Reviews

Search results

• Follow That Sound: Using Sonification and Corrective Verbal Feedback to Teach Touchscreen Gestures

  Uran Oh, Shaun K. Kane, Leah Findlater · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper proposes and evaluates two techniques for teaching touchscreen gestures to users with visual impairments: gesture sonification (mapping finger position to audio using pitch for the y-axis and stereo panning for the x-axis) and corrective verbal feedback…

  touchscreen accessibility · sonification · gesture learning · blind users · visual impairment

• Touchplates: Low-Cost Tactile Overlays for Visually Impaired Touch Screen Users

  Shaun K. Kane, Meredith Ringel Morris, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper introduces touchplates — inexpensive, unpowered, customizable tactile overlays that can be placed on touch screens to provide physical guides and tactile feedback for blind and visually impaired users. Unlike prior approaches that either offered limited functionality…

  touchscreen accessibility · tactile feedback · blind users · visual impairment · tangible interaction

• UbiBraille: Designing and Evaluating a Vibrotactile Braille-Reading Device

  Hugo Nicolau, João Guerreiro, Tiago Guerreiro, Luís Carriço · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper presents UbiBraille, a wearable vibrotactile device that enables blind users to read textual information privately and inconspicuously by leveraging their existing knowledge of Braille. The device consists of six small vibration motors attached to adjustable aluminum…

  braille · vibrotactile · wearable technology · blind users · haptic feedback

• Do You See What I See? Designing a Sensory Substitution Device to Access Non-Verbal Modes of Communication

  M. Iftekhar Tanveer, A. S. M. Iftekhar Anam, Mohammed Yeasin, Majid Khan · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper presents iFEPS (improved Facial Expression Perception through Sound), a visual-to-auditory sensory substitution device that enables blind users to perceive their conversation partner's facial expressions through audio feedback. Research suggests that 80% of…

  sensory substitution · blind users · facial expression · non-verbal communication · computer vision

• 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

• Using Real-time Feedback to Improve Visual Question Answering

  Yu Zhong, Phyo Thiha, Grant He, Walter Lasecki, Jeffrey Bigham · 2012 · CHI EA '12: CHI '12 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  This work-in-progress paper introduces Legion:View, a system that extends the VizWiz model of crowd-powered visual question answering by adding a real-time feedback loop between blind users and crowd workers. The original VizWiz allowed blind users to take a still photograph,…

  visual question answering · crowdsourcing · blind users · real-time systems · assistive technology

• Crowdsourcing Subjective Fashion Advice Using VizWiz: Challenges and Opportunities

  Michele A. Burton, Erin Brady, Robin Brewer, Callie Neylan, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Amy Hurst · 2012 · ASSETS '12: Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates the accessibility barriers that fashion and clothing present to people with vision impairments, and explores whether crowdsourcing through VizWiz can provide useful subjective fashion advice. The research is grounded in the recognition that fashion is a…

  blind users · crowdsourcing · fashion accessibility · VizWiz · subjective questions

• Back Navigation Shortcuts for Screen Reader Users

  Romisa Rohani Ghahari, Mexhid Ferati, Tao Yang, Davide Bolchini · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper introduces two novel back navigation strategies — topic-based back and list-based back — designed to make backtracking through previously visited web pages dramatically more efficient for screen reader users. The fundamental problem is that when blind users need to…

  screen readers · navigation · information architecture · blind users · web accessibility

• Accessible Skimming: Faster Screen Reading of Web Pages

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

  This doctoral consortium paper presents an automated approach to enable non-visual skimming of web pages for screen reader users. Sighted people routinely skim web content through quick eye movements (saccades) that let them glance over headlines and text to extract the gist of…

  screen readers · blind users · web accessibility · text summarization · natural language processing

• Specialized DVD Player to Render Audio Description and Its Usability Performance

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

  This demonstration paper presents the CRIM DVDPlayer, a specialized software DVD player designed to enhance the audio description (AD) experience for blind and visually impaired (BVI) individuals. Developed at the Centre de Recherche Informatique de Montréal (CRIM), the player…

  audio description · visual impairment · blind users · multimedia accessibility · DVD

• FEPS: A Sensory Substitution System for the Blind to Perceive Facial Expressions

  Md. Iftekhar Tanveer, A.S.M. Iftekhar Anam, A.K.M Mahbubur Rahman, Sreya Ghosh, Mohammed Yeasin · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This demonstration paper presents FEPS (Facial Expression Perception through Sound), a visual-to-auditory sensory substitution system that enables blind individuals to perceive their conversation partner's facial expressions through sound. The inability to perceive facial…

  visual impairment · blind users · sensory substitution · sonification · facial expression recognition

• Helping Visually Impaired Users Properly Aim a Camera

  Marynel Vázquez, Aaron Steinfeld · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper evaluates three interaction modes for helping visually impaired users aim a camera to achieve good photo composition: speech-based feedback (spoken directional words like "up", "down", "left", "right" with pitch indicating proximity), tone-based feedback (a looping…

  visual impairment · blind users · low vision · photography · camera aiming

• Learning Non-Visual Graphical Information Using a Touch-Based Vibro-Audio Interface

  Nicholas A. Giudice, Hari Prasath Palani, Eric Brenner, Kevin M. Kramer · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper evaluates a vibro-audio interface on a commercial Samsung Galaxy tablet that provides non-visual access to graphical information through synchronized vibration and audio feedback triggered by touch exploration. When users trace their finger over on-screen visual…

  visual impairment · blind users · tactile graphics · haptic feedback · vibro-audio interface

• 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

• PassChords: Secure Multi-Touch Authentication for Blind People

  Shiri Azenkot, Kyle Rector, Richard Ladner, Jacob Wobbrock · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper presents PassChords, a non-visual multi-touch authentication method for blind mobile device users that is resistant to both aural and visual eavesdropping. The research begins with interviews of 13 blind smartphone users (average age 51, range 26-64) that revealed…

  accessible authentication · blind users · mobile security · touch screen · VoiceOver

• Thematic Organization of Web Content for Distraction-Free Text-to-Speech Narration

  Muhammad Asiful Islam, Faisal Ahmed, Yevgen Borodin, I.V. Ramakrishnan · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper addresses a fundamental problem in how blind users experience web content through screen readers: the serial, linear narration of complex web pages that contain multiple thematic elements — news stories, ads, navigation taxonomies, and opinion pieces — all…

  screen readers · web segmentation · text-to-speech · blind users · cognitive load

• Evaluation of Haptic HTML Mappings Derived from a Novel Methodology

  Ravi Kuber, Wai Yu, Sile O'Modhrain · 2011 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of haptic HTML mappings designed to help blind users navigate web pages using a Logitech Wingman force-feedback mouse. The research builds on a novel five-step participatory design methodology that actively involved blind users in…

  haptic feedback · force-feedback · blind users · web accessibility · assistive technology

• Supporting Blind Photography

  Chandrika Jayant, Hanjie Ji, Samuel White, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2011 · ASSETS '11: The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper explores how blind and low-vision people use cameras and presents two applications designed to make photography more accessible. The research begins with a large-scale online survey of 118 blind and low-vision people that establishes the empirical foundation for the…

  blind users · low vision · photography · computer vision · mobile accessibility

• WAI-ARIA live regions: eBuddy IM as a case example

  Peter Thiessen, Stephen Hockema · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents a practical case study of implementing WAI-ARIA live regions in eBuddy, a web-based instant messaging application with over 100 million users that aggregated popular IM networks into a single browser client. The paper addresses the fundamental challenge that…

  WAI-ARIA · live regions · screen readers · dynamic content · instant messaging

• Universal Design of Auditory Graphs: A Comparison of Sonification Mappings for Visually Impaired and Sighted Listeners

  Bruce N. Walker, Lisa M. Mauney · 2010 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This study investigates whether auditory graphs—using sound to represent data for people who cannot see visual graphs—can be designed universally for both sighted and visually impaired users, or whether different sonification mappings are needed for different populations. Most…

  sonification · auditory display · data visualization · blind users · visual impairment

• Exploratory Analysis of Collaborative Web Accessibility Improvement

  Daisuke Sato, Hironobu Takagi, Masatomo Kobayashi, Shinya Kawanaka, Chieko Asakawa · 2010 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents a detailed analysis of the Social Accessibility Project, an experimental crowdsourced service from IBM Research-Tokyo that enables volunteers to fix web accessibility problems without requiring site owners to modify their pages. Launched in July 2008, the…

  crowdsourcing · web accessibility · social computing · metadata · screen readers

• Towards A Universally Usable Human Interaction Proof: Evaluation of Task Completion Strategies

  Graig Sauer, Jonathan Lazar, Harry Hochheiser, Jinjuan Feng · 2010 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper addresses a critical accessibility barrier: CAPTCHAs and human-interaction proofs (HIPs) that effectively lock people with visual impairments out of web services. Prior research showed that blind users could only solve audio CAPTCHAs about 43-46% of the time, far…

  CAPTCHA · blind users · screen readers · universal usability · web security

• Does a Sonar System Make a Blind Maze Navigation Computer Game More "Fun"?

  Matt Wilkerson, Amanda Koenig, James Daniel · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This student research paper from the Blind Programming Project at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville presents "The Dark Labyrinth," a zombie-killing maze navigation game designed entirely for blind players. The broader project goal is to create programmable video games…

  game accessibility · audio game · blind users · sonification · accessible programming

• Assistive Web Browsing with Touch Interfaces

  Faisal Ahmed, Muhammad Asiful Islam, Yevgen Borodin, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This demo paper from Stony Brook University proposes a touch-based directional navigation technique to improve web browsing for blind users on touch devices (iPhone, MacBook trackpad). The authors identify two key problems with Apple's VoiceOver touch interface: the "fat finger"…

  web accessibility · touch interface · screen reader · VoiceOver · visual impairment