Literature Reviews

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

• Accuracy and Frequency Analysis of MultiTouch Interfaces for Individuals with Parkinsonian and Essential Hand Tremor

  Eric J. Frett, Kenneth E. Barner (2005) — Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This 2005 study from the University of Delaware compares four computer pointing devices — an optical mouse, optical trackball, isotonic joystick, and a FingerWorks MultiTouch Surface (MTS) — for users with Parkinsonian tremor and essential tremor. Th…

  • motor accessibility
  • input devices
  • Parkinson's disease
  • essential tremor
  • multitouch
  • pointing devices
  • tremor suppression
  • Fitts' law
  • human-computer interaction

• Effect of Age and Parkinson's Disease on Cursor Positioning Using a Mouse

  Simeon Keates, Shari Trewin (2005) — Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This paper presents a detailed empirical study examining how age and Parkinson's disease affect the ability to perform point-and-click tasks with a computer mouse. The researchers recruited 24 participants across four groups: young adults (ages 20-30…

  • motor accessibility
  • aging
  • Parkinson's disease
  • cursor control
  • mouse interaction
  • pointing devices
  • motor impairment
  • input methods
  • usability testing

• Toward Goldilocks' Pointing Device: Determining a "Just Right" Gain Setting for Users with Physical Impairments

  Heidi Horstmann Koester, Edmund LoPresti, Richard C. Simpson (2005) — Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This paper describes the design and evaluation of the Input Device Agent (IDA), a software-based agent that automatically recommends a pointing device gain (control-display sensitivity) setting for individual users with physical impairments. Gain det…

  • motor accessibility
  • pointing devices
  • adaptive systems
  • physical disability
  • cursor control
  • assistive technology
  • personalization

• Speech-Based Cursor Control

  Azfar S. Karimullah, Andrew Sears (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper from UMBC investigates the effectiveness of speech-based cursor control for navigating graphical user interfaces, comparing a standard cursor with a predictive cursor designed to compensate for speech recognition delays. While speech recog…

  • speech recognition
  • cursor control
  • motor disability
  • pointing devices
  • assistive technology
  • voice interface
  • human-computer interaction

• Zooming Interfaces! Enhancing the Performance of Eye Controlled Pointing Devices

  Richard Bates, Howell Istance (2002) — Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper from De Montfort University quantifies the performance problems of eye-based pointing on standard graphical user interfaces and demonstrates that adding a zoom facility dramatically improves usability. The researchers identified three fund…

  • eye tracking
  • pointing devices
  • assistive technology
  • motor disability
  • zoom interface
  • screen magnification
  • multimodal interaction
  • graphical user interface

• Helping Older Adults Locate 'Lost' Cursors Using FieldMouse

  Nic Hollinworth (2010) — Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This short paper describes FieldMouse, a modified standard optical mouse augmented with a touch sensor (Quantum QT110) embedded in its top surface to detect when a user grasps the mouse after releasing it. The motivation addresses a common problem am…

  • aging
  • mouse cursor
  • pointing devices
  • input devices
  • assistive technology
  • low vision
  • human-computer interaction
  • older adults

• Simulation of Motor Impairment in Head-Controlled Pointer Fitts' Law Task

  Syed Asad Rizvi, Ella Tuson, Breanna Desrochers, John Magee (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '18)

  This poster paper proposes simulating motor impairments in a head-controlled mouse pointer system (Camera Mouse) to address the challenge that participants with motor impairments are not always available for accessibility research or software develop…

  • motor impairment
  • simulation
  • head tracking
  • alternative input
  • Fitts' law
  • camera mouse
  • usability testing
  • ability-based design
  • pointing devices

• A Usability Evaluation of Two Virtual Aids to Enhance Cursor Accessibility for People with Motor Impairments

  J. Eduardo Pérez, Xabier Valencia, Myriam Arrue, Julio Abascal (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from the University of the Basque Country presents and evaluates two virtual cursor enhancements designed to help people with motor impairments perform pointing and clicking tasks during web browsing. The "circular cursor" creates a transl…

  • motor accessibility
  • assistive technology
  • input devices
  • pointing devices
  • web accessibility
  • usability testing
  • cursor enhancement

• The Reliability of Fitts's Law as a Movement Model for People with and without Limited Fine Motor Function

  Ather Sharif, Victoria Pao, Katharina Reinecke, Jacob O. Wobbrock (2020) — Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This paper investigates a foundational assumption in HCI and assistive technology research: that Fitts's law reliably measures pointing performance. Fitts's law, introduced in 1954, models the relationship between the time to complete a pointing move…

  • motor accessibility
  • input methods
  • research methods
  • pointing devices
  • assistive technology
  • usability testing
  • HCI