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• Accessible Crowdwork? Understanding the Value in and Challenge of Microtask Employment for People with Disabilities

  Kathryn Zyskowski, Meredith Ringel Morris, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Mary L. Gray, Shaun K. Kane · 2015 · Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW 2015)

  This paper presents the first formal study of crowdworkers who have disabilities, using a mixed-methods approach combining in-depth interviews with 17 people (8 disabled crowdworkers and 9 job coaches for people with disabilities) and a survey of 631 adults with disabilities.…

  crowdsourcing · disability employment · workplace accessibility · digital inclusion · assistive technology

• The role of accessibility in a universal web

  Shawn Lawton Henry, Shadi Abou-Zahra, Judy Brewer · 2014 · Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  Written by leaders of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), this communications paper clarifies the relationship between web accessibility and broader concepts like universal design, inclusive design, and design for all. The authors argue that while accessibility research…

  universal design · web accessibility · inclusive design · situational limitations · mobile accessibility

• Age, Technology Usage, and Cognitive Characteristics in Relation to Perceived Disorientation and Reported Website Ease of Use

  Michael Crabb, Vicki L. Hanson · 2014 · ASSETS '14: Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

  This paper challenges the common practice in HCI research of using chronological age as the primary metric for understanding differences in web browsing experience between older and younger adults. Twenty participants (12 older adults aged 63-90, M=73.66; and 8 younger adults…

  older adults · aging · cognitive accessibility · web accessibility · fluid intelligence

• Smarter Board: A Community-Oriented Communication Tool

  Mateus Molinaro, Sergio Borger, Carlos Cardonha, Diego Gallo, Ricardo Herrmann, Ademir Ferreira, Fernando Koch, Priscilla Avegliano, Kelly Shigeno · 2013 · Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This demo paper from IBM Research Brazil presents the Smarter Board, a lightweight community-focused social network platform designed specifically for groups of people with disabilities. The system deliberately uses SMS text messages as its primary input mechanism rather than…

  social accessibility · community · digital inclusion · communication accessibility · SMS

• Usability, Demography, and Directions for W4A

  Alan F. Newell · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This provocative keynote paper from Alan Newell at the University of Dundee challenges the web accessibility community to broaden its focus beyond technical compliance for people with sensory and motor disabilities to address the much larger population of digitally excluded…

  aging · digital divide · usability · web accessibility · digital inclusion

• Alipi: Tools for a Re-Narration Web

  T. B. Dinesh, Venkatesh Choppella · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This companion demo paper to the full Alipi framework paper presents the concrete open-source toolset that implements the re-narration web concept. The authors frame the accessibility challenge around the "next billion" internet users — people who may not be literate in the…

  social accessibility · web accessibility · localization · multilingual accessibility · collaborative accessibility

• How Voice Augmentation Supports Elderly Web Users

  Daisuke Sato, Masatomo Kobayashi, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa, Jiro Tanaka · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper from IBM Research Tokyo investigates how voice-based augmentation, originally developed for blind screen reader users, can be adapted to support older adults using web applications. The research addresses two key barriers that prevent elderly users from engaging with…

  aging · web accessibility · voice interface · cognitive accessibility · auditory interface

• Understanding the Computer Skills of Adult Expert Users with Down Syndrome: An Exploratory Study

  Jonathan Lazar, Libby Kumin, Jinjuan Heidi Feng · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents an ethnographic study of ten adult expert computer users with Down syndrome, observed in their homes and workplaces for a minimum of two hours each. The research aimed to move beyond earlier survey-based studies (which relied on parent-reported data about…

  Down syndrome · cognitive accessibility · intellectual disability · employment · workplace accessibility

• Facilita: reading assistance to the functionally illiterate

  Willian Massami Watanabe · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This doctoral consortium paper presents Facilita, a web application that uses natural language processing (NLP) to automatically simplify Portuguese web content for functionally illiterate users. In Brazil, 21.7% of the population aged 15 and over is classified as functionally…

  literacy · cognitive accessibility · natural language processing · text simplification · readability

• The Spoken Web Application Framework: User Generated Content and Service Creation through Low-End Mobiles

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

  This paper from IBM Research India presents the Spoken Web Application Framework (SWAF), a platform that expands the definition of "Web" itself to include voice-based hyperlinked content accessible through ordinary telephone calls. At the time of publication, only 22% of the…

  digital divide · voice interface · developing regions · digital inclusion · mobile accessibility

• 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

• Adapting web content for low-literacy readers by using lexical elaboration and named entities labeling

  Willian M. Watanabe, Arnaldo Candido, Marcelo A. Amâncio, Matheus de Oliveira, Thiago A. S. Pardo, Renata P. M. Fortes, Sandra M. Aluísio · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents Educational FACILITA, a browser-based tool that uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to automatically adapt web content for low-literacy readers. Developed at the University of São Paulo as part of the PorSimples text simplification project for Brazilian…

  low literacy · natural language processing · text simplification · lexical elaboration · named entity recognition

• 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

• Sparsha: A Comprehensive Indian Language Toolset for the Blind

  Anirban Lahiri, Satya Jyoti Chattopadhyay, Anupam Basu · 2005 · Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This paper presents Sparsha ("feeling of touch" in Hindi), the first comprehensive toolset enabling over 13 million visually impaired people in the Indian subcontinent to read and write in their native languages using a computer. Existing Braille translation systems and screen…

  braille · visual impairment · Indian languages · multilingual accessibility · screen reader

• New Technology Enables Many-Fold Reduction in the Cost of Refreshable Braille Displays

  John Roberts, Oliver Slattery, David Kardos, Brett Swope · 2000 · Proceedings of the Fourth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '00)

  This paper from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) describes a novel rotating-wheel design for refreshable Braille displays that could reduce costs by up to a factor of ten compared to existing displays. The dominant cost factor in conventional Braille…

  braille · refreshable braille display · assistive technology · hardware · tactile accessibility