Literature Reviews

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

• A Voice-Activated Syntax-Directed Editor for Manually Disabled Programmers

  Thomas J. Hubbell, David D. Langan, Thomas F. Hain (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper presents VASDE (Voice-Activated Syntax-Directed Editor), a programming environment designed to allow people with manual disabilities to write Java code using voice commands instead of a keyboard and mouse. The authors argue that traditiona…

  • speech recognition
  • programming
  • motor impairment
  • voice input
  • IDE
  • assistive technology
  • repetitive stress injury
  • software development

• Nonvisual Tool for Navigating Hierarchical Structures

  Ann C. Smith, Justin S. Cook, Joan M. Francioni, Asif Hossain, Mohd Anwar, M. Fayezur Rahman (2004) — Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper presents the Aural Tree Navigator, an Eclipse IDE plug-in that enables blind programmers to navigate hierarchical program structures (such as package explorers, class hierarchies, and file systems) using keyboard commands and speech/sound …

  • IDE accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • programming
  • screen reader
  • tree navigation
  • auditory interface
  • software development
  • Eclipse
  • earcon
  • STEM accessibility

• Addressing Accessibility Barriers in Programming for People with Visual Impairments: A Literature Review

  Aboubakar Mountapmbeme, Obianuju Okafor, Stephanie Ludi (2022) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This systematic literature review analyzes 70 papers published between 2000-2020 examining accessibility barriers in programming for people with visual impairments and proposed solutions. The review covers both professional programmers and students l…

  • visual impairment
  • blindness
  • programming
  • IDE accessibility
  • screen readers
  • code navigation
  • block-based programming
  • tangible programming
  • computer science education
  • literature review

• The Implementation of a Vocabulary and Grammar for an Open-Source Speech-Recognition Programming Platform

  Jean K. Rodriguez-Cartagena, Andrea C. Claudio-Palacios, Natalia Pacheco-Tallaj, Valerie Santiago González, Patricia Ordonez-Franco (2015) — ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

  This paper presents the development of a standardized vocabulary and grammar for voice-based programming, designed to make coding accessible to people with limited hand mobility or visual impairments. The work is part of the larger Kavita Project, wh…

  • speech recognition
  • voice input
  • programming
  • motor impairment
  • repetitive strain injury
  • assistive technology
  • open source
  • alternative input
  • carpal tunnel syndrome