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• The potential of adaptive interfaces as an accessibility aid for older web users

  David Sloan, Matthew Tylee Atkinson, Colin Machin, Yunqiu Li · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper examines the challenge of supporting web accessibility for older people whose capabilities fluctuate gradually over time due to age-related decline in vision, hearing, dexterity, and cognition. The authors argue that current accessibility solutions — accessible…

  aging · adaptive interfaces · assistive technology · older users · personalization

• A Simple Solution: Solution Migration from Disabled to Small Device Context

  Yeliz Yesilada, Tianyi Chen, Simon Harper · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper demonstrates how accessibility solutions developed for motor-impaired desktop users can be migrated to benefit small-device (mobile) users who experience similar input difficulties. The authors had previously replicated a study originally investigating input…

  motor accessibility · mobile accessibility · input methods · situational impairment · error correction

• Exploring Web Accessibility Solutions in Developing Regions as Innovations for the Benefit of All

  Shadi Abou-Zahra, Shawn Lawton Henry · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  Written by two leaders of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, this paper explores the particular web accessibility challenges facing people with disabilities in developing regions and argues that solving these challenges will drive innovations benefiting all web users. The…

  Global South accessibility · digital divide · universal design · digital inclusion · multilingual accessibility

• VizWiz: Nearly Real-Time Answers to Visual Questions

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Chandrika Jayant, Hanjie Ji, Greg Little, Andrew Miller, Robert C. Miller, Aubrey Tatarowicz, Brandyn White, Samuel White, Tom Yeh · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper introduces VizWiz, a pioneering mobile application that enables blind and low-vision people to get nearly real-time answers to visual questions by connecting their smartphone cameras to remote paid workers on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Users take a photo with their…

  blind and low vision · crowdsourcing · assistive technology · mobile accessibility · human computation

• Accessibility Challenges and Tool Features: An IBM Web Developer Perspective

  Shari Trewin, Brian Cragun, Cal Swart, Jonathan Brezin, John Richards · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This highly cited (50 citations) survey of 49 IBM web developers explores the barriers they face in creating accessible rich internet applications and what features they value in accessibility testing tools. IBM mandates accessibility through Corporate Instruction 162, with a…

  developer awareness · accessibility testing · evaluation tools · software development · accessibility training

• More than Meets the Eye: A Survey of Screen-Reader Browsing Strategies

  Yevgen Borodin, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Glenn Dausch, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This comprehensive survey catalogues the browsing strategies that experienced screen reader users develop to overcome the accessibility and usability barriers they encounter on the web. Drawing from multiple user studies, the authors document how blind users are far from passive…

  screen readers · blindness · browsing strategies · web navigation · usability

• Tailored presentation of dynamic content

  Andy Brown, Caroline Jay, Simon Harper · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the SASWAT browser, a research prototype built as a self-voicing extension to Firefox (based on Fire Vox), designed to address a fundamental challenge of the Web 2.0 era: how should screen readers notify users about dynamic page updates? At the time of…

  screen readers · dynamic content · AJAX · Web 2.0 · eye tracking

• 3D HapticWebBrowser: towards universal web navigation for the visually impaired

  Nikolaos Kaklanis, Konstantinos Votis, Konstantinos Moustakas, Dimitrios Tzovaras · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the 3D HapticWebBrowser, a free open-source web browser that uses haptic (touch feedback) technology to enable visually impaired users to navigate web pages and explore 2D maps. The system transforms HTML elements into "hapgets" — haptically-enhanced 3D…

  haptic technology · visual impairment · blindness · multimodal interaction · accessible maps

• Describing online videos with text-to-speech narration

  Masatomo Kobayashi, Tohru Nagano, Kentarou Fukuda, Hironobu Takagi · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from IBM Research Tokyo presents a technology platform that uses text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis to add audio descriptions (AD) to online videos at minimal cost. The system addresses the two main barriers that prevent most online video creators from providing audio…

  audio description · text-to-speech · video accessibility · speech synthesis · external metadata

• Enabling the blind in virtual worlds

  William S. Carter · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from IBM's Human Ability and Accessibility Center describes experimental techniques for enabling blind users to participate in virtual world environments. Unlike conventional web content where text and images can be given alternative descriptions, virtual worlds…

  virtual reality · blindness · virtual worlds · multimodal interaction · cognitive overload

• Accurate and Accessible Motion-Capture Glove Calibration for Sign Language Data Collection

  Matt Huenerfauth, Pengfei Lu · 2010 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper addresses a critical bottleneck in sign language technology research: the calibration of motion-capture gloves used to record hand movements for ASL animation and recognition systems. Motion-capture data enables the development of sign language animations that can…

  sign language · American Sign Language · deaf accessibility · motion capture · animation

• ITHACA: An Open Source Framework for Building Component-Based Augmentative and Alternative Communication Applications

  Alexandros Pino, Georgios Kouroupetroglou · 2010 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper introduces ITHACA, an open source software framework for developing modular, customizable AAC applications. The authors address a persistent problem in assistive technology: AAC products are typically expensive, monolithic, difficult to customize, and limited in…

  augmentative and alternative communication · AAC · open source · assistive technology · component-based development

• Orienting Kinesthetically: A Haptic Handheld Wayfinder for People with Visual Impairments

  Tomohiro Amemiya, Hisashi Sugiyama · 2010 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents a novel haptic direction indicator that provides real-time navigational guidance through kinesthetic cues rather than audio or vibrotactile feedback. The device exploits a perceptual phenomenon called the "pseudo-attraction force technique": by generating…

  haptic feedback · wayfinding · navigation · orientation and mobility · blindness

• Assessing Fit of Nontraditional Assistive Technologies

  Adriane B. Randolph, Melody M. Moore Jackson · 2010 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper addresses a critical gap in assistive technology: how to systematically match users who have severe motor disabilities with nontraditional assistive technologies (NTATs) that use physiological signals rather than physical movement for computer control. The authors…

  brain-computer interface · assistive technology · motor disabilities · ALS · locked-in syndrome

• EasySnap: Real-time Audio Feedback for Blind Photography

  Samuel White, Hanjie Ji, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2010 · Adjunct Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2010)

  This demonstration paper presents EasySnap, an iPhone application that enables blind and low-vision users to take high-quality photographs by providing real-time audio feedback as they point their camera phones. The system addresses a key barrier: blind people want to take…

  blind and low vision · computer vision · mobile accessibility · assistive technology · photography

• FlashDOM: Interacting with Flash Content from the Document Object Model

  Kyle I. Murray · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents FlashDOM, a system that exposes Adobe Flash content to assistive technologies by translating Flash's internal structure and interactive elements into standard HTML Document Object Model (DOM) elements. The core problem addressed is that Flash Player's…

  screen readers · Adobe Flash · Document Object Model · web accessibility · assistive technology

• Color-Audio Encoding Interface for Visual Substitution: See ColOr Matlab-based Demo

  Juan Diego Gomez, Guido Bologna, Thierry Pun · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This demonstration paper presents the See ColOr (Seeing Color with an Orchestra) system, a framework that translates colour information from images into spatialized musical instrument sounds to provide people who are blind with a form of colour perception through hearing. The…

  sonification · visual substitution · blindness · color perception · sensory substitution

• Utterance-Based Systems: Organization and Design of AAC Interfaces

  Timothy J. Walsh · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper describes the design and development of an utterance-based AAC interface for literate, high-functioning adults who need communication support in public situations such as restaurants or shops. The central design challenge in AAC interfaces is balancing message…

  augmentative and alternative communication · interface design · utterance-based system · communication rate · assistive technology

• Text Locating in Scene Images for Reading and Navigation Aids for Visually Impaired Persons

  Chucai Yi · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents a computer vision algorithm for locating text in natural scene images — a key capability needed for camera-based reading assistants and navigation aids for people who are blind or visually impaired. While existing reading assistants could handle text in…

  computer vision · text recognition · blindness · navigation · reading assistant

• Note-Taker 2.0: The Next Step Toward Enabling Students who are Legally Blind to Take Notes in Class

  David S. Hayden, Liqing Zhou, Michael J. Astrauskas, John A. Black · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper describes the iterative design and usability testing of the Note-Taker, a portable assistive device that enables students who are legally blind to take notes during classroom lectures. The core problem is that note-taking requires rapidly switching between a far-sight…

  low vision · legal blindness · note-taking · STEM accessibility · education

• A General Education Course on Universal Access, Disability, Technology and Society

  Sri H. Kurniawan, Sonia Arteaga, Roberto Manduchi · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of a General Education course called "Universal Access: Disability, Technology and Society" (CMPE 80A) offered at the University of California Santa Cruz. The course was created to expose students from all majors —…

  accessibility education · universal access · disability awareness · assistive technology · curriculum design

• Investigating Meaning in Uses of Assistive Devices: Implications of Social and Professional Contexts

  Kristen Shinohara · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This short paper presents an interview study exploring how people with disabilities experience the social and professional implications of using assistive devices. Shinohara defines assistive technologies as proprietary hardware or software made for people with disabilities,…

  assistive technology · social acceptance · stigma · assistive device design · self-image

• Accessible Indoor Navigation

  Kyle Montague · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This doctoral consortium paper presents early-stage research on designing an accessible indoor navigation application for disabled users. Montague identifies a key gap: while outdoor navigation benefits from GPS, indoor wayfinding remains a significant challenge because GPS is…

  indoor navigation · wayfinding · adaptive interface · mobile accessibility · assistive technology

• Detecting Objects and Obstacles for Visually Impaired Individuals Using Visual Saliency

  Benoît Deville, Guido Bologna, Thierry Pun · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This demo paper presents the detection module of See ColOr (Seeing Colors with an Orchestra), a mobility aid for visually impaired people developed at the University of Geneva. See ColOr transforms visual information from the environment into musical instrument sounds — a…

  visual impairment · obstacle detection · mobility aid · computer vision · sensory substitution

• Joystick Text Entry with Word Prediction for People with Motor Impairments

  Young Chol Song · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This short paper presents a joystick-based text entry system enhanced with word completion and next word prediction, designed for people with motor impairments who cannot use conventional keyboards and mice. Existing joystick text entry methods — typically on-screen selection…

  motor impairment · text entry · word prediction · joystick · assistive technology