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• Accessibility Now! Teaching Accessible Computing at the Introductory Level

  Brian J. Rosmaita · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper advocates for teaching accessibility as a core element of introductory computer science courses rather than relegating it to advanced electives. The author describes a web design course at Hamilton College built around an "Accessibility First!" philosophy, where…

  accessibility education · pedagogy · web accessibility · service learning · disability studies

• DuckCall: Tackling the First Hundred Yards Problem

  Stephen Fickas, Craig Pataky, Zebin Chen · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper describes DuckCall, a TV-based reminder system designed to help people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) overcome the "first hundred yards problem" — the challenge of preparing for and getting to the first transit pick-up point for community travel. Background studies…

  cognitive disabilities · traumatic brain injury · social isolation · community navigation · transportation access

• Improving Non-Visual Web Access Using Context

  Jalal Mahmud, Yevgen Borodin, Dipanjan Das, I.V. Ramakrishnan · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper presents CSurf, a context-directed non-visual web browsing system that significantly reduces browsing time for blind users by intelligently rearranging page content based on navigational context. The core insight is that when a sighted user clicks a link, they can…

  screen readers · non-visual access · web navigation · context analysis · web page segmentation

• Accessibility Evaluation based on Machine Learning Technique

  Daisuke Sato, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper from IBM Tokyo Research Lab proposes using machine learning to evaluate the accessibility of presentation documents, addressing a gap where traditional rule-based checking tools are insufficient. The authors argue that presentation documents are fundamentally…

  automated testing · machine learning · presentation accessibility · accessibility evaluation · support vector machine

• Using Think Aloud Protocol with Blind Users: A Case for Inclusive Usability Evaluation Methods

  Sambhavi Chandrashekar, Tony Stockman, Deborah Fels, Rachel Benedyk · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper examines whether the Think Aloud Protocol (TAP), one of the most widely used usability evaluation methods, can be effectively applied when testing with blind screen reader users. The study involved six vision-impaired students evaluating a website designed to test the…

  usability testing · think aloud protocol · blind users · screen readers · research methods

• Designing a Scripting Language to Help the Blind Program Visually

  Kenneth G. Franqueiro, Robert M. Siegfried · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper addresses the significant barrier that GUI-based programming environments pose for blind programmers. While programming was historically one of the more accessible professions for blind individuals — with the American Federation for the Blind listing 130 blind…

  blind programmers · visual programming · graphical user interfaces · scripting languages · IDE accessibility

• A Mixed Method for Evaluating Input Devices with Older Persons

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

  This exploratory study introduces a mixed evaluation method for assessing common input devices used by older persons. The author argues that traditional input device studies rely too heavily on experimental tasks like Fitts's Law pointing tests, which use controlled stimuli that…

  older adults · input devices · usability evaluation · mixed methods · psychometric testing

• Designing Assistive Technology for Blind Users

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

  This paper reports on an observational and interview case study of a congenitally blind college student (pseudonym Sara) conducted in her home to develop design insights for improving interactions between blind users and everyday technological artifacts. The researcher used…

  blindness · assistive technology · human-centered design · ethnography · case study

• A Demonstration of the iCARE Portable Reader

  Terri Hedgpeth, John A. Black, Jr., Sethuraman Panchanathan · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper presents the portable iCARE Reader, an assistive device developed at Arizona State University that allows people who are blind or visually impaired to read printed text more naturally and conveniently than existing flatbed scanner-based reading systems. The project…

  blindness · visual impairment · OCR · assistive technology · reading systems

• Functional Web Accessibility Techniques and Tools from the University of Illinois

  Jon Gunderson, Hadi Bargi Rangin, Nicholas Hoyt · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper presents two complementary tools developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for helping web developers create functionally accessible websites: the CITES/DRES Functional Web Accessibility Best Practices and associated evaluation tools. The authors…

  web accessibility · automated testing · accessibility evaluation · WCAG · Section 508

• Designing Auditory Displays to Facilitate Object Localization in Virtual Haptic 3D Environments

  Koen Crommentuijn, Fredrik Winberg · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper investigates five different auditory display designs to help blind users locate objects in a virtual haptic 3D environment explored with a PHANToM Desktop haptic device. While haptic devices give visually impaired users the ability to explore virtual 3D spaces by…

  auditory display · sonification · haptic feedback · virtual environment · blindness

• Hardware-Based Text-to-Braille Translator

  Xuan Zhang, Cesar Ortega-Sanchez, Iain Murray · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper describes the implementation of a text-to-Braille translator in hardware using Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), as an alternative to the software-based translators that dominate the market. The translator implements Paul Blenkhorn's algorithm for converting…

  braille · braille translation · FPGA · hardware · embedded systems

• Facetop Tablet: Note-Taking Assistance for Deaf Persons

  Dorian Miller, James Culp, David Stotts · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper presents Facetop Tablet, a system designed to assist deaf and hard of hearing people in taking notes during meetings, lectures, and group activities. The core problem is that deaf users who rely on sign language interpreters face a constant visual context-switching…

  deaf · hard of hearing · sign language · note-taking · meeting accommodation

• Indirect Text Entry Using One or Two Keys

  Melanie Baljko, Andrew Tam · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper introduces a new descriptive model for indirect text entry — text composition methods where the number of input devices (switches) is significantly smaller than the number of selectable characters. This is the primary text entry paradigm for users of augmentative and…

  AAC · switch access · text entry · scanning · Huffman coding

• Wireless Headset Communications for Vision Impaired Persons in Multi-User Environments

  Iain Murray, Andrew Pasquale · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper addresses a practical workplace accessibility problem: vision impaired persons (VIPs) who work in call centres rely on screen reading software that outputs speech through headsets, but in multi-user environments with many wireless headsets, radio-based wireless…

  visual impairment · wireless headset · screen reader · call centre · workplace accessibility

• Understanding Emotion through Multimedia: Comparison between Hearing-Impaired People and People with Hearing Abilities

  Rumi Hiraga, Nobuko Kato · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper investigates how hearing-impaired and normal-hearing people recognise emotions conveyed through drum performances and accompanying visual stimuli. The research is part of a larger project to build a "performance enhancement machine" (PEM) — a system that would enable…

  hearing impairment · music accessibility · emotion recognition · multimodal · music visualisation

• American Sign Language Recognition in Game Development for Deaf Children

  Helene Brashear, Valerie Henderson, Kwang-Hyun Park, Harley Hamilton, Seungyon Lee, Thad Starner · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper presents CopyCat, an educational computer game that uses gesture recognition technology to help young deaf children (ages 6-11) practice American Sign Language (ASL) skills. The project addresses a critical language development challenge: 90% of deaf children are born…

  deaf education · sign language recognition · ASL · gesture recognition · computer vision

• "Beyond Perceivability": Critical Requirements for Universal Design of Information

  Takashi Kato, Masahiro Hori · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper argues that accessibility discussions focus too narrowly on perceivability — making information visually, audibly, or tactilely available — while neglecting the equally critical requirement of cognitive understandability. The authors contend that information should…

  cognitive accessibility · cognitive usability · universal design · cognitive walkthrough · evaluation methods

• Improvements in Vision-based Pointer Control

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

  This paper presents the HeadTracking Pointer (HTP), a vision-based head tracking system developed at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center that uses a standard webcam to allow people with motor disabilities to control a computer pointer through head movements. The system addresses…

  head tracking · pointer control · computer vision · assistive technology · motor disabilities

• Transforming Flash to XML for Accessibility Evaluations

  Shin Saito, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper from IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory proposes a method for transforming Flash content into XML structures to enable automated accessibility evaluation. At the time of publication, Flash was installed on over 95% of personal computers and was a major source of…

  Flash accessibility · automated testing · accessibility evaluation · rich internet applications · screen readers

• A General HCI Framework of Sonification Applications

  Ag Asri Ag Ibrahim, Andy Hunt · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper proposes a general HCI framework for understanding and evaluating sonification applications — software that uses non-speech sound to represent data or information. The authors define sonification as having three main elements: Goal (for understanding), Method (how to…

  sonification · auditory display · HCI framework · usability inspection · parameter mapping

• Are "Universal Design Resources" Designed for Designers?

  Young Sang Choi, Ji Soo Yi, Chris M. Law, Julie A. Jacko · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper from Georgia Institute of Technology and UMBC investigates why universal design (UD) adoption in information and communication technology (ICT) remains slow, hypothesizing that the design resources meant to help designers create universally designed products are…

  universal design · design resources · heuristic evaluation · usability · ICT accessibility

• A Multi-domain Approach for Enhancing Text Display for Users with Visual Aberrations

  Miguel Alonso, Armando Barreto, Julie A. Jacko, Malek Adjouadi · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper from Florida International University and Georgia Institute of Technology presents an algorithm for enhancing text displayed on computer screens for users with high-order visual aberrations such as keratoconus — conditions that cannot be fully corrected with standard…

  low vision · visual aberrations · image processing · pre-compensation · refractive errors

• Evaluating a Pen-based Computer Interface for Novice Older Users

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

  This short paper from the University of Oaxaca in Mexico proposes and evaluates a simplified pen-based gesture interface designed for novice older computer users who struggle with the traditional WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pointers) paradigm. The author argues that…

  older adults · pen input · gesture input · alternative input · usability

• Loudmouth: Modifying Text-to-Speech Synthesis in Noise

  Rupal Patel, Michael Everett, Eldar Sadikov · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This short paper from Northeastern University presents Loudmouth, a modified text-to-speech synthesizer that emulates the Lombard effect — the natural way humans adjust their speech in noisy environments — to improve synthesized speech intelligibility in noise. Standard TTS…

  text-to-speech · speech synthesis · AAC · Lombard effect · speech intelligibility