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• 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

• Designing for Auditory Web Access: Accessibility and Cellphone Users

  Shari Trewin, Rachel Bellamy, John Thomas, Jonathan Brezin, John Richards, Cal Swart, Bonnie E. John · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper draws a parallel between two groups of web users who experience the web primarily through auditory rather than visual interaction: people with visual impairments using screen readers, and people in developing regions accessing the web through low-end mobile phones…

  auditory interaction · screen readers · mobile accessibility · developing regions · digital divide

• Developing countries; developing experiences: approaches to accessibility for the real world

  Brian Kelly, Sarah Lewthwaite, David Sloan · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper critically examines the limitations of relying solely on technical accessibility guidelines like WCAG to achieve digital inclusion, particularly in the context of developing countries. The authors argue that the WAI model — which depends on coordinated conformance…

  accessibility policy · social inclusion · disability studies · WCAG limitations · developing countries

• (Voice) website creation and access using phones

  Arun Kumar, Sheetal K. Agarwal, Priyanka Manwani, Ketki Dhanesha · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This challenge paper from IBM Research India presents Spoken Web, a platform that enables people to create and access "voice websites" (VoiceSites) entirely through phone calls using speech and DTMF (touch-tone) input. The system takes a fundamentally different approach to web…

  voice interface · developing countries · digital divide · low literacy · user-generated content

• Age and Web Access: The Next Generation

  Vicki L. Hanson · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper challenges the common assumption that technology difficulties experienced by older adults are a fixed characteristic of aging that will naturally disappear as tech-savvy younger generations grow old. Hanson argues that the relationship between age and web access is…

  aging · older adults · digital divide · cognitive accessibility · user experience

• A Survey of Technology Accessibility Problems Faced by Older Users in China

  Dengfeng Yao, Yunfeng Qiu, Zaixin Du, Jianqing Ma, Harry Huang · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the broadest survey of web accessibility for older users conducted in China at the time, with 180 valid responses from participants across all 25 Chinese provinces. The web-based questionnaire was supplemented with in-person discussions at meetings with older…

  aging · older adults · digital divide · global accessibility · survey research

• Augmenting social media accessibility

  Roberto Borrino, Marco Furini, Marco Roccetti · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibililty (W4A)

  This paper presents SOMFA (SOcial Media For All), an architecture that transforms web-based social media content into multimodal audio/video presentations suitable for television sets. The system addresses the growing social divide created by social media: while technologically…

  social media · digital divide · aging · content adaptation · text-to-speech

• 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

• Thailand's National Digital Divide Strategic Framework

  Proadpran Punyabukkana, Suchai Thanawastien, Ajin Jirachiefpattana · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents Thailand's Digital Divide Strategic Framework (2008-2010), a national plan developed by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to address ICT accessibility for three target populations: the poor, people with disabilities, and senior…

  accessibility policy · digital divide · assistive technology · web accessibility · universal design

• Ubiquitous Accessibility, Common Technology Core, and Micro Assistive Technology: Commentary on "Computers and People with Disabilities"

  Gregg C. Vanderheiden · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This influential commentary reflects on the evolution of digital accessibility from 1992 to 2008 and proposes a vision for addressing emerging challenges. Vanderheiden, director of the Trace R&D Center, traces progress from an era when only Apple had built-in accessibility…

  ubiquitous accessibility · assistive technology · accessibility policy · digital divide · universal design

• Online Support Communities for Older People: Investigating Network Patterns and Characteristics of Social Support

  Ulrike Pfeil · 2007 · SIGACCESS Accessibility and Computing

  This paper describes a PhD research programme investigating how older people exchange social support in online communities, using SeniorNet's depression discussion board as the primary study site. The author argues that while much accessibility work has focused on making web…

  aging · social accessibility · online community · social support · social network analysis

• The National Accessibility Portal: An Accessible Information Sharing Portal for the South African Disability Sector

  L. Coetzee, N. Govender, I. Viviers · 2007 · Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria describes the development of South Africa's National Accessibility Portal (NAP), a five-year research and development initiative led by the Meraka Institute in partnership with Disabled…

  global accessibility · digital divide · multilingual accessibility · developing countries · information sharing

• Web 2.0: Hype or Happiness?

  Mary Zajicek · 2007 · Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This keynote paper by Mary Zajicek of Oxford Brookes University takes a deliberately broad, holistic view of Web 2.0 accessibility, arguing that physical access to web content is only the starting point. Zajicek defines accessibility along three dimensions: the ability to access…

  Web 2.0 · digital inclusion · older adults · visual impairment · digital divide

• Iconic Communication System by XML Language: (SCILX)

  Nathalie Cindy Kuicheu, Laure Pauline Fotso, François Siewe · 2007 · Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from the University of Yaoundé I (Cameroon) and De Montfort University (UK) presents SCILX, an XML-based iconic communication system that extends traditional iconic interfaces to enable communication through the Internet. Previous iconic systems — such as the Edith…

  augmentative and alternative communication · iconic communication · XML · literacy · digital divide

• Older Women and Digital TV: A Case Study

  Sri Kurniawan · 2007 · Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  This paper from the University of Manchester investigates why digital television (DTV) services are unappealing to older women in the UK, using a Delphi interview technique with a panel of three expert DTV older women users (aged 69, 70, and 75) who were students at the College…

  aging · digital television · technology adoption · digital divide · older adults

• Mobile phones may be the right devices for supporting developing world accessibility, but is the WWW the right service delivery model?

  Tapan S. Parikh · 2006 · Proceedings of the 2006 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This position paper from the University of Washington argues that while mobile phones are well-suited devices for delivering information services to rural developing world users, the World Wide Web as a service delivery model is fundamentally mismatched to this context. Drawing…

  mobile accessibility · digital divide · ICT4D · rural accessibility · novice users

• A Three-Countries Case Study of Older People's Browsing

  Prush Sa-nga-ngam, Sri Kurniawan · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This short paper from the University of Manchester presents survey data on web browsing activities from 63 respondents aged 55 and over across three countries: 10 from Thailand, 40 from the UK, and 13 from the USA. The questionnaire, distributed during March-April 2006, explored…

  older adults · web browsing · age-friendly design · cross-cultural · digital divide

• Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology (DO-IT) on the electronic highway

  Sheryl Burgstahler, Dan Comden · 1994 · Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94)

  This paper describes DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology), a National Science Foundation-funded project based at the University of Washington's College of Engineering. DO-IT was designed to recruit and retain students with disabilities into…

  STEM accessibility · STEM education · digital divide · disability employment · internet accessibility