Literature Reviews

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

• Visualization of Speech Prosody and Emotion in Captions: Accessibility for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Users

  Caluã de Lacerda Pataca, Matthew Watkins, Roshan Peiris, Sooyeon Lee, Matt Huenerfauth (2023) — Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23)

  This CHI 2023 paper tackles a dimension of captioning that has gone largely unaddressed for four decades: captions depict words but strip out the prosody and emotion carried by a speaker's voice. The authors argue that while automatic speech recognit…

  • captioning
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • prosody
  • affective computing
  • videoconferencing accessibility
  • typography
  • automatic speech recognition
  • color accessibility
  • qualitative research

• Fuzzy Feelings: Arousal's Interpretive Noise and the Case for Acoustic-Based Haptics

  Caluã de Lacerda Pataca, Stephanie Patterson, Roshan L Peiris, Matt Huenerfauth (2026) — CHI '26: Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  This CHI 2026 paper from a team at Rochester Institute of Technology and Birmingham City University tackles a persistent gap in captioning: traditional captions carry words but strip the emotional tone, rhythm, and vocal affect that sighted hearing v…

  • captioning
  • expressive captions
  • haptic feedback
  • vibrotactile
  • affective computing
  • speech emotion recognition
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • DHH
  • arousal
  • valence
  • multimodal accessibility
  • prosody

• Loudmouth: Modifying Text-to-Speech Synthesis in Noise

  Rupal Patel, Michael Everett, Eldar Sadikov (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This short paper from Northeastern University presents Loudmouth, a modified text-to-speech synthesizer that emulates the Lombard effect — the natural way humans adjust their speech in noisy environments — to improve synthesized speech intelligibilit…

  • text-to-speech
  • speech synthesis
  • AAC
  • Lombard effect
  • speech intelligibility
  • noise
  • prosody
  • assistive technology

• Comparing Effects of Navigational Interface Modalities on Speaker Prosodics

  Julie Baca (1998) — Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This paper investigates whether speech-only (displayless) interfaces impose a measurable cognitive burden on users compared to multimodal interfaces that include visual or tactile components. The research uses an innovative methodology: rather than r…

  • speech technology
  • cognitive load
  • non-visual interaction
  • navigation
  • prosody
  • displayless interface
  • multimodal interaction
  • blind and low vision
  • spatial data

• Improving the Usability of Speech-Based Interfaces for Blind Users

  Ian J. Pitt, Alistair D. N. Edwards (1996) — Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from the University of York examines the usability problems inherent in speech-based interfaces for blind computer users and presents a study comparing how blind and sighted subjects process information delivered through synthetic speech. …

  • blindness and low vision
  • screen reader
  • speech synthesis
  • usability
  • speech dialogue design
  • text-to-speech
  • auditory interface
  • prosody
  • cognitive load

• Analysis of Speech Properties of Neurotypicals and Individuals Diagnosed with Autism and Down Syndrome

  Mohammed E. Hoque (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This MIT Media Lab study systematically compares speech properties across three groups — neurotypicals (NT), individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and individuals with Down syndrome (DS) — using 100 minutes of audio data from 10 natural on…

  • speech processing
  • autism
  • Down syndrome
  • speech production
  • prosody
  • assistive technology
  • affective computing
  • speech analysis

• Evaluating Prosodic Cues as a Means to Disambiguate Algebraic Expressions: An Empirical Study

  Ed Gellenbeck, Andreas Stefik (2009) — Proceedings of the 11th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '09)

  This paper investigates whether inserting pauses into text-to-speech renderings of mathematical expressions can help listeners distinguish between structurally different but verbally similar algebraic expressions. The core problem is that written mat…

  • mathematical accessibility
  • text-to-speech
  • screen readers
  • MathML
  • SSML
  • DAISY
  • prosody
  • learning disability
  • dyslexia

• Modeling the Speed and Timing of American Sign Language to Generate Realistic Animations

  Sedeeq Al-khazraji, Larwan Berke, Sushant Kafle, Peter Yeung, Matt Huenerfauth (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '18)

  This paper addresses the challenge of generating realistic computer animations of American Sign Language (ASL) by automatically modeling three critical timing parameters: where prosodic pauses should be inserted, how long those pauses should last, an…

  • sign language
  • ASL
  • animation
  • machine learning
  • Deaf accessibility
  • natural language processing
  • prosody
  • motion capture