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• ADCanvas: Accessible and Conversational Audio Description Authoring for Blind and Low Vision Creators

  Franklin Mingzhe Li, Michael Xieyang Liu, Cynthia L Bennett, Shaun K. Kane · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Li and colleagues tackle a rarely examined corner of accessibility: the fact that the tools used to produce Audio Description (AD) are themselves largely inaccessible to the blind and low-vision (BLV) creators who are often its most skilled practitioners. Professional AD…

  audio description · blind and low vision · conversational agent · multimodal LLM · visual question answering

• VizXpress: Towards Expressive Visual Content by Blind Creators Through AI Support

  Lotus Zhang, Zhuohao (Jerry) Zhang, Gina Clepper, Franklin Mingzhe Li, Patrick Carrington, Jacob O. Wobbrock, Leah Findlater · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates how blind individuals engage with and desire to create expressive visual content — moving beyond the functional accessibility tasks (like privacy preservation or layout correction) that prior research has focused on. The authors conducted a two-stage…

  blindness · visual expression · creativity support · AI accessibility · image editing

• Task Mode: Dynamic Filtering for Task-Specific Web Navigation using LLMs

  Ananya Gubbi Mohanbabu, Yotam Sechayk, Amy Pavel · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper presents Task Mode, a Chrome browser extension that dynamically filters web content based on user-specified goals using large language models (specifically GPT-4o) to identify and prioritize task-relevant elements while suppressing distractions. The system addresses a…

  web navigation · screen reader · large language model · content filtering · task-based browsing

• From Screen Reading to "Scene Reading" in SceneVR: Touch-Based Interaction Techniques for Use in Virtual Reality by Blind and Low-Vision Users

  Melanie Jo Kneitmix, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper introduces "scene reading," a novel interaction paradigm that extends the familiar concept of touch-based screen reading from 2-D interfaces to 3-D virtual reality environments. The authors developed SceneVR, a system that streams the live view from a Meta Quest 2 VR…

  virtual reality · blind and low vision · touchscreen interaction · spatial audio · scene understanding

• Vibration Or Voice? Enhancing EQ Information Accessibility for Blind Music Producers with Haptics

  Christina Karpodini, Tychonas Michailidis, Chris Creed, Tony Stockman, Ian Williams · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates the use of vibrotactile feedback patterns (Tactons) as an alternative to screen readers for conveying equaliser (EQ) audio effect settings to blind and visually impaired (BVI) music producers working in Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs). The core problem…

  blind and visually impaired · music production · haptic feedback · vibrotactile feedback · screen reader

• Amaze3D: Making 3D Worlds Accessible to Blind Gamers

  Greg Gay, Matthew Ralston · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This extended abstract presents Amaze3D (The Accessibility Maze 3D), a proof-of-concept demonstrating that Unity-based 3D game worlds can be made independently navigable by blind players. Built as a WebGL-based 3D adaptation of an earlier 2D JavaScript Accessibility Maze, the…

  game accessibility · blind users · Unity · 3D worlds · educational games

• Improving the Accessibility of Screen-Shared Presentations by Enabling Concurrent Exploration

  Danyang Fan, Sasa Junuzovic, John Tang, Thomas Jaeger · 2023 · Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper addresses a fundamental gap in remote meeting accessibility: when presenters screen-share slides during video calls, blind and low vision (BLV) screen reader users have no adequate way to independently explore slide content in real-time. While sighted audience members…

  screen reader · blindness · presentations · screen sharing · spatial audio

• WordMelodies: Supporting the Acquisition of Literacy Skills by Children with Visual Impairment through a Mobile App

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Cristian Bernareggi, Barbara Leporini, Sergio Mascetti · 2023 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  WordMelodies is a freely available mobile application designed to teach literacy skills to primary school children, with particular attention to accessibility for children with visual impairments or blindness (VIB). The app was developed through an iterative design process…

  visual impairment · literacy education · mobile apps · children · screen reader

• Slidecho: Flexible Non-Visual Exploration of Presentation Videos

  Yi-Hao Peng, Jeffrey P Bigham, Amy Pavel · 2021 · Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '21)

  This paper presents Slidecho, a system that makes recorded presentation videos accessible to blind and visually impaired learners by automatically extracting slide content and synchronizing it with the presenter's speech. The core problem is that most presentation videos —…

  video accessibility · blind and low vision · audio description · presentations · screen reader

• Personalization in the Interactive EPUB 3 Reading Experience: Accessibility Issues for Screen Reader Users

  Barbara Leporini, Clara Meattini · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates the accessibility of interactive EPUB 3 digital books when accessed via screen readers. The authors designed and developed a multimedia, interactive EPUB 3 prototype — a digital guide to Sienese cuisine featuring 8 recipe chapters and 8 walking itinerary…

  EPUB · accessible publishing · screen reader · digital books · personalization

• Blind Web Development Training at Oysters and Pearls Technology Camp in Uganda

  Claire Ferrari, Amy Hurst, Scott Fitzgerald · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper describes the development and delivery of a 7-day web development course for 13 blind and low-vision students (ages 18-35, average 24) at the Oysters and Pearls Technology Camp in Gulu, northern Uganda. None of the students had prior experience building websites,…

  STEM accessibility · blindness · low vision · web development · coding education

• Pushpak: Voice Command-based eBook Navigator

  Shradha Holani, Akashdeep Bansal, M Balakrishnan · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents Pushpak, a voice command-based eBook navigator designed to reduce the steep learning curve associated with screen reader software. The authors identify a key accessibility barrier: effective use of screen readers like NVDA and JAWS requires…

  voice control · screen reader · NVDA · eBook · natural language understanding

• Adaptable Accessibility Features for Mathematics on the Web

  Davide Cervone, Volker Sorge · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents the accessibility features in MathJax version 3, the widely-used JavaScript library for rendering mathematics on the web. The fundamental challenge is that standard mathematical markup formats (LaTeX, ASCIIMath, presentation MathML) lack the semantic…

  mathematics accessibility · MathJax · STEM accessibility · screen reader · Braille

• Feel-It: Personalized Audio-Tactile Web Browsing

  Anatoliy Borodin, Yevgen Borodin, Andrii Soviak, Vikas Ashok, Shirin Disfani, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents Feel-It, a hardware-software system for audio-tactile web browsing that enables blind users to explore the two-dimensional spatial layout of web pages through touch. The core problem addressed is that screen readers reduce web pages to a…

  blindness · haptic feedback · tactile display · web browsing · screen reader

• Automatic Identification of Widgets and their Subcomponents Based on a Classification Pipeline for DOM Mutation Records

  Eduardo Henrique Rizo, Renata Pontin de Mattos Fortes, Humberto Lidio Antonelli, Willian Massami Watanabe · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents a machine learning pipeline for automatically classifying web widgets (specifically dropdown menus) and their subcomponents by analyzing DOM mutation records — the dynamic changes that occur in a web page's HTML structure when users interact with it or visual…

  WAI-ARIA · machine learning · web accessibility · automated testing · widgets

• Making Legacy Digital Content Accessible at Source

  Sankalan Pal Chowdhary, Dipendra Manocha, M. Balakrishnan, Akashdeep Bansal, Himanshu Garg · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents a toolset for converting legacy-encoded Devanagari text to Unicode within Adobe InDesign, addressing a significant accessibility barrier for Indian language content. Despite Unicode being published in 1991, vast amounts of digitally created…

  Unicode · legacy encoding · accessible publishing · Devanagari · India

• It's All About the Message: Visual Experience is a Precursor to Accurate Auditory Interaction

  Simon Harper, Sukru Eraslan, Yeliz Yesilada · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper argues that understanding how sighted users visually experience web pages is a necessary precursor to designing effective auditory (screen reader) experiences for visually disabled users. The authors challenge the assumption that the experiences of sighted and blind…

  eye tracking · screen reader · page linearization · experiential transcoding · visual impairment

• Comprehensive Accessibility of Equations by Visually Impaired

  Akashdeep Bansal · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This doctoral consortium paper proposes an approach to improving the audio rendering of mathematical equations for people with visual impairments by introducing a complexity metric that adapts how equations are spoken based on their structural complexity and individual user…

  mathematics accessibility · STEM accessibility · visual impairment · screen reader · speech synthesis

• Demonstration of GestureCalc: An Eyes-Free Calculator for Touch Screens

  Leah Perlmutter, Bindita Chaudhuri, Justin Petelka, Philip Garrison, James Fogarty, Jacob O. Wobbrock, Richard E. Ladner · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demonstration paper presents GestureCalc, an eyes-free, target-less digital calculator for touch screen devices that replaces traditional button-based input with intuitive gesture-based input. The core problem is that existing calculator apps require precise tapping on…

  gesture-based interaction · touchscreen accessibility · blindness · visual impairment · screen reader

• Typing Slowly but Screen-Free: Exploring Navigation over Entirely Auditory Keyboards

  Reeti Mathur, Aishwarya Sheth, Parimal Vyas, Davide Bolchini · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper introduces the concept of "keyflows" — entirely auditory keyboards that operate without a reference screen, enabling blind users to type while untethered from their mobile device. The core problem is that current accessible keyboards require blind users to constantly…

  text entry · blindness · visual impairment · screen reader · auditory interface

• GestureCalc: An Eyes-Free Calculator for Touch Screens

  Bindita Chaudhuri, Leah Perlmutter, Justin Petelka, Philip Garrison, James Fogarty, Jacob O. Wobbrock, Richard E. Ladner · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This full research paper presents GestureCalc, an eyes-free, target-less gesture-based calculator for touch screens, along with a rigorous three-session longitudinal evaluation with eight screen reader users. The system replaces the spatial button layout of conventional…

  gesture-based interaction · touchscreen accessibility · blindness · visual impairment · screen reader

• Application for the configuration and adaptation of the Android operating system for the visually impaired

  Bruna de Oliveira, Juliana Cristina Braga, Rafael J. Pezzuto Damaceno · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This short paper presents the design and preliminary evaluation of an Android application that allows people with visual impairments (PVI) to configure their device’s accessibility settings using voice commands, bypassing the paradoxical problem that activating accessibility…

  Android · visual impairment · blind · low vision · TalkBack

• Exploring Aural Navigation by Screenless Access

  Mikaylah Gross, Joe Dara, Christopher Meyer, Davide Bolchini · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This paper introduces screenless access, a paradigm for browsing aural information architectures using one-handed, in-air gestures recognised by an off-the-shelf Myo armband, freeing blind and visually impaired users from the constraint of holding and touching a smartphone…

  blind · visual impairment · gesture interaction · wearable technology · mobile accessibility

• Investigating Cursor-based Interactions to Support Non-Visual Exploration in the Real World

  Anhong Guo, Saige McVea, Xu Wang, Patrick Clary, Ken Goldman, Yang Li, Yu Zhong, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2018 · Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This paper from Google and Carnegie Mellon University defines and compares three cursor-based interaction techniques designed to help blind and low vision people attend to specific items within complex real-world visual scenes. While computer vision systems like Seeing AI and…

  blindness · low vision · computer vision · non-visual exploration · mobile accessibility

• BrowseWithMe: An Online Clothes Shopping Assistant for People with Visual Impairments

  Abigale J. Stangl, Esha Kothari, Suyog D. Jain, Tom Yeh, Kristen Grauman, Danna Gurari · 2018 · Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This paper from the University of Colorado Boulder and University of Texas at Austin addresses the inaccessibility of online clothes shopping for people with visual impairments through both empirical investigation and a prototype AI-powered assistant called BrowseWithMe. The…

  blindness · low vision · web accessibility · online shopping · computer vision