Literature Reviews

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

• How to design cognitively accessible digital design patterns for booking tickets: A participative study with Easy-to-Read users.

  Sabina Sieghart, Björn Rohles, Kim Corti, Trang Nguyen, Ann Bessemans (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Sieghart and colleagues tackle a persistent gap in cognitive accessibility research: digital design patterns are almost never validated with Easy-to-Read (ETR) users — adults with intellectual disabilities who can read at a basic level. The paper rep…

  • cognitive accessibility
  • Easy-to-Read
  • intellectual disability
  • participatory design
  • digital design patterns
  • usability
  • inclusion
  • user study
  • interaction design
  • e-commerce accessibility

• Developing usable CAPTCHAs for blind users

  Jonathan Holman, Jonathan Lazar, Jinjuan Heidi Feng, John D'Arcy (2007) — Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '07)

  This short ASSETS 2007 poster from a Towson University team led by Jonathan Lazar — joined by Jonathan Holman, Jinjuan Heidi Feng, and John D'Arcy of Notre Dame — addresses the long-standing accessibility problem that text-based CAPTCHAs (the distort…

  • CAPTCHA
  • audio CAPTCHA
  • blindness and low vision
  • screen readers
  • web accessibility
  • security
  • usability
  • universal usability
  • Turing test
  • visual impairment
  • multimodal
  • JAWS
  • Window-Eyes

• Using participatory activities with seniors to critique, build, and evaluate mobile phones

  Michael Massimi, Ronald M. Baecker, Michael Wu (2007) — Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  This Assets '07 paper from University of Toronto engages older adults not as subjects of a usability study but as co-designers of a mobile phone system. Massimi, Baecker, and Wu argue that the two dominant trends in 'senior-friendly' phone design — o…

  • mobile accessibility
  • older adults
  • aging
  • participatory design
  • co-design
  • paper prototyping
  • usability
  • design guidelines
  • scenario-based design
  • PICTIVE

• Older Women and Digital TV: A Case Study

  Sri Kurniawan (2007) — Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  This paper from the University of Manchester investigates why digital television (DTV) services are unappealing to older women in the UK, using a Delphi interview technique with a panel of three expert DTV older women users (aged 69, 70, and 75) who …

  • aging
  • digital television
  • technology adoption
  • digital divide
  • older adults
  • gender
  • Delphi method
  • usability
  • interactive television

• The Impact of User Research on Product Design Case Study: Accessibility Ecosystem for Windows Vista

  Annuska Perkins, Tira Cohene (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper describes how user research conducted by Microsoft's Windows Accessible Technology Group shaped the accessibility features in Windows Vista. The research encompassed a wide range of users across major disability types (vision, dexterity, h…

  • accessibility
  • user research
  • operating system
  • universal design
  • usability
  • aging
  • speech recognition
  • assistive technology
  • discoverability

• Usability and Accessibility Issues in the Localization of Assistive Technology

  Ira Jhangiani (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This doctoral consortium paper from Virginia Polytechnic Institute examines the usability and accessibility challenges that arise when assistive technology software designed in one country is localized for users with disabilities in another. The rese…

  • assistive technology
  • localization
  • internationalization
  • usability
  • low vision
  • partial sight
  • design guidelines
  • universal design
  • cultural accessibility

• A Prototype of Google Interfaces Modified for Simplifying Interaction for Blind Users

  Patrizia Andronico, Marina Buzzi, Carlos Castillo, Barbara Leporini (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This demo paper from Italy's National Research Council and Università di Roma presents a prototype that restructures Google's search and results pages to be more usable for blind screen reader users. Previous research had shown that blind users took …

  • search engine accessibility
  • blind users
  • screen readers
  • JAWS
  • usability
  • Google
  • XSLT
  • heading structure
  • keyboard navigation

• Determining the Impact of Computer Frustration on the Mood of Blind Users Browsing the Web

  Jonathan Lazar, Jinjuan Feng, Aaron Allen (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper from Towson University's Universal Usability Laboratory examines how computer frustration affects the mood of 100 blind web users — the first study to investigate the emotional impact of frustrating computing experiences specifically for u…

  • screen readers
  • visual impairment
  • user frustration
  • web accessibility
  • affective computing
  • usability
  • blind users
  • emotional impact

• A Three-Countries Case Study of Older People's Browsing

  Prush Sa-nga-ngam, Sri Kurniawan (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This short paper from the University of Manchester presents survey data on web browsing activities from 63 respondents aged 55 and over across three countries: 10 from Thailand, 40 from the UK, and 13 from the USA. The questionnaire, distributed duri…

  • older adults
  • web browsing
  • age-friendly design
  • cross-cultural
  • digital divide
  • browser accessibility
  • usability

• Evaluating a Pen-based Computer Interface for Novice Older Users

  Dante Arias Torres (2006) — Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This short paper from the University of Oaxaca in Mexico proposes and evaluates a simplified pen-based gesture interface designed for novice older computer users who struggle with the traditional WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pointers) paradigm. T…

  • older adults
  • pen input
  • gesture input
  • alternative input
  • usability
  • WIMP
  • age-related accessibility
  • novice users