Literature Reviews

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

• Navigating Neurodivergence with AI Chatbots: Benefits, Tensions, and Implications for HCI

  Deepak Giri, Erin Brady, Megh Marathe (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 short paper presents a qualitative interview study of how neurodivergent adults use AI chatbots (primarily ChatGPT) in everyday life, and what tensions arise. The authors conducted 23 semi-structured, 50-minute Zoom interviews with part…

  • neurodivergence
  • AI chatbots
  • ADHD
  • autism
  • masking
  • working memory
  • emotional regulation
  • large language models
  • mental health
  • privacy
  • authenticity

• I Can't Keep Up: Accessibility Barriers in Video-Based Learning for Individuals with Borderline Intellectual Functioning

  Hyehyun Chu, Seungju Kim, Chen Zhou, Yu-Kai Hung, Saelyne Yang, Hyun W. Ka, Juho Kim (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper by Chu, Kim, Zhou, Hung, Yang, Ka, and Kim (KAIST and SkillBench) examines accessibility barriers in video-based learning (VBL) for individuals with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF)—people with IQ scores roughly 70–85 who…

  • cognitive accessibility
  • video-based learning
  • video accessibility
  • borderline intellectual functioning
  • intellectual disability
  • inclusive design
  • self-efficacy
  • working memory
  • qualitative research
  • e-learning

• Cognitively Motivated Features for Readability Assessment

  Lijun Feng, Noémie Elhadad, Matt Huenerfauth (2009) — Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (EACL 2009)

  Feng, Elhadad, and Huenerfauth (2009) develop and evaluate an automatic readability-assessment tool targeted specifically at adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) — people in the 'mild' category (IQ 55-70), who comprise roughly 3% of the U.S. po…

  • readability
  • automatic readability assessment
  • cognitive accessibility
  • intellectual disability
  • mild intellectual disability
  • text simplification
  • plain language
  • entity density
  • lexical chains
  • working memory
  • discourse features
  • Flesch-Kincaid
  • reading level
  • reading comprehension
  • user study
  • natural language processing
  • named entity recognition
  • computational linguistics
  • text-to-speech
  • literacy
  • Weekly Reader corpus
  • cognitively motivated features

• Tactile Working Memory Capacity of Users Who Are Blind in an Electronic Travel Aid Application with a Vibration Belt

  Jan B. F. van Erp, Katja I. Paul, Tina Mioch (2020) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper investigates the tactile working memory capacity of users who are blind when using a vibrotactile belt for electronic travel aid (ETA) applications. ETAs that display obstacle information through vibration belts require users to integrate …

  • electronic travel aids
  • vibrotactile feedback
  • working memory
  • tactile displays
  • navigation
  • blind users
  • wearable technology
  • cognitive load

• Evaluation of a Prototype Interactive Working Memory Application for Children with Learning Disabilities

  Elaine Pearson, Adel Shaban (2019) — Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This short paper presents an expert evaluation of a prototype working memory training application designed specifically for children aged 7-9 with learning disabilities. The application was built using a novel design framework that integrates three d…

  • learning disability
  • cognitive accessibility
  • working memory
  • gamification
  • cognitive load
  • children
  • heuristic evaluation
  • user-centered design
  • educational technology

• Evaluation of user experience and cognitive load of a gamified cognitive training application for children with learning disabilities

  Adel Shaban, Elaine Pearson (2020) — Proceedings of the 17th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This study presents the design and evaluation of "The Treasure," a gamified web-based application created to train and improve working memory in children with learning disabilities. The application was built on a design framework integrating guidelin…

  • learning disabilities
  • gamification
  • cognitive load
  • working memory
  • user experience
  • children
  • cognitive training
  • educational technology