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• PLUMB: An Interface for Users Who are Blind to Display, Create, and Modify Graphs

  Matt Calder, Robert F. Cohen, Jessica Lanzoni, Yun Xu · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This demonstration paper presents the latest version of PLUMB (exPLoring graphs at UMB), extending it beyond passive graph exploration to include the ability for blind and sighted users to create and modify graphs. The original PLUMB system displayed drawn graphs on a Tablet PC…

  visual impairment · graph accessibility · sonification · audio interface · tablet PC

• iSonic: Interactive Sonification for Non-visual Data Exploration

  Haixia Zhao, Catherine Plaisant, Ben Shneiderman · 2005 · Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This paper presents iSonic, an interactive sonification tool developed at the University of Maryland Human-Computer Interaction Lab that enables vision-impaired users to explore geo-referenced statistical data such as population distribution, crime rates, or election results by…

  sonification · data visualization · visual impairment · auditory display · non-visual interaction

• Multimodal User Input Patterns in a Non-Visual Context

  Xiaoyu Chen, Marilyn Tremaine · 2005 · Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This exploratory study from the New Jersey Institute of Technology investigates how users choose between speech and hand (touchpad) inputs when performing tasks in a non-visual interface. The research used AudioBrowser, a system that organizes information items into hierarchies…

  multimodal interaction · non-visual interaction · speech input · touchpad · visual impairment

• 3D Sound Interactive Environments for Problem Solving

  Jaime Sánchez, Mauricio Sáenz · 2005 · Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This paper from the University of Chile presents AudioChile, a 3D sound virtual environment designed to help children with visual disabilities develop problem-solving skills through interactive exploration of Chilean geography and culture. AudioChile is a role-playing game…

  spatial audio · visual impairment · blindness · audio game · cognitive development

• PLUMB: Displaying Graphs to the Blind Using an Active Auditory Interface

  Robert F. Cohen, Rui Yu, Arthur Meacham, Joelle Skaff · 2005 · Proceedings of the 7th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '05)

  This short paper presents PLUMB (exPLoring graphs at UMB), a system developed at UMass Boston that enables blind users to explore relational graphs through an active auditory interface on a tablet PC. The system addresses a fundamental barrier in computer science education: many…

  sonification · graph accessibility · blindness · auditory interface · computer science education

• 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

• The Audio Abacus: Representing Numerical Values with Nonspeech Sound for the Visually Impaired

  Bruce N. Walker, Jeffrey Lindsay, Justin Godfrey · 2003 · Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '04)

  This paper introduces the Audio Abacus, a novel sonification application that transforms exact numerical values into sequences of non-speech tones, following the analogy of a physical abacus where each digit is represented by a distinct sound. Unlike most sonification research,…

  sonification · auditory display · blindness and low vision · data visualization · non-visual interaction

• Evaluation of a Non-Visual Molecule Browser

  Andy Brown, Steve Pettifer, Robert Stevens · 2003 · Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '04)

  This paper evaluates Kekulé, software designed to allow visually impaired users to explore chemical molecular structures — diagrams that are typically presented as two-dimensional graph schematics showing atoms (nodes) connected by bonds (edges). Molecular diagrams are an…

  STEM accessibility · non-visual interaction · blindness and low vision · diagram accessibility · synthesized speech

• Multimodal Virtual Reality Versus Printed Medium in Visualization for Blind People

  Wai Yu, Stephen Brewster · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper presents a comparative evaluation of two approaches for making bar chart data accessible to blind and visually impaired people: traditional raised tactile diagrams and a multimodal virtual reality system. The VR system combines a SensAble PHANToM force feedback device…

  data visualization · blindness and low vision · haptic technology · virtual reality · tactile graphics

• A Study of Blind Drawing Practice: Creating Graphical Information Without the Visual Channel

  Hesham M. Kamel, James A. Landay · 2000 · Proceedings of the Fourth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '00)

  This paper from UC Berkeley investigates how blind users create drawings and proposes a grid-based model for non-visual drawing tools. The researchers began by observing that existing drawing tools for blind users fail because they lack adequate contextual feedback — blind users…

  tactile graphics · blindness and low vision · non-visual interaction · drawing tools · accessible graphics

• 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

• Comparing Effects of Navigational Interface Modalities on Speaker Prosodics

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

  This paper investigates whether speech-only (displayless) interfaces impose a measurable cognitive burden on users compared to multimodal interfaces that include visual or tactile components. The research uses an innovative methodology: rather than relying on subjective workload…

  speech technology · cognitive load · non-visual interaction · navigation · prosody

• An Interactive Method for Accessing Tables in HTML

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

  This paper from IBM Japan proposes a method for converting HTML tables into non-visual, navigable representations for screen reader users. At the time, Screen Reader/2 (the Japanese version of OS/2's screen reader) could read displayed text information line by line and word by…

  web accessibility · screen reader · HTML tables · table accessibility · blind and low vision

• Conversational Gestures for Direct Manipulation on the Audio Desktop

  T. V. Raman · 1998 · Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This paper by T. V. Raman of Adobe Systems' Advanced Technology Group presents a systematic methodology for designing auditory interfaces by decomposing visual interaction into "conversational gestures" — the atomic building blocks of human-computer dialogue. Rather than…

  auditory interface · audio desktop · speech-enabling · conversational gestures · direct manipulation

• A Generic Direct-Manipulation 3D-Auditory Environment for Hierarchical Navigation in Non-Visual Interaction

  Anthony Savidis, Constantine Stephanidis, Andreas Korte, Kai Crispien, Klaus Fellbaum · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper presents a generic, reusable 3D-auditory environment designed to support hierarchical navigation in non-visual user interfaces. The authors address a significant gap in assistive technology development: while 3D audio had been used in a few specialized systems for…

  non-visual interaction · auditory interface · 3D audio · spatial audio · gesture recognition

• Combining Haptic and Braille Technologies: Design Issues and Pilot Study

  Christophe Ramstein · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper presents the Pantobraille, a novel device that combines a single braille cell with a pantograph-based force feedback device to allow blind users to navigate and read content on graphical user interfaces. Developed as part of the CITI PC-Access project, the device…

  braille · haptic technology · force feedback · braille display · tactile accessibility

• Audio formatting of a graph

  S. H. Zhang, M. Krishnamoorthy · 1994 · Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94)

  This 1994 paper introduces Audio Formatting of a Graph (AFG), a software package designed to make graph theory accessible to visually impaired students and researchers. Graph theory — the mathematical study of relationships between objects represented as nodes and edges — relies…

  sonification · graph theory · blind users · audio representation · mathematics accessibility

• Interface modeling issues in providing access to GUIs for the visually impaired (panel session)

  A. D. N. Edwards, E. D. Mynatt, J. Thatcher · 1994 · Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94)

  This Assets '94 panel session brought together three leading researchers to discuss the fundamental challenge of making graphical user interfaces accessible to blind and visually impaired users. By 1994, the computing world was rapidly transitioning from text-based command-line…

  GUI accessibility · screen reader · blind users · off-screen model · interface modeling

• Presenting Information in Sound

  Sara Bly · 1982 · Proceedings of the 1982 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '82)

  Sara Bly's 1982 CHI paper, written at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is one of the earliest systematic investigations of using computer-generated sound — rather than graphics — to present multivariate data to human analysts. Bly opens by arguing that purely visual…

  sonification · auditory display · data visualization · multivariate data · non-visual interaction