Reviews

Search results

• Effect of Displaying Human Videos During an Evaluation Study of American Sign Language Animation

  Hernisa Kacorri, Pengfei Lu, Matt Huenerfauth · 2013 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper addresses a critical methodological question in sign language animation research: how does the choice of upper baseline (human video vs. high-quality animation) and the modality of comprehension questions affect evaluation results? The authors conducted three phases…

  sign language animation · ASL · deaf accessibility · evaluation methodology · user studies

• Comparing Native Signers' Perception of American Sign Language Animations and Videos via Eye Tracking

  Hernisa Kacorri, Allen Harper, Matt Huenerfauth · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper investigates whether eye tracking can serve as an alternative or complementary evaluation method for assessing the quality of synthesized American Sign Language (ASL) animations. Computer-generated ASL animations offer accessibility benefits for deaf individuals with…

  sign language · American Sign Language · animation · eye tracking · deaf accessibility

• Mixed Local and Remote Participation in Teleconferences from a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Perspective

  Christian Vogler, Paula Tucker, Norman Williams · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This experience report describes the accessibility challenges faced by deaf and hard of hearing members of the FCC's Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) during 2.5 years of collaboration with 25-30 hearing committee members in mixed local and remote meeting settings. The…

  deaf accessibility · hard of hearing · teleconferencing · videoconferencing · sign language

• A Web-Based Intelligibility Evaluation of Sign Language Video Transmitted at Low Frame Rates and Bitrates

  Jessica J. Tran, Rafael Rodriguez, Eve A. Riskin, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper evaluates the perceived lower limits of intelligible sign language video for mobile communication, testing how much video quality can be sacrificed while maintaining comprehensibility for ASL users. The ITU-T recommends sign language video be transmitted at 25 fps at…

  sign language · American Sign Language · deaf accessibility · video compression · frame rate

• Mobile Sign Language Translation System for Deaf Community

  Mehrez Boulares, Mohamed Jemni · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from the University of Tunis presents a mobile web service for translating written text into sign language using a 3D virtual signing agent on Android devices. The system addresses two interrelated accessibility challenges: deaf and hard of hearing people with low…

  sign language · deaf accessibility · mobile accessibility · machine translation · signing avatar

• Web-Content's Syndication in Sign Language

  Oussama El Ghoul, Nour Ben Yahia, Mohamed Jemni · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper addresses the inaccessibility of web content syndication (RSS feeds) for deaf users, particularly those in developing countries where over 80% of deaf people are illiterate. While RSS and Atom feeds are efficient mechanisms for pushing updated content to users, all…

  sign language · deaf accessibility · avatar technology · RSS · content syndication

• Accessible 3D Signing Avatars: The Tunisian Experience

  Kabil Jaballah · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper reports on the WebSign project from the University of Tunis, a system that translates written text into sign language performed by 3D avatars, and addresses the broader challenge of making signing avatars accessible, indexable, and discoverable on the web. The author…

  sign language · deaf accessibility · avatar technology · virtual signing · education accessibility

• Effect of Presenting Video as a Baseline During an American Sign Language Animation User Study

  Pengfei Lu, Hernisa Kacorri · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '12)

  This paper investigates a methodological question central to sign language animation research: what type of upper baseline should be used when evaluating synthesized American Sign Language (ASL) animations? The authors laboratory at CUNY had previously conducted multiple studies…

  sign language animation · American Sign Language · user study methodology · evaluation baselines · deaf accessibility

• An Integrative Accessibility Engineering Approach Using Multidimensional Classifications of Barriers in the Web

  Diana Ruth-Janneck · 2011 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents multidimensional classifications of web accessibility barriers derived from the large-scale German study "Web2.0/Accessible," commissioned by Aktion Mensch, which surveyed 671 disabled internet users via an accessible online questionnaire (with audio files…

  accessibility barriers · accessibility evaluation · user research · web accessibility · software engineering

• Data-Driven Synthesis of Spatially Inflected Verbs for American Sign Language Animation

  Pengfei Lu, Matt Huenerfauth · 2011 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper addresses a critical accessibility challenge: most deaf individuals in the US have limited English literacy (the majority of deaf high school graduates read at a fourth-grade level), making written web content inaccessible. While sign language animation offers a…

  sign language · ASL · animation · deaf accessibility · natural language processing

• The Vlogging Phenomena: A Deaf Perspective

  Ellen S. Hibbard, Deb I. Fels · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper examines how Deaf people use video blogging (vlogging) technology to communicate in American Sign Language (ASL) on mainstream and specialized platforms. The researchers compared vlogging practices on YouTube, a mainstream video-sharing site, and Deafvideo.TV (DVTV),…

  deaf accessibility · sign language · video accessibility · social media · Deaf Culture

• Brazilian Sign Language Multimedia Hangman Game: A Prototype of an Educational and Inclusive Application

  Renata Cristina Barros Madeo · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This doctoral consortium paper presents a prototype educational game — a hangman game that uses Brazilian Sign Language (BSL/Libras) as its input method. Instead of typing letters on a keyboard, players perform fingerspelling signs from the Libras manual alphabet in front of a…

  sign language · sign language recognition · deaf accessibility · educational technology · game accessibility

• We Need to Communicate! Helping Hearing Parents of Deaf Children Learn American Sign Language

  Kimberly A. Weaver, Thad Starner · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents interview research with hearing parents of deaf children to understand their motivations, challenges, and needs when learning American Sign Language, informing the design of SMARTSign, a mobile ASL learning application. In the United States, 90-95% of deaf…

  deaf accessibility · sign language · educational technology · mobile accessibility · Deaf Culture

• Evaluating Importance of Facial Expression in American Sign Language and Pidgin Signed English Animations

  Matt Huenerfauth, Pengfei Lu, Andrew Rosenberg · 2011 · Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper presents the first empirical evaluation of the impact of facial expressions on the understandability and perceived quality of American Sign Language (ASL) and Pidgin Signed English (PSE) computer animations. ASL animations have significant accessibility benefits since…

  sign language · sign language animation · deaf accessibility · facial expression · American Sign Language

• Multi-View Platform: An Accessible Live Classroom Viewing Approach for Low Vision Students

  Raja S. Kushalnagar, Stephanie A. Ludie, Poorna Kushalnagar · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper presents a Multi-View Platform (MVP) that uses students' personal smartphones and tablets to provide low vision and deaf students with flexible, magnified views of classroom lecture visuals such as presentation slides and whiteboards. The system addresses a…

  low vision · education · classroom accessibility · mobile technology · magnification

• 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

• Modeling and Synthesizing Spatially Inflected Verbs for American Sign Language Animations

  Matt Huenerfauth, Pengfei Lu · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents a novel computational method for automatically synthesizing animations of American Sign Language (ASL) verbs that undergo spatial inflection — a grammatical process where verb motion paths change based on the 3D locations in space that have been assigned to…

  American Sign Language · sign language animation · deaf accessibility · natural language generation · avatar

• Collecting a Motion-Capture Corpus of American Sign Language for Data-Driven Generation Research

  Pengfei Lu, Matt Huenerfauth · 2010 · Proceedings of the NAACL HLT 2010 Workshop on Speech and Language Processing for Assistive Technologies (SLPAT '10)

  This workshop paper describes the first year of a multi-year project at CUNY to build a motion-capture corpus of American Sign Language (ASL) specifically intended to support data-driven ASL animation and machine-translation research. The authors argue that current ASL animation…

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

• Web-based Chinese sign language broadcasting system

  Dengfeng Yao, Yunfeng Qiu, Harry Huang · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibililty (W4A)

  This paper presents a web-based Chinese Sign Language (CSL) Broadcasting System that automatically translates text on web pages into animated 3D sign language gestures displayed through a browser plugin. The system addresses an often-overlooked accessibility barrier: while web…

  sign language · deaf accessibility · sign language synthesis · 3D animation · Chinese Sign Language

• Accessibility Perspectives on Enabling South African Sign Language in the South African National Accessibility Portal

  Louis Coetzee, Guillaume Olivrin, Ilse Viviers · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper investigates the feasibility and effectiveness of embedding animated South African Sign Language (SASL) content into the South African National Accessibility Portal (NAP), a government-backed information sharing platform for the disability sector. The authors from the…

  sign language · deaf accessibility · web accessibility · localization · South Africa

• A Linguistically Motivated Model for Speed and Pausing in Animations of American Sign Language

  Matt Huenerfauth · 2009 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper tackles a critical accessibility challenge: many deaf adults in the United States have English reading levels below average 10-year-old hearing students, creating barriers to accessing written web content. Computer-generated animations of American Sign Language (ASL)…

  American Sign Language · sign language animation · deaf accessibility · natural language generation · virtual humans

• Spatial and Temporal Pyramids for Grammatical Expression Recognition of American Sign Language

  Nicholas Michael, Dimitris Metaxas, Carol Neidle · 2009 · Proceedings of the 11th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '09)

  This paper presents a novel computer vision framework for recognizing grammatical facial expressions and head gestures in American Sign Language (ASL) video. While most sign language recognition research has focused on manual components (hand shapes and movements), this work…

  sign language recognition · American Sign Language · non-manual markers · computer vision · facial expression recognition

• Evaluation of a psycholinguistically motivated timing model for animations of American Sign Language

  Matt Huenerfauth · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper investigates how psycholinguistic insights about the timing and speed of American Sign Language (ASL) can improve computer-generated sign language animations. The author developed two algorithms — a sign-duration algorithm and a pause-insertion algorithm — grounded in…

  sign language · American Sign Language · animation · natural language generation · deaf accessibility

• Design and Evaluation of an American Sign Language Generator

  Matt Huenerfauth, Liming Zhao, Erdan Gu, Jan Allbeck · 2007 · Proceedings of the Workshop on Embodied Language Processing (EmbodiedNLP 2007)

  Huenerfauth, Zhao, Gu, and Allbeck (2007) describe the implementation and user evaluation of a prototype system for generating animations of American Sign Language (ASL) classifier predicates — spatially complex hand movements that trace the location, motion, shape, or contour…

  ASL · American Sign Language · deaf accessibility · sign language · sign language animation

• An Extensible, Scalable Browser-Based Architecture for Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication and Collaboration Systems for Deaf and Hearing Individuals

  Jonathan Schull · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper from Rochester Institute of Technology (home to the National Technical Institute of the Deaf) presents a browser-based communication platform designed to facilitate face-to-face conversation between deaf and hearing team members. Standard chat systems enforce a…

  deaf accessibility · CSCW · real-time text · collaboration · universal design