Literature Reviews

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

• Trailblazer: Enabling Blind Users to Blaze Trails Through the Web

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Tessa Lau, Jeffrey Nichols (2009) — IUI '09: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces

  This paper introduces TrailBlazer, a system designed to help blind web users complete tasks more efficiently by providing step-by-step guidance through web pages. The core problem it addresses is that blind users relying on screen readers must often …

  • screen readers
  • blind users
  • web accessibility
  • non-visual interfaces
  • programming by demonstration
  • task guidance
  • intelligent user interfaces

• EasySnap: Real-time Audio Feedback for Blind Photography

  Samuel White, Hanjie Ji, Jeffrey P. Bigham (2010) — Adjunct Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2010)

  This demonstration paper presents EasySnap, an iPhone application that enables blind and low-vision users to take high-quality photographs by providing real-time audio feedback as they point their camera phones. The system addresses a key barrier: bl…

  • blind and low vision
  • computer vision
  • mobile accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • photography
  • auditory interface
  • non-visual interfaces

• Evaluating Existing Audio CAPTCHAs and an Interface Optimized for Non-Visual Use

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Anna C. Cavender (2009) — Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2009)

  This paper presents the first large-scale evaluation of audio CAPTCHAs — the purportedly accessible alternative to visual CAPTCHAs — revealing that they are dramatically more difficult for both blind and sighted users. The study gathered 10 types of …

  • blind and low vision
  • web accessibility
  • screen readers
  • CAPTCHA
  • authentication
  • non-visual interfaces
  • usability testing
  • accessibility barriers