Literature Reviews

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

• Accessing Peer Social Interaction: Using Authorable Virtual Peer Technology as a Component of a Group Social Skills Intervention Program

  Andrea Tartaro, Justine Cassell, Courtney Ratz, Jennifer Lira, Valeria Nanclares-Nogués (2014) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper evaluates the Authorable Virtual Peer (AVP), a life-sized animated character technology designed to support social skills development in children with autism spectrum disorders. The AVP differs from other virtual agent approaches by offeri…

  • autism
  • social skills
  • virtual peer
  • social communication
  • assistive technology
  • constructionism
  • reciprocity
  • children

• Exploring Traditional Phones as an E-Mail Interface for Older Adults

  Robin N. Brewer, Raymundo Cornejo Garcia, Tedra Schwaba, Darren Gergle, Anne Marie Piper (2016) — ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents V-Mail, a voice-based email system that enables older adults to send and receive email using traditional landline telephones. The research addresses a critical digital divide: 41% of adults over 65 do not use the internet, and man…

  • older adults
  • voice interfaces
  • digital divide
  • email accessibility
  • IVR
  • phone-based interfaces
  • aging in place
  • social communication

• Iterative Design and Field Trial of an Aphasia-Friendly Email Tool

  Abdullah Al Mahmud, Jean-Bernard Martens (2015) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents Amail, an email client specifically designed for people with aphasia—an acquired communication disorder typically caused by stroke that affects language comprehension and expression. Unlike existing AAC (Augmentative and Alternati…

  • aphasia
  • augmentative and alternative communication
  • email
  • field study
  • cognitive accessibility
  • stroke
  • acquired disability
  • social communication