Literature Reviews

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

• How Older and Younger Adults Differ in Their Approach to Problem Solving on a Complex Website

  Peter G. Fairweather (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This IBM Research paper challenges the prevailing assumption that older adults use the web in the same way as younger adults, just more slowly and less accurately. The study examined how 28 participants aged 18-73 navigated a complex newspaper websit…

  • aging
  • web navigation
  • cognitive accessibility
  • usability
  • older adults
  • problem solving
  • web design
  • user behavior
  • cognitive load

• Investigating Sighted Users' Browsing Behaviour to Assist Web Accessibility

  Eleni Michailidou, Simon Harper, Sean Bechhofer (2008) — Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper presents an eye tracking study investigating how sighted users browse web pages, with the goal of using these insights to improve web accessibility for visually impaired users. The core argument is that understanding sighted users' visual …

  • eye tracking
  • web accessibility
  • visual impairment
  • web design
  • visual complexity
  • screen readers
  • user research
  • browsing behavior
  • transcoding

• Tactile Aids for Visually Impaired Graphical Design Education

  Samantha McDonald, Joshua Dutterer, Ali Abdolrahmani, Shaun K. Kane, Amy Hurst (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS 2014)

  This demonstration paper describes the creation of over 10 tactile aids using laser cutting and 3D printing to make graphic design theory accessible to a visually impaired student enrolled in an introduction to human-centered computing class at UMBC.…

  • visual impairment
  • tactile graphics
  • 3D printing
  • rapid prototyping
  • education
  • graphic design
  • web design
  • inclusive education

• ACE: A Colour Palette Design Tool for Balancing Aesthetics and Accessibility

  Garreth W. Tigwell, David R. Flatla, Neil D. Archibald (2017) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents ACE (Accessible Colour Evaluator), an online tool designed to help web developers and designers balance aesthetic preferences with accessibility requirements when choosing website color palettes. The research addresses a significa…

  • color accessibility
  • colour vision deficiency
  • color blindness
  • web design
  • design tools
  • WCAG
  • contrast ratio
  • user-centered design
  • accessibility testing

• Should I Trust It When I Cannot See It? Credibility Assessment for Blind Web Users

  Ali Abdolrahmani, Ravi Kuber (2016) — Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

  This paper examines how blind screen reader users assess the credibility of web content compared to sighted users, revealing fundamental differences in credibility assessment strategies between the two groups. Web credibility — the believability of i…

  • blindness
  • screen reader
  • web accessibility
  • web design
  • usability
  • information access
  • user research
  • security

• Is accessible design a myth?

  Eric A. Meyer (2005) — Proceedings of the 2005 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  In this position paper, prominent CSS expert Eric Meyer (of Complex Spiral Consulting) examines the tensions between rich visual web design and accessibility, asking whether the two can truly coexist. Meyer traces the history of CSS image replacement…

  • screen readers
  • CSS
  • image replacement
  • skip links
  • web design
  • assistive technology
  • visual design
  • user education

• A Web Design Framework for Improved Accessibility for People with Disabilities (WDFAD)

  Rehema Baguma, Jude T. Lubega (2008) — Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from Makerere University in Uganda proposes WDFAD (Web Design Framework for Improved Accessibility for People with Disabilities), a developer-oriented framework that repackages web accessibility requirements according to the three componen…

  • web accessibility
  • accessibility framework
  • blind users
  • screen readers
  • web design
  • developer tools
  • non-functional requirements
  • Uganda
  • Global South accessibility

• The User Experience: Designs and Adaptations

  Vicki L. Hanson (2004) — Proceedings of the 2004 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This keynote-style paper from IBM's Watson Research Center by Vicki Hanson argues that web accessibility standards and guidelines, while necessary, do not guarantee a usable or satisfying experience for people with disabilities. The paper distinguish…

  • low vision
  • aging
  • cognitive accessibility
  • user experience
  • personalization
  • text-to-speech
  • page adaptation
  • web design
  • usability
  • color contrast
  • visual crowding
  • content reflow

• Designing Beneath the Surface of the Web

  Sarah Horton (2006) — Proceedings of the 2006 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper reframes web accessibility as fundamentally a source code design problem, arguing that designers focus almost exclusively on the visual "surface" of web pages — colors, typography, layouts — while neglecting the underlying code layer that …

  • semantic HTML
  • web design
  • universal usability
  • nonvisual access
  • screen readers
  • mobile accessibility
  • document structure
  • design principles

• Still Not Readable? An Interactive Tool for Recommending Color Pairs with Sufficient Contrast based on Existing Visual Designs

  Fredrik Hansen, Josef Jan Krivan, Frode Eika Sandnes (2019) — Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This demonstration paper presents a web-based color contrast tool that goes beyond the pass/fail validation of existing contrast checkers by actively recommending how to fix insufficient color contrast while preserving the designer's original visual …

  • color contrast
  • low vision
  • web design
  • design tools
  • readability
  • accessibility testing
  • WCAG compliance