Literature Reviews

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

• Automation of Repetitive Web Browsing Tasks with Voice-Enabled Macros

  Yevgen Borodin (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper proposes an approach for automating repetitive web browsing tasks through personalized macros with a speech-enabled interface, implemented within the HearSay non-visual web browser at Stony Brook University. The core problem is that non-vi…

  • screen reader
  • web accessibility
  • non-visual browsing
  • web macro
  • voice interface
  • web automation
  • blind users
  • assistive technology

• Accessible Web Automation Interface: A User Study

  Yury Puzis (2012) — Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This doctoral consortium paper presents the evaluation of two web automation user interfaces designed to help blind and low-vision screen reader users complete web browsing tasks more efficiently. The fundamental problem is that while the web has bec…

  • web accessibility
  • web automation
  • screen readers
  • blind users
  • low vision
  • JAWS
  • browsing efficiency
  • user study
  • assistive technology
  • implicit automation

• A Conversational Interface to Web Automation

  Tessa Lau, Julian Cerruti, Guillermo Manzato, Mateo Bengualid, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Jeffrey Nichols (2010) — UIST '10: Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology

  This paper presents CoCo (CoScripter Concierge), a system that automates web tasks on a user's behalf through short textual commands delivered via low-bandwidth channels such as Twitter, SMS, email, or a command line. Given a natural language command…

  • web automation
  • conversational interfaces
  • natural language
  • intelligent assistants
  • programming by demonstration
  • task automation

• Predictive, Accessible Web Automation: A Longitudinal Study

  Yury Puzis, Yevgen Borodin, I.V. Ramakrishnan (2014) — Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents a six-week longitudinal pilot study of Automation Assistant, a predictive web automation system designed to improve non-visual web browsing for blind users. The core problem is that screen readers force users to navigate web pages…

  • screen readers
  • web automation
  • blindness
  • non-visual web access
  • adaptive interfaces
  • machine learning
  • usability
  • assistive technology

• An Intuitive Accessible Web Automation User Interface

  Yury Puzis, Yevgen Borodin, Faisal Ahmed, I. V. Ramakrishnan (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper proposes and evaluates an intuitive web automation interface designed specifically for blind screen reader users. The authors observe that while the visual web has become increasingly sophisticated, assistive technology has not kept pace —…

  • web automation
  • screen readers
  • blind users
  • form filling
  • user study
  • Wizard-of-Oz
  • non-visual interaction
  • assistive technology
  • task automation

• Wizard-of-Oz evaluation of speech-driven web browsing interface for people with vision impairments

  Vikas Ashok, Yevgen Borodin, Svetlana Stoyanchev, Yuri Puzis, I. V. Ramakrishnan (2014) — Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents a Wizard-of-Oz study with 24 blind participants to evaluate the usability and effectiveness of speech-driven web browsing as an alternative to traditional keyboard-based screen reader interaction. The study was motivated by three …

  • blindness
  • screen readers
  • speech interface
  • voice interface
  • web navigation
  • web automation
  • wizard of Oz
  • dialog systems

• Complexities of Practical Web Automation

  Yury Puzis, Yevgen Borodin, I. V. Ramakrishnan (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper systematizes and analyzes the complexities involved in building practical, usable, and accessible web automation systems, drawing on published literature and the authors' years of experience developing automation tools for visually impaire…

  • web automation
  • screen readers
  • visual impairment
  • non-visual browsing
  • assistive technology
  • macros
  • programming by demonstration
  • cognitive load

• A More Accessible Web with Natural Language Interface

  Xiang Deng (2023) — Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This extended abstract proposes building a general natural language interface (NLI) for the Web that would allow users to express their needs in plain language and have the system automatically carry out the required actions on any website. The appro…

  • natural language processing
  • web accessibility
  • web automation
  • semantic parsing
  • large language models
  • digital divide