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• Online Focus Groups Used as an Accessible Participatory Research Method

  Ted L. Wattenberg · 2005 · Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This paper proposes the use of online focus groups as a method for meaningfully including people with disabilities in participatory research, addressing persistent barriers to their involvement in technology studies. The author situates this work within a troubling context:…

  participatory research · accessibility · research methods · screen readers · disability inclusion

• 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

• 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

• Designing Search Engine User Interfaces for the Visually Impaired

  Barbara Leporini, Patrizia Andronico, Marina Buzzi · 2004 · Proceedings of the 2004 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper examines the fundamental differences between visual and aural perception of search engine interfaces and proposes specific design guidelines to improve usability for blind and visually impaired users interacting via screen readers. The authors from the Italian…

  visual impairment · screen readers · search engines · user interface design · web navigation

• An accessible method of hiding HTML content

  Paul Ryan Bohman, Shane Anderson · 2004 · Proceedings of the 2004 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from WebAIM researchers at Utah State University presents a CSS technique for visually hiding HTML content while keeping it accessible to screen readers — an early formalization of what became the widely adopted "sr-only" or "visually-hidden" pattern. The authors…

  CSS · screen readers · visually hidden text · web development · skip navigation

• Planning, Reasoning, and Agents for Non-Visual Navigation of Tables and Frames

  Enrico Pontelli, Tran Cao Son · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper from New Mexico State University extends previous work on a Domain Specific Language (DSL) for non-visual table navigation by reinterpreting it within the framework of formal action theory. The core problem addressed is that HTML tables and frames are inherently…

  table accessibility · screen readers · non-visual navigation · semantic navigation · artificial intelligence

• 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

• 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

• User Interface of a Nonvisual Table Navigation Method

  Chieko Asakawa, Takashi Itoh · 1999 · CHI '99 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  This two-page CHI '99 late-breaking-results extended abstract addresses a problem that was central to the early accessible web: HTML tables were everywhere — used both for tabular data and, at the time, as a layout device — but talking web browsers read them strictly…

  web accessibility · screen readers · voice browser · table accessibility · blindness and low vision

• User Interface of a Home Page Reader

  Chieko Asakawa, Takashi Itoh · 1998 · Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This paper from IBM Japan's Tokyo Research Laboratory describes the design and evaluation of Home Page Reader, one of the earliest dedicated web browsers for blind users, which became an IBM Japan product in October 1997. The paper opens by framing the information access problem…

  screen readers · web accessibility · blindness · text-to-speech · nonvisual web access

• A Web Navigation Tool for the Blind

  Mary Zajicek, Chris Powell, Chris Reeves · 1998 · Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This short paper from Oxford Brookes University and the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) presents BrookesTalk, a prototype speech-output web browser designed to help blind users make rapid decisions about whether a web page is useful to them. The authors identified…

  web accessibility · blindness · information retrieval · screen readers · text summarization

• Programming for Usability in Nonvisual User Interfaces

  Gerhard Weber · 1998 · Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This short paper from Harz University addresses a fundamental problem in accessible software development: sighted developers working in visual programming environments must create interfaces that are usable nonvisually, but standard software engineering methods provide no tools…

  accessibility API · screen readers · software engineering · nonvisual interface · usability

• Screen Reader/2: Access to OS/2 and the Graphical User Interface

  Jim Thatcher · 1994 · Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94)

  This paper describes IBM Screen Reader/2, a screen access system that enabled blind users to interact with the OS/2 graphical user interface (GUI), Windows programs running under OS/2, and text-mode DOS and OS/2 programs. The system evolved from nearly a decade of development…

  screen readers · graphical user interface · blind users · off-screen model · text-to-speech

• Interactive audio documents

  T. V. Raman, David Gries · 1994 · Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94)

  This paper describes the browsing component of AsTeR (Audio System for Technical Readings), an interactive computing system developed by T. V. Raman that audio-formats electronic documents written in LaTeX to produce navigable audio documents. The paper addresses a fundamental…

  mathematical accessibility · audio formatting · screen readers · document accessibility · blind and low vision

• An experimental sound-based hierarchical menu navigation system for visually handicapped use of graphical user interfaces

  Arthur I. Karshmer, P. Brawner, G. Reiswig · 1994 · Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94)

  This paper addresses the accessibility crisis created by the shift from character-based computer interfaces to graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in the early 1990s. The authors note that earlier text-based systems were well-served by assistive technologies like screen readers,…

  GUI accessibility · sonification · auditory interface · blind and low vision · menu navigation

• Providing access to graphical user interfaces — not graphical screens

  W. Keith Edwards, Elizabeth D. Mynatt, Kathryn Stockton · 1994 · Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94)

  This paper argues that screen readers for graphical user interfaces should provide access to application interfaces at the semantic level rather than merely translating graphical screen contents. The authors from Georgia Tech's GVU Center identify three levels of interface…

  GUI accessibility · screen readers · accessibility API · blind and low vision · auditory interface