • STEM accessibility
  • sensory substitution
  • haptic feedback
  • multimodal interface
  • microscopy
  • scientific visualization
  • vibrotactile

• ChartMaster: A Tool for Interacting with Stock Market Charts using a Screen Reader

  Hong Zou, Jutta Treviranus (2015) — ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

  This paper presents ChartMaster, a tool enabling screen reader users to query interactive stock market charts, developed through an inclusive co-design process with visually impaired participants. The authors frame the problem in economic terms: 1.3 …

  • blindness
  • screen reader
  • data visualization
  • financial literacy
  • inclusive design
  • co-design
  • charts and graphs
  • multimodal interface

• Design and Evaluation of a Multimodal Science Simulation

  Brianna J. Tomlinson, Prakriti Kaini, Siyan Zhou, Taliesin L. Smith, Emily B. Moore, Bruce N. Walker (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '18)

  This demonstration paper presents a multimodal version of PhET's John Travoltage interactive physics simulation, designed to support learners with and without visual impairments in exploring static electricity concepts. The key design goal was creati…

  • STEM accessibility
  • sonification
  • multimodal interface
  • visual impairment
  • science education
  • PhET
  • auditory display
  • screen readers
  • universal design
  • inclusive design

• Tangicraft: A Multimodal Interface for Minecraft

  David Bar-El, Thomas Large, Lydia Davison, Marcelo Worsley (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '18)

  This demonstration paper presents Tangicraft, a work-in-progress multimodal interface designed to enable visually impaired children to play and collaborate in Minecraft, one of the world's most popular video games with over 121 million copies sold. L…

  • game accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • children
  • haptic feedback
  • tangible interface
  • multimodal interface
  • educational technology
  • inclusive design
  • Minecraft