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• AxsJAX: A Talking Translation Bot Using Google IM: Bringing Web-2.0 Applications to Life

  Charles L. Chen, T. V. Raman · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from Google describes how the AxsJAX framework uses WAI-ARIA live regions to make Google Talk — an instant messaging client integrated into GMail — fully accessible to screen reader and self-voicing browser users, and demonstrates a compelling mashup application: a…

  ARIA · web accessibility · screen readers · live regions · Web 2.0

• 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

• Computers and People with Disabilities

  Ephraim P. Glinert, Bryant W. York · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This is a 2008 reprint of a landmark 1992 Communications of the ACM article that issued a "call-to-arms" for research on computers and people with disabilities. Glinert and York argued that human-computer interfaces systematically failed to account for disabled users, treating…

  accessibility history · assistive technology · accessibility policy · HCI · universal access

• Sibylle, an assistive communication system adapting to the context and its user

  Tonio Wandmacher, Jean-Yves Antoine, Franck Poirier, Jean-Paul Départe · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  Sibylle is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system designed for people with severe motor disabilities who cannot use conventional keyboards. The system has been in clinical use at the Kerpape rehabilitation center in Brittany, France since 2001, serving…

  AAC · word prediction · language modeling · user adaptation · n-gram models

• Accessible Computing -- Past Trends and Future Suggestions: Commentary on "Computers and People with Disabilities"

  Alan F. Newell · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This influential commentary by Alan Newell reflects on 15 years of progress since Glinert and York's seminal 1992 paper on computers and disability. While acknowledging advances—specialized journals, accessibility features in mainstream software, AAC devices with prediction, and…

  inclusive design · older adults · cognitive accessibility · design methodology · user-centered design

• Keeping Up with Technology: Commentary on "Computers and People with Disabilities"

  Alistair D. N. Edwards · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This reflective commentary by Alistair Edwards examines what has—and crucially, what has not—changed in accessible computing since Glinert and York's influential 1992 paper. Edwards frames his analysis through a fashion-versus-style metaphor: while technology "fashions"…

  accessibility history · screen readers · GUI accessibility · assistive technology · web accessibility

• Access and Empowerment: Commentary on "Computers and People with Disabilities"

  Richard E. Ladner · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  Richard Ladner offers an optimistic assessment of progress since Glinert and York's 1992 call-to-arms, emphasizing how market forces—not just legal mandates—have driven accessibility improvements. With 16% of the U.S. population disabled and 10% of the working population…

  universal design · ubiquitous computing · web accessibility · user empowerment · accessibility history

• Multimodal Trajectory Playback for Teaching Shape Information and Trajectories to Visually Impaired Computer Users

  Andrew Crossan, Stephen Brewster · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This research investigates how haptic (force-feedback) and audio trajectory playback can teach shapes and gestures to blind and visually impaired computer users. The fundamental challenge addressed is that spatial information—shapes, diagrams, graphs, maps—is difficult to convey…

  haptic technology · multimodal interaction · visual impairment · force feedback · tactile graphics

• The Field Evaluation of a Mobile Digital Image Communication Application Designed for People with Aphasia

  Meredith Allen, Joanna McGrenere, Barbara Purves · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents PhotoTalk, a mobile application designed to help people with aphasia capture and manage digital photographs for face-to-face communication. The research addresses a significant gap: while AAC devices exist for aphasia, very few have been evaluated through…

  aphasia · AAC · mobile devices · field evaluation · participatory design

• Goal Crossing with Mice and Trackballs for People with Motor Impairments: Performance, Submovements, and Design Directions

  Jacob O. Wobbrock, Krzysztof Z. Gajos · 2008 · ASSETS '08: Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This study investigates whether goal crossing—an input technique where users move through a target boundary rather than clicking within it—can benefit people with motor impairments. The research compares crossing performance against traditional area pointing using a rigorous…

  motor impairments · input devices · goal crossing · pointing · Fitts' law

• Slide Rule: Making Mobile Touch Screens Accessible to Blind People Using Multi-Touch Interaction Techniques

  Shaun K. Kane, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2008 · Assets '08: Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper introduces Slide Rule, a set of audio-based multi-touch interaction techniques that make touch screen devices accessible to blind users without requiring any additional hardware. Published in 2008 — just one year after the iPhone launched and before VoiceOver was…

  blind users · touch screens · mobile accessibility · multi-touch interaction · gestures

• What's New? Making Web Page Updates Accessible

  Yevgen Borodin, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Rohit Raman, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2008 · Assets '08: Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper introduces Dynamo, a system that makes dynamic web page content accessible to blind screen reader users by automatically detecting changes across all types of web page updates and providing a unified interface for reviewing them. The paper addresses a critical problem…

  screen readers · web accessibility · dynamic content · AJAX · ARIA

• Hunting for Headings: Sighted Labeling vs. Automatic Classification of Headings

  Jeremy T. Brudvik, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Anna C. Cavender, Richard E. Ladner · 2008 · Assets '08: Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates the problem of missing heading markup in web pages — a significant accessibility barrier for blind screen reader users who rely on heading navigation (h1-h6 tags) to quickly skip through page content rather than reading linearly. While headings are one of…

  web accessibility · headings · screen readers · machine learning · semantic HTML

• Accessibility Commons: A Metadata Infrastructure for Web Accessibility

  Shinya Kawanaka, Yevgen Borodin, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Darren Lunn, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper introduces Accessibility Commons (AC), a shared metadata infrastructure designed to integrate, store, and share accessibility metadata produced by diverse research projects, assistive technologies, and individual users. The authors identify a core problem: numerous…

  web accessibility · metadata · assistive technology · screen readers · social accessibility

• Inspiring Blind High School Students to Pursue Computer Science with Instant Messaging Chatbots

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Maxwell B. Aller, Jeremy T. Brudvik, Jessica O. Leung, Lindsay A. Yazzolino, Richard E. Ladner · 2008 · Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '08)

  This paper describes the design and delivery of a four-day computer science workshop for fifteen blind high school students at the National Federation of the Blind Youth Slam, where two hundred blind and low vision students explored disciplines often perceived as inaccessible to…

  accessible education · blind students · screen readers · computer science education · inclusive design

• MySpeechWeb: software to facilitate the construction and deployment of speech applications on the web

  Richard A. Frost, Ali Karaki, David A. Dufour, Josh Greig, Rahmatullah Hafiz, Yue Shi, Shawn Daichendt, Shahriar Chandon, Justin Barolak, Randy J. Fortier · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This short paper presents MySpeechWeb, an open-source platform for creating and deploying voice-in/voice-out speech applications on the web. The authors identify a significant gap: despite the potential of speech interfaces to improve web access for people with visual,…

  speech interfaces · voice interaction · web accessibility · open source · assistive technology

• Evaluation of a psycholinguistically motivated timing model for animations of American Sign Language

  Matt Huenerfauth · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper investigates how psycholinguistic insights about the timing and speed of American Sign Language (ASL) can improve computer-generated sign language animations. The author developed two algorithms — a sign-duration algorithm and a pause-insertion algorithm — grounded in…

  sign language · American Sign Language · animation · natural language generation · deaf accessibility

• Laser pointers and a touch screen: intuitive interfaces for autonomous mobile manipulation for the motor impaired

  Young Sang Choi, Cressel D. Anderson, Jonathan D. Glass, Charles C. Kemp · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper presents El-E ("Ellie"), a prototype assistive mobile robot designed to help people with severe motor impairments retrieve everyday objects from the floor. The robot features a vertical lift with a 5-degree-of-freedom manipulator arm, stereo and omnidirectional…

  assistive robotics · motor impairment · amyotrophic lateral sclerosis · human-robot interaction · laser pointer interface

• TAIG: textually accessible information graphics

  Seniz Demir · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This short paper presents TAIG (Textually Accessible Information Graphics), a system designed to make bar charts and other information graphics accessible to people with visual impairments by generating coherent natural language summaries. TAIG extends the SIGHT system, which is…

  data visualization · graph summarization · screen readers · visual impairment · natural language generation

• Lessons from an evaluation of a domestic well-being indicator system

  Nubia M. Gil · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This short paper presents an evaluation of a domestic well-being indicator system designed to present sensor-collected data from older people's homes through two distinct user interfaces — one for the older person and one for their carer. The system tracks well-being indicators…

  aging · telecare · well-being monitoring · older adults · caregiving

• CATPro: context-aware task prompting system with multiple modalities for individuals with cognitive impairments

  Wan Chih Chang · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This short paper presents CATPro (Context-Aware Task Prompting), a system designed to help individuals with cognitive impairments perform daily living and workplace tasks more independently. The system targets people with a range of conditions including traumatic brain injury,…

  cognitive disability · task prompting · context awareness · supported employment · ubiquitous computing

• Context aware documenting for aphasics

  Thomas de Wolf, Dirk W.H. Gooren, Jean-Bernard O.S. Martens · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper describes two student design projects aimed at creating tools for people with aphasia to document and share their everyday experiences. Aphasia, a communication impairment caused by brain damage (typically from stroke), affects about 0.3% of the population, leaving…

  aphasia · tangible interaction · context-aware computing · augmentative and alternative communication · storytelling

• A context aware handheld wayfinding system for individuals with cognitive impairments

  Yao-Jen Chang, Shih-Kai Tsai, Tsen-Yung Wang · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper presents a context-aware wayfinding system designed to help individuals with cognitive impairments navigate indoor environments independently, with a focus on workplace and community travel. The system consists of three components: a handheld PDA (ASUS P525 with…

  cognitive disability · wayfinding · QR code · ubiquitous computing · navigation

• Refreshable tactile graphics applied to schoolbook illustrations for students with visual impairment

  Grégory Petit, Aude Dufresne, Vincent Levesque, Vincent Hayward, Nicole Trudeau · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper presents research on making schoolbook illustrations accessible to students with visual impairments using a refreshable tactile display system. The system combines the STReSS2 (Stimulator of Tactile Receptors by Skin Stretch), a device that produces tactile feedback…

  tactile graphics · visual impairment · education · haptic technology · refreshable displays

• Input to the Mobile Web is Situationally-Impaired

  Tianyi Chen · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper investigates the overlap between input problems experienced by mobile web users and those faced by disabled desktop users, particularly people with motor impairments. The author argues that these two domains are typically studied in isolation despite sharing…

  mobile accessibility · situational impairment · motor disability · input methods · web accessibility