Iconic Communication System by XML Language: (SCILX)
Nathalie Cindy Kuicheu, Laure Pauline Fotso, François Siewe · 2007 · Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A) · doi:10.1145/1243441.1243467
Summary
This paper from the University of Yaoundé I (Cameroon) and De Montfort University (UK) presents SCILX, an XML-based iconic communication system that extends traditional iconic interfaces to enable communication through the Internet. Previous iconic systems — such as the Edith system for people with severe motor disabilities and aphasia, the Minspeak semantic compaction system for people who cannot speak or sign, and the IBS system enabling doctors to query databases without SQL knowledge — translated iconic sentences only into natural language or SQL queries for direct local interaction. SCILX bridges these systems to the web by translating iconic sentences bidirectionally to and from XML documents, enabling icon-based communication over the Internet. The system uses a formal foundation based on context-free grammars of icons, with two binary operators ("ver" for vertical arrangement and "hor" for horizontal arrangement) specifying how icons combine into sentences. The architecture includes an iconic interface, an XML document generator, an iconic sentence generator, an icons knowledge base with an inference engine, and XML middleware for storage and querying. The case study applies SCILX to MEDITRA, a knowledge base on Cameroonian/African traditional medicine storing information about diseases, medicinal plants, and natural medicines.
Key findings
The MEDITRA case study is motivated by a concrete accessibility challenge: traditional healers in Cameroon are mostly illiterate and cannot use text-based interfaces in English or French, making it impossible for them to interact with digital knowledge bases using conventional menus and forms. The iconic alphabet designed for this domain draws on culturally meaningful visual conventions — finger-counting icons for quantities (reflecting African counting traditions), scanned images of medicinal plants for ingredients, and icons borrowed from modern medicine packaging for time-of-day dosing. The context-free grammar defines the structure of a "potion" as a combination of ingredients (plant name, quantity, unit, transformation), preparation method (infusion, decoction, or maceration with a liquid), dosing schedule (morning/midday/afternoon/evening with quantities), usage factors (e.g., pregnant woman, empty stomach), and purpose (preventive or curative). Semantic actions attached to grammar productions generate structured XML documents. A complete example demonstrates constructing a stomachache treatment: five handfuls of centella boiled with four glasses of water, taken as one glass three times daily — represented as an iconic sentence that parses into well-formed XML.
Relevance
This paper addresses accessibility from a perspective rarely seen in web accessibility research: enabling illiterate users to participate in digital information exchange through icon-based communication systems that operate over the internet. While most web accessibility work focuses on disabilities, SCILX addresses the intersection of literacy barriers, cultural context, and digital inclusion in developing countries. The approach has direct connections to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems used by people with speech and language disabilities — the Minspeak and Edith systems cited as precursors are well-known AAC tools. The use of culturally specific iconic alphabets (African counting gestures, local plant imagery) demonstrates that accessible interfaces must be designed within cultural contexts, not merely translated from Western conventions. For accessibility practitioners, the paper illustrates how XML as a structured intermediate representation can bridge diverse communication modalities — the same principle underlying modern accessible document formats. The traditional medicine domain also highlights how healthcare information accessibility is a global equity issue extending far beyond web standards compliance.
Tags: augmentative and alternative communication · iconic communication · XML · literacy · digital divide · Global Accessibility · healthcare accessibility · communication accessibility · developing countries
Standards referenced: XML