Literature Reviews

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

• Helping Visually Impaired Users Properly Aim a Camera

  Marynel Vázquez, Aaron Steinfeld (2012) — Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper evaluates three interaction modes for helping visually impaired users aim a camera to achieve good photo composition: speech-based feedback (spoken directional words like "up", "down", "left", "right" with pitch indicating proximity), tone…

  • visual impairment
  • blind users
  • low vision
  • photography
  • camera aiming
  • computer vision
  • audio feedback
  • transit accessibility
  • saliency maps
  • iPhone
  • assistive technology

• UnlockedMaps: Visualizing Real-Time Accessibility of Urban Rail Transit Using a Web-Based Map

  Ather Sharif, Aneesha Ramesh, Trung-Anh Nguyen, Luna Chen, Kent Richard Zeng, Lanqing Hou, Xuhai Xu (2022) — Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22)

  This paper presents UnlockedMaps, an open-source web-based map that visualizes the real-time accessibility status of urban rail transit stations across six North American cities: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, a…

  • transit accessibility
  • elevator outages
  • web-based maps
  • open data
  • wheelchair accessibility
  • mobility disabilities
  • urban accessibility
  • civic technology

• The Future of Urban Accessibility for People with Disabilities: Data Collection, Analytics, Policy, and Tools

  Jon E. Froehlich, Yochai Eisenberg, Maryam Hosseini, Fabio Miranda, Marc Adams, Anat Caspi, Holger Dieterich, Heather Feldner, Aldo Gonzalez, Claudina de Gyves, Joy Hammel, Reuben Kirkham, Melanie Kneisel, Delphine Labbé, Steve J. Mooney, Victor Pineda, Cláudia Fonseca Pinhão, Ana Rodríguez, Manaswi Saha, Michael Saugstad, Judy Shanley, Ather Sharif, Qing Shen, Cláudio Silva, Maarten Sukel, Eric K. Tokuda, Sebastian Felix Zappe, Anna Zivarts (2022) — Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 22)

  This workshop paper frames urban accessibility as a "wicked problem" spanning transportation, urban planning, disability studies, public health, and human geography, and assembles a remarkably diverse team of 28 co-organizers from six countries acros…

  • urban accessibility
  • built environment
  • pedestrian infrastructure
  • sidewalk accessibility
  • data collection
  • crowdsourcing
  • computer vision
  • accessible maps
  • transit accessibility
  • walkability
  • ADA compliance
  • climate justice
  • Global South accessibility

• Experiments with RouteNav, A Wayfinding App for Blind Travelers in a Transit Hub

  Peng Ren, Jonathan Lam, Roberto Manduchi, Fatemeh Mirzaei (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '23)

  This paper presents RouteNav, an iOS wayfinding app designed to help blind travelers navigate indoor/outdoor transit hubs without requiring any external infrastructure such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons or Wi-Fi fingerprinting. The system ach…

  • wayfinding
  • indoor navigation
  • blind and low vision
  • transit accessibility
  • mobile application
  • localization
  • dead reckoning
  • particle filtering

• UnlockedMaps: A Web-Based Map for Visualizing the Real-Time Accessibility of Urban Rail Transit Stations

  Ather Sharif, Aneesha Ramesh, Qianqian Yu, Trung-Anh H. Nguyen, Xuhai Xu (2023) — Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents UnlockedMaps, an open-data web-based map that visualizes the real-time elevator status of urban rail transit stations in six North American cities: Bay Area, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Toronto. The work addresse…

  • transit accessibility
  • urban accessibility
  • open data
  • web-based maps
  • elevator outages
  • wheelchair accessibility
  • mobility disability
  • civic hacking
  • participatory design

• UnlockedMaps: A Web-Based Map for Visualizing the Real-Time Accessibility of Urban Rail Transit Stations

  Ather Sharif, Aneesha Ramesh, Qianqian Yu, Trung-Anh H. Nguyen, Xuhai Xu (2023) — Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents UnlockedMaps, an open-data web-based map that visualizes the real-time accessibility status of urban rail transit stations across six North American cities. The system addresses a critical gap: commuters who depend on functioning …

  • transit accessibility
  • mobility disabilities
  • open data
  • web-based maps
  • urban accessibility
  • elevator outages
  • participatory design

• Accessible Bus Stop Preview for Visually Impaired

  Mahmut Erdemli (2024) — ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper presents research on creating an accessible bus stop preview system for visually impaired users, addressing a significant gap in public transportation accessibility. While navigation apps can guide visually impaired people to a bus stop's …

  • visual impairment
  • public transportation
  • outdoor navigation
  • bus stops
  • accessible maps
  • digital mapping
  • inclusive design
  • transit accessibility