Literature Reviews

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

• Accessibility in Context: Understanding the Truly Mobile Experience of Smartphone Users with Motor Impairments

  Maia Naftali, Leah Findlater (2014) — ASSETS '14: Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

  This paper moves beyond lab-based studies to investigate how people with motor impairments actually use smartphones in their daily lives, particularly outside the home. The research combines two studies: an online survey of 16 smartphone users with m…

  • motor impairments
  • mobile accessibility
  • smartphones
  • touchscreen
  • situational impairments
  • contextual inquiry
  • diary study

• Bridging the Digital Divide: Enhancing Digital Inclusion of Blind or Partially Sighted and Deaf or Hard of Hearing Individuals in Low- and Middle-Income Countries through Smartphones as Assistive Technology

  Maryam Bandukda, Mary Caroline Yuk, Giulia Barbareschi, Laxmi Gunupudi, Vinicius Ramos, Amit Prakash, Satish Mishra, Victoria Austin, Catherine Holloway (2026) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This multi-country study evaluates a two-day scaffolded digital skills training intervention designed to improve smartphone proficiency among blind or partially sighted (BPS) and deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) individuals in Brazil, India, and Kenya. …

  • digital inclusion
  • digital literacy
  • LMIC
  • blind and low vision
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • smartphones
  • assistive technology
  • scaffolding
  • ability-based design
  • digital skills training

• Using Web Interaction to Monitor Parkinson's Disease Progression through Behavioural Inferences on the Web

  Julio Vega (2016) — Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This doctoral consortium paper from the University of Manchester proposes a novel approach to monitoring Parkinson's Disease (PD) progression using passive smartphone data collection and web interaction analysis, replacing the intrusive wearable devi…

  • health monitoring
  • Parkinson's disease
  • smartphones
  • machine learning
  • digital health
  • neurological conditions
  • passive sensing
  • mobile accessibility

• "I just thought it was me": How Smartphones Fail Users with Mild-to-Moderate Dexterity Differences

  Molly Bowman, Jerry Robinson, Erin Buehler, Shaun Kane (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2023)

  This paper examines the smartphone experiences of people with mild-to-moderate dexterity (MMD) challenges — a population largely overlooked by accessibility research that tends to focus on more severe motor disabilities requiring specialized assistiv…

  • motor disability
  • dexterity
  • mobile accessibility
  • smartphones
  • touch screen
  • disability identity
  • assistive technology abandonment
  • qualitative research

• Toward a Multi-layer Framework to Assess the Quality of Life Impact of Smartphones as Assistive Technology for People with Sensory Disabilities in Kenya

  Maryam Bandukda, Lan Xiao, Giulia Barbareschi, Philip Oyier, Henry Athiany, Raul Szekely, Wallace M Karuguti, Mwangi J Matheri MJM, Victoria Austin, Catherine Holloway (2025) — ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper presents the first longitudinal mixed-methods study investigating the impact of smartphones as assistive technology on the quality of life (QoL) of blind or partially sighted (BPS) and deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) individuals in Kenya. Th…

  • smartphones
  • assistive technology
  • Global South
  • Kenya
  • blindness and visual impairment
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • quality of life
  • digital inclusion
  • mobile accessibility
  • longitudinal study