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• Designing an Adaptive Web Navigation Interface for Users with Variable Pointing Performance

  Aqueasha Martin-Hammond, Foad Hamidi, Tejas Bhalerao, Christian Ortega, Abdullah Ali, Catherine Hornback, Casey Means, Amy Hurst · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates how to design adaptive web navigation interfaces for people who experience variable pointing ability — difficulty using a mouse to click targets on screen that fluctuates over time due to conditions like early-stage Parkinson's disease, age-related…

  adaptive user interface · motor impairment · pointing · assistive technology · web navigation

• Achieving Practical and Accurate Indoor Navigation for People with Visual Impairments

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Masayuki Murata, Cole Gleason, Erin Brady, Hironobu Takagi, Kris Kitani, Chieko Asakawa · 2017 · Proceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents improvements to the NavCog indoor navigation system that achieve sub-meter localization accuracy for blind pedestrians while significantly reducing the infrastructure cost of deploying BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) beacon networks. GPS provides outdoor…

  indoor navigation · visual impairment · blindness · BLE beacons · Bluetooth Low Energy

• Closed ASL Interpreting for Online Videos

  Raja Kushalnagar, Matthew Seita, Abraham Glasser · 2017 · Proceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper introduces "closed interpreting," a concept analogous to closed captioning but for sign language interpretation of online videos. While many deaf viewers prefer ASL interpreters over captions (as verbatim captioning speed often exceeds reading abilities, and deaf…

  American Sign Language · ASL · Deaf and hard of hearing · sign language interpreting · video accessibility

• Do Web Users with Autism Experience Barriers When Searching for Information Within Web Pages?

  Sukru Eraslan, Victoria Yaneva, Yeliz Yesilada, Simon Harper · 2017 · Proceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper provides empirical evidence that adults with high-functioning autism experience real barriers when searching for information on web pages, using eye tracking to reveal the underlying differences in visual attention patterns. The study employed a between-group…

  autism · eye tracking · web accessibility · cognitive accessibility · scanpath analysis

• Demographic and Experiential Factors Influencing Acceptance of Sign Language Animation by Deaf Users

  Hernisa Kacorri, Matt Huenerfauth, Sarah Ebling, Kasmira Patel, Mackenzie Willard · 2015 · ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

  This paper addresses a critical methodological gap in sign language animation research: the lack of standardized reporting on participant characteristics that may influence evaluation results. Sign language animation technology—which automatically synthesizes signing from…

  deaf · sign language · animation · avatar · ASL

• A Performance Comparison of On-Hand versus On-Phone Nonvisual Input by Blind and Sighted Users

  Uran Oh, Leah Findlater · 2015 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This study investigates whether using one's own hand as an input surface offers performance advantages over touchscreen phones for blind users performing nonvisual interaction. On-body input is particularly attractive for blind users because it provides enhanced tactile and…

  on-body interaction · mobile accessibility · blindness · touchscreen accessibility · gesture input

• Simplify or Help? Text Simplification Strategies for People with Dyslexia

  Luz Rello, Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Stefan Bott, Horacio Saggion · 2013 · Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper evaluates two automatic lexical simplification strategies designed to make text more accessible for people with dyslexia. The research addresses a key gap: while previous tools for dyslexic readers focused on text presentation (fonts, spacing, colors), none had…

  dyslexia · text simplification · readability · cognitive accessibility · eye tracking

• 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

• Toward Accessible Technology for Music Composers and Producers with Motor Disabilities

  Adam J. Sporka, Ben L. Carson, Paul Nauert, Sri H. Kurniawan · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This short paper reports on an initial user study with three motor-impaired musicians to identify challenges and research opportunities in making professional music software accessible. Modern music score-writing tools (Sibelius, Finale) and production software (Ableton Live, FL…

  music accessibility · motor impairment · music composition · music production · assistive technology

• An Intuitive Accessible Web Automation User Interface

  Yury Puzis, Yevgen Borodin, Faisal Ahmed, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper proposes and evaluates an intuitive web automation interface designed specifically for blind screen reader users. The authors observe that while the visual web has become increasingly sophisticated, assistive technology has not kept pace — blind users face high…

  web automation · screen readers · blind users · form filling · user study

• Why Read if You Can Skim: Towards Enabling Faster Screen Reading

  Faisal Ahmed, Yevgen Borodin, Yury Puzis, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper investigates how to bring the speed-reading technique of skimming — widely used by sighted readers to quickly get the gist of content — to blind screen reader users who face chronic information overload when listening to web content sequentially. The authors observe…

  screen readers · skimming · speed reading · blind users · text summarization

• Accessible Web Automation Interface: A User Study

  Yury Puzis · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This doctoral consortium paper presents the evaluation of two web automation user interfaces designed to help blind and low-vision screen reader users complete web browsing tasks more efficiently. The fundamental problem is that while the web has become essential for daily tasks…

  web accessibility · web automation · screen readers · blind users · low vision

• Audio Access to Calendars

  Andy Brown, Caroline Jay, Simon Harper · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper addresses a specific but widespread accessibility problem: pop-up calendar date pickers on the web are effectively unusable by people with visual impairments. These JavaScript widgets dynamically insert tabular calendar content into the page when a date field receives…

  visual impairment · screen readers · dynamic content · Web 2.0 · date picker

• User Interaction with Word Prediction: The Effects of Prediction Quality

  Keith Trnka, John McCaw, Debra Yarrington, Kathleen F. McCoy, Christopher Pennington · 2009 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This study investigates how the quality of word prediction systems affects both communication speed and user behavior in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The researchers conducted a controlled experiment with 33 adult participants who used a simulated AAC…

  AAC · word prediction · language models · communication rate · user study

• Cognitively Motivated Features for Readability Assessment

  Lijun Feng, Noémie Elhadad, Matt Huenerfauth · 2009 · Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (EACL 2009)

  Feng, Elhadad, and Huenerfauth (2009) develop and evaluate an automatic readability-assessment tool targeted specifically at adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) — people in the 'mild' category (IQ 55-70), who comprise roughly 3% of the U.S. population. Rather than reusing…

  readability · automatic readability assessment · cognitive accessibility · intellectual disability · mild intellectual disability

• WebAnywhere: A Screen Reader On-the-Go

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Craig M. Prince, Richard E. Ladner · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A 2008)

  This paper introduces WebAnywhere, a web-based, self-voicing screen reader that enables blind users to access the web from virtually any computer with an Internet connection and sound output, without installing any software. The system addresses a fundamental equity problem:…

  screen readers · blind users · assistive technology · web-based · text-to-speech

• Experimental Evaluation of Usability and Accessibility of Heading Elements

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

  This study by Takayuki Watanabe of Tokyo Woman's Christian University provides empirical evidence for something the accessibility community has long advocated: that proper semantic markup of heading elements (h1-h6) significantly improves both usability and accessibility. The…

  semantic HTML · heading elements · screen readers · usability testing · blindness

• Barrier pointing: using physical edges to assist target acquisition on mobile device touch screens

  Jon Froehlich, Jacob O. Wobbrock, Shaun K. Kane · 2007 · Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  Froehlich, Wobbrock and Kane propose barrier pointing: a set of stylus-based target acquisition techniques that exploit the raised physical edge of a mobile touch screen to stabilise input for users with motor impairments. Standard touch-screen tapping requires a user to fly the…

  mobile accessibility · touchscreen accessibility · motor impairment · target acquisition · input techniques

• Do Text Transcoders Improve Usability for Disabled Users?

  Giorgio Brajnik, Daniela Cancila, Daniela Nicoli, Mery Pignatelli · 2005 · Proceedings of the 2005 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the first scientific user study examining whether text transcoders — proxy-based systems that dynamically transform web pages into text-only versions — actually improve usability for disabled users. Text transcoders strip images, JavaScript, multimedia, and…

  text transcoding · usability testing · accessibility overlays · screen readers · low vision

• Voice over Workplace (VoWP): Voice Navigation in a Complex Business GUI

  Frankie James, Jeff Roelands · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper explores the design of voice navigation interfaces for complex business GUIs, specifically SAP Workplace, to support physically disabled users who cannot use a mouse or keyboard. The authors conducted two user studies examining the fundamental trade-off in voice…

  voice interface · speech recognition · physical disability · GUI accessibility · navigation

• Sketching Images Eyes-Free: A Grid-Based Dynamic Drawing Tool for the Blind

  Hesham M. Kamel, James A. Landay · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper presents IC2D (Integrated Communication 2 Draw), a keyboard-operated drawing tool that enables blind users to create and explore graphical images using a grid-based auditory interface. The system divides the screen into a 3x3 grid mapped to the telephone keypad…

  blindness · drawing · graphics · auditory interface · grid-based interface