Literature Reviews

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

• Demonstrating Consent Rings: Explicit Non-Verbal Consent Through Haptic Wearables as a Solution to Unwanted Sex Between Neurodivergent Partners

  Braeden Burger, Douglas Zytko (2026) — Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '26)

  Consent Rings is a pair of symmetric haptic Bluetooth ring wearables developed by three neurodivergent researchers as an accessibility-oriented alternative to verbal 'yes means yes' affirmative consent. The authors situate the work in evidence that n…

  • neurodivergence
  • autism
  • ADHD
  • consent technology
  • haptic wearables
  • non-verbal communication
  • sexual violence prevention
  • accessibility
  • wearables
  • affirmative consent

• FEPS: A Sensory Substitution System for the Blind to Perceive Facial Expressions

  Md. Iftekhar Tanveer, A.S.M. Iftekhar Anam, A.K.M Mahbubur Rahman, Sreya Ghosh, Mohammed Yeasin (2012) — Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This demonstration paper presents FEPS (Facial Expression Perception through Sound), a visual-to-auditory sensory substitution system that enables blind individuals to perceive their conversation partner's facial expressions through sound. The inabil…

  • visual impairment
  • blind users
  • sensory substitution
  • sonification
  • facial expression recognition
  • non-verbal communication
  • social interaction
  • face tracking
  • computer vision
  • assistive technology

• Do You See What I See? Designing a Sensory Substitution Device to Access Non-Verbal Modes of Communication

  M. Iftekhar Tanveer, A. S. M. Iftekhar Anam, Mohammed Yeasin, Majid Khan (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper presents iFEPS (improved Facial Expression Perception through Sound), a visual-to-auditory sensory substitution device that enables blind users to perceive their conversation partner's facial expressions through audio feedback. Research su…

  • sensory substitution
  • blind users
  • facial expression
  • non-verbal communication
  • computer vision
  • sonification
  • participatory design
  • smartphone
  • social interaction
  • face tracking
  • FACS

• Watch Your Language: Using Smartwatches to Support Communication

  Humphrey Curtis, Timothy Neate (2023) — ASSETS '23: Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper presents the first participatory design and evaluation of AAC smartwatch applications co-designed directly with people who have complex communication needs (CCNs), specifically people living with aphasia — an acquired language impairment m…

  • augmentative and alternative communication
  • AAC
  • smartwatch
  • aphasia
  • wearable technology
  • participatory design
  • total communication
  • non-verbal communication

• One Does Not Simply 'Mm-hmm': Exploring Backchanneling in the AAC Micro-Culture

  Tobias M Weinberg, Claire O'Connor, Ricardo E. Gonzalez Penuela, Stephanie Valencia, Thijs Roumen (2025) — ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper explores how users of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) technology engage in backchanneling—the subtle verbal and non-verbal signals (like "uh-huh," nods, and facial expressions) that listeners use to show engagement, signal…

  • AAC
  • backchanneling
  • non-verbal communication
  • micro-culture
  • listener feedback
  • speech impairment
  • motor impairment
  • co-design
  • conversational agency
  • expressive communication