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• Gist Summaries for Visually Impaired Surfers

  Simon Harper, Neha Patel · 2005 · Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This paper from the University of Manchester addresses a fundamental problem in web accessibility for visually impaired users: the inability to quickly assess a web page's relevance before committing to having the entire page read aloud by a screen reader. The authors draw…

  visual impairment · web accessibility · text summarization · screen readers · cognitive overload

• Automatic Production of Tactile Graphics from Scalable Vector Graphics

  Stephen E. Krufka, Kenneth E. Barner · 2005 · Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This paper from the University of Delaware presents a method for automatically converting Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) into tactile representations for blind users using a Braille embosser. The key innovation exploits the hierarchical tree structure inherent in vector graphics…

  tactile graphics · blindness · scalable vector graphics · braille embosser · image accessibility

• Programmer-Focused Website Accessibility Evaluations

  Chris Law, Julie Jacko, Paula Edwards · 2005 · Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This paper argues that accessibility evaluation and reporting processes have historically focused on the needs of end-users with disabilities while overlooking the actual audience for evaluation reports: the programmers who must implement the fixes. The authors observe that the…

  accessibility evaluation · web accessibility · accessibility reporting · developer tools · organizational accessibility

• Emerging Issues, Solutions & Challenges from the Top 20 Issues Affecting Web Application Accessibility

  David Hoffman, Lisa Battle · 2005 · Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This poster paper presents the results of a second in-depth analysis of hundreds of accessibility issues documented across real web application projects at the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA), compared with findings from a prior study of over 1,000 accessibility issues…

  web accessibility · accessibility evaluation · accessibility barriers · design patterns · web applications

• MathPlayer: Web-Based Math Accessibility

  Neil Soiffer · 2005 · Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This poster paper presents MathPlayer, a free plug-in for Microsoft Internet Explorer developed by Design Science Inc. that renders MathML (Mathematical Markup Language) visually in web pages and makes mathematical expressions accessible to people with print-related disabilities…

  mathematical accessibility · MathML · screen readers · print disability · learning disabilities

• Proposing New Metrics to Evaluate Web Usability for the Blind

  Kentarou Fukuda, Shin Saito, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2005 · CHI '05 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  This four-page CHI '05 extended abstract argues that existing automated accessibility checkers — in 2005 typified by Bobby — had plateaued: they verified the presence of ALT attributes, labels, and markup conformance, yet real blind users still found many 'compliant' web pages…

  web accessibility · accessibility evaluation · accessibility metrics · screen readers · voice browser

• Tension, what tension?: Website accessibility and visual design

  Helen Petrie, Fraser Hamilton, Neil King · 2004 · Proceedings of the 2004 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from City University London directly challenges the widespread belief among web designers that accessible websites must be visually plain and boring. The researchers conducted a large-scale evaluation of 100 websites, starting with automated WAI guideline testing of…

  visual design · user testing · web accessibility · usability · disability

• A Web Accessibility Service: Update and Findings

  Vicki L. Hanson, John T. Richards · 2004 · Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper reports on the evolution of IBM's Web Accessibility Service from a proxy server prototype (presented at Assets 2002) to a client-side architecture that transforms web pages on the fly to meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities. The original proxy…

  web accessibility · web adaptation · aging · assistive technology · personalization

• Middleware to Expand Context and Preview in Hypertext

  Simon Harper, Carole Goble, Robert Stevens, Yeliz Yesilada · 2004 · Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper presents a middleware tool that automatically annotates web pages with expanded context and preview information for hypertext links, addressing a core navigation problem for visually impaired web users. The authors draw an analogy between physical mobility and web…

  web accessibility · visual impairment · web navigation · web transcoding · link context

• Accessibility of Internet Websites through Time

  Stephanie Hackett, Bambang Parmanto, Xiaoming Zeng · 2004 · Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper presents a longitudinal analysis of web accessibility from 1997 to 2002 using archived snapshots from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. The researchers evaluated 240 archived instances of random websites (40 per year from the Alexa top 500) alongside 22…

  web accessibility · accessibility evaluation · longitudinal study · WCAG · Section 508

• Semantic Bookmarking for Non-Visual Web Access

  Saikat Mukherjee, I. V. Ramakrishnan, Michael Kifer · 2004 · Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper introduces semantic bookmarking, a technique for non-visual web access that allows blind users to bookmark meaningful content segments on web pages using domain ontologies rather than structural HTML positions. The research is built on HearSay, a speech-driven…

  web accessibility · visual impairment · screen reader · semantic web · web navigation

• Rendering Tables in Audio: The Interaction of Structure and Reading Styles

  Yeliz Yesilada, Robert Stevens, Carole Goble, Shazad Hussein · 2004 · Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of why HTML tables are problematic for screen reader users and proposes two complementary approaches for non-visual table access. The authors from the University of Manchester first characterize what makes tables useful in print —…

  table accessibility · visual impairment · screen reader · web accessibility · table linearization

• Audio Enriched Links: Web Page Previews for Blind Users

  Peter Parente · 2004 · Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper presents Audio Enriched Links (AEL), a JAWS screen reader extension for Internet Explorer that provides spoken previews of linked web pages before blind users follow a hyperlink. The system addresses a fundamental asymmetry in web browsing: sighted users can quickly…

  web accessibility · visual impairment · screen reader · web navigation · link preview

• Accessibility Designer: Visualizing Usability for the Blind

  Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa, Kentarou Fukuda, Junji Maeda · 2003 · Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '04)

  This paper from IBM's Tokyo Research Laboratory presents Accessibility Designer (aDesigner), a tool that goes beyond conventional accessibility checkers by visualising the usability of web pages for blind screen reader users rather than merely checking HTML compliance. The…

  web accessibility · accessibility testing · screen reader · blindness and low vision · accessibility tools

• Site-Wide Annotation: Reconstructing Existing Pages to Be Accessible

  Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa, Kentarou Fukuda, Junji Maeda · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper from IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory presents a system for making inaccessible web pages accessible through external annotations, without modifying the original pages. The core problem is "page fragmentation" — on visually designed web pages, different types of content…

  web accessibility · web transcoding · web annotation · screen reader · blindness and low vision

• From Assistive Technology to a Web Accessibility Service

  Peter G. Fairweather, Vicki L. Hanson, Sam R. Detweiler, Richard S. Schwerdtfeger · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper from IBM Research examines the challenge of making the increasingly complex World Wide Web accessible to people with sensory, cognitive, and motor disabilities. The authors argue that while evolving web architectures — moving from simple HTML pages to dynamically…

  web accessibility · assistive technology · adaptive interfaces · web services · proxy-based accessibility

• Navigation of HTML Tables, Frames, and XML Fragments

  Enrico Pontelli, Douglas Gillan, Weiqiang Xiong, Elham Saad, Gopal Gupta, Arthur I. Karshmer · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper provides a progress report on a multi-institution project developing technology to support non-visual navigation of complex HTML tables, frames, and XML structures. The authors identify tables, frames, and forms as the most difficult areas of web accessibility because…

  table accessibility · web accessibility · screen readers · non-visual navigation · semantic navigation

• Auditory and Tactile Interfaces for Representing the Visual Effects on the Web

  Chieko Asakawa, Hironobu Takagi, Shuichi Ino, Tohru Ifukube · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper from IBM Japan and Hokkaido University explores how blind users can perceive the visual structure and emphasis effects of web pages through auditory and tactile interfaces. The researchers identified a critical gap: modern web pages increasingly use visual effects…

  sonification · tactile interface · blindness · web accessibility · nonvisual interaction

• Web Accessibility for Low Bandwidth Input

  Jennifer Mankoff, Anind Dey, Udit Batra, Melody Moore · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper addresses web accessibility for users with severe motor and speech impairments who can only produce one to four input signals when interacting with a computer — termed "low bandwidth" users. These include people with locked-in syndrome using neural control interfaces,…

  motor impairment · web accessibility · switch access · low bandwidth input · scanning

• Improving the Accessibility of Aurally Rendered HTML Tables

  Robert Filepp, James Challenger, Daniela Rosu · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper from IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center proposes TTPML (Table To Prose Markup Language), an XML-compliant markup language designed to transform HTML tables into intelligible prose descriptions for blind and visually impaired users. The authors identify a fundamental…

  web accessibility · tables · aural rendering · screen reader · XML

• Designing for Dynamic Diversity: Interfaces for Older People

  Peter Gregor, Alan F. Newell, Mary Zajicek · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper argues that mainstream interface design fails older people by assuming a static, "typical" user who is young, fit, and male. The authors identify three broad groups of older computer users: fit older people who do not consider themselves disabled; frail older people…

  aging · inclusive design · user-centered design · universal design · older adults

• A Domain Specific Language Framework for Non-Visual Browsing of Complex HTML Structures

  E. Pontelli, W. Xiong, G. Gupta, A. I. Karshmer · 2000 · Proceedings of the Fourth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '00)

  This paper from New Mexico State University, University of Texas at Dallas, and University of South Florida presents a framework for navigating complex HTML structures — specifically tables, frames, and forms — that are particularly challenging for screen reader users. The core…

  table accessibility · non-visual browsing · screen readers · domain specific language · HTML tables

• Evaluating Web Resources for Disability Access

  Murray Rowan, Peter Gregor, David Sloan, Paul Booth · 2000 · Proceedings of the Fourth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '00)

  This paper from the University of Dundee's Digital Media Access Group argues that existing accessibility evaluation methods in 2000 were individually insufficient and proposes a comprehensive meta-methodology that combines multiple evaluation techniques into a structured…

  accessibility evaluation · accessibility audit · automated testing · manual testing · heuristic evaluation

• Transcoding Proxy for Nonvisual Web Access

  Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2000 · Proceedings of the Fourth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '00)

  This paper presents a transcoding proxy system developed at IBM Japan that transforms existing web pages to be more accessible for blind users. The authors address the growing problem of web pages being designed with increasingly complex layouts that cram multiple functions and…

  web accessibility · screen reader · transcoding · proxy · blind and low vision

• A Comparison of Voice Controlled and Mouse Controlled Web Browsing

  Kevin Christian, Bill Kules, Ben Shneiderman, Adel Youssef · 2000 · Proceedings of the Fourth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '00)

  This within-subjects study from the University of Maryland compared voice-controlled web browsing with traditional mouse-based browsing using 18 participants. The researchers used Conversa, a commercial voice browser from Conversational Computing that renders pages visually…

  voice browser · speech recognition · web navigation · voice control · hypertext