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• Melodie: A Design Inquiry into Accessible Crafting through Audio-enhanced Weaving

  Katya Borgos-Rodriguez, Maitraye Das, Anne Marie Piper · 2021 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This design inquiry examines accessible crafting through an ethnographic study at a weaving studio within a residential community for adults with vision impairments. The research involved 60 hours of field observations over eight months and 15 semi-structured interviews with…

  accessible making · crafting · weaving · visual impairment · blindness

• Blind Leading the Sighted: Drawing Design Insights from Blind Users towards More Productivity-oriented Voice Interfaces

  Ali Abdolrahmani, Kevin M. Storer, Antony Rishin Mukkath Roy, Ravi Kuber, Stacy M. Branham · 2020 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper investigates how people who are blind use voice-activated personal assistants (VAPAs) like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri, arguing that blind users are expert voice interface users whose insights can improve VAPA design for everyone. The research…

  voice user interface · voice-activated personal assistant · blindness · visual impairment · smart speakers

• Indoor Localization for Visually Impaired Travelers Using Computer Vision on a Smartphone

  Giovanni Fusco, James M. Coughlan · 2020 · Proceedings of the 17th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents a computer vision-based indoor localization system that runs as a real-time app on a conventional iPhone, designed to help blind and visually impaired travelers navigate indoor spaces where GPS is unavailable. The system combines several technologies into a…

  indoor navigation · wayfinding · computer vision · visual impairment · blindness

• Bespoke Reflections: Creating a One-Handed Braille Keyboard

  Kirsten Ellis, Ross De Vent, Reuben Kirkham, Patrick Olivier · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper documents an 18-month co-design process to build a one-handed braille keyboard for Ross, a blind person who lost the use of his right arm following a stroke at age five. Most assistive technologies are designed for single impairment groups, leaving people with…

  bespoke assistive technology · DIY assistive technology · braille · co-design · blindness

• Playing With Others: Depicting Multiplayer Gaming Experiences of People With Visual Impairments

  David Gonçalves, André Rodrigues, Tiago Guerreiro · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This study investigates the multiplayer gaming experiences of people with visual impairments, an area largely unexplored despite growing research on game accessibility. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 blind adults and 10 visually impaired minors,…

  game accessibility · visual impairment · mixed-ability interaction · social inclusion · multiplayer gaming

• Supporting Selfie Editing Experiences for People with Visual Impairments

  Soobin Park · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This short paper investigates the selfie editing experiences and desires of people with visual impairments (PVI), a topic largely overlooked despite research showing that PVI actively participate in social media and photo sharing. The study has two parts: an online survey of 47…

  visual impairment · social media accessibility · photo editing · voice interface · blindness

• Haptic and Auditive Mesh Inspection for Blind 3D Modelers

  Sebastian Lieb, Benjamin Rosenmeier, Thorsten Thormählen, Knut Buettner · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper addresses a critical gap in accessible 3D modeling for blind users. While constructive geometry programming languages like OpenSCAD allow blind modelers to write text-based code to create 3D objects (accessible via screen readers and braille displays), there has been…

  blindness · 3D modeling · haptic technology · sonification · 3D printing

• Haptic and Auditive Mesh Inspection for Blind 3D Modelers

  Sebastian Lieb, Benjamin Rosenmeier, Thorsten Thormählen, Knut Buettner · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '20)

  This paper presents an affordable audio-haptic system that enables blind and severely visually impaired people to independently inspect 3D mesh objects they create using constructive geometry programming languages like OpenSCAD. Blind 3D modelers typically rely on text-based…

  blindness · haptic feedback · 3D modeling · auditory feedback · assistive technology

• How Blind and Visually Impaired Composers, Producers, and Songwriters Leverage and Adapt Music Technology

  William Christopher Payne, Alex Yixuan Xu, Fabiha Ahmed, Lisa Ye, Amy Hurst · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '20)

  This qualitative interview study explores how 11 blind and visually impaired music creators — composers, producers, and songwriters — use and adapt mainstream and assistive music technologies to achieve their creative goals. The researchers recruited participants through the…

  blindness · music accessibility · assistive technology · screen readers · creative accessibility

• PLACES: A Framework for Supporting Blind and Partially Sighted People in Outdoor Leisure Activities

  Maryam Bandukda, Catherine Holloway, Aneesha Singh, Nadia Berthouze · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '20)

  This paper investigates the experiences and needs of blind and partially sighted people (BPSP) when engaging in outdoor leisure activities, particularly visiting parks and natural environments. The researchers conducted a multi-method qualitative study comprising an online…

  blindness · outdoor accessibility · wayfinding · leisure · navigation

• Web-ALAP: A Web-based LaTeX Editor for Blind Individuals

  Safa Arooj, Shaban Zulfiqar, Muhammad Qasim Hunain, Suleman Shahid, Asim Karim · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '20)

  This paper presents Web-ALAP (Web-Accessible LaTeX-based Authoring and Presentation), an open-source, web-based LaTeX editor designed specifically for blind and visually impaired users. The system addresses a critical gap in STEM accessibility: while LaTeX is widely used in…

  blindness · STEM accessibility · mathematics accessibility · screen readers · web accessibility

• Creating Accessible Online Floor Plans for Visually Impaired Readers

  Anuradha Madugalla, Kim Marriott, Simone Marinai, Samuele Capobianco, Cagatay Goncu · 2020 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents a generic model for converting online graphics—specifically house floor plans—into accessible formats for blind and severely vision-impaired users. The model supports both fully automatic and semi-automatic transcription, allowing sighted users to correct…

  visual impairment · blindness · floor plans · tactile graphics · image recognition

• Experimental Analysis of a Spatialised Audio Interface for People with Visual Impairments

  Jacobus C. Lock, Iain D. Gilchrist, Grzegorz Cielniak, Nicola Bellotto · 2020 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper evaluates a spatialised audio interface designed to help people with visual impairments find objects in indoor environments. Part of the ActiVis project, the system uses a Google Project Tango mobile device with RGB-D cameras for localization and Aftershokz…

  visual impairment · blindness · navigation · spatial audio · bone conduction

• VectorEntry: Text Entry Mechanism Using Handheld Touch-Enabled Mobile Devices for People with Visual Impairments

  Debasis Samanta, Tuhin Chakraborty · 2020 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research develops VectorEntry, a gesture-based text entry system for touchscreen mobile devices designed specifically for people with visual impairments. The authors conducted two preliminary studies to understand how users with visual impairments perform directional…

  visual impairment · blindness · text entry · mobile accessibility · touchscreen

• O&M Indoor Virtual Environments for People Who Are Blind: A Systematic Literature Review

  Agebson Rocha Façanha, Ticianne Darin, Windson Viana, Jaime Sánchez · 2020 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This systematic literature review examines virtual environments designed to support indoor orientation and mobility (O&M) training for people who are blind. The authors analyzed 51 papers describing 32 distinct O&M virtual environments, filtering from an initial pool of 987…

  orientation and mobility · O&M training · virtual environments · blindness · visual impairment

• Mental Maps and the Use of Sensory Information by Blind and Partially Sighted People

  Marion Hersh · 2020 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This qualitative study addresses a significant gap in understanding how blind and partially sighted people form and use spatial representations (mental maps) during real-world travel. Through semi-structured interviews with 100 participants across five countries (France, Italy,…

  blindness · low vision · orientation and mobility · wayfinding · cognitive maps

• Twitter A11y: A Browser Extension to Make Twitter Images Accessible

  Cole Gleason, Amy Pavel, Emma McCamey, Christina Low, Patrick Carrington, Kris M. Kitani, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2020 · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  This paper presents Twitter A11y, a browser extension designed to address the widespread lack of alternative text on images posted to Twitter. The authors note that while around 12% of Twitter content consists of images, only 0.1% of those images include user-provided alt text,…

  social media accessibility · alternative text · screen readers · image accessibility · optical character recognition

• ReCog: Supporting Blind People in Recognizing Personal Objects

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Daisuke Sato, Uran Oh, Tatsuya Ishihara, Kris Kitani, Chieko Asakawa · 2020 · Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  ReCog is a smartphone application designed to help blind users recognize their own personal objects — items like specific clothing, handmade goods, medicines, or family photos that cannot be identified by general-purpose recognizers such as Seeing AI or TapTapSee. The authors…

  visual impairment · blindness · object recognition · computer vision · deep learning

• Deep Learning Compensation of Rotation Errors During Navigation Assistance for People with Visual Impairments or Blindness

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Sergio Mascetti, Cristian Bernareggi, João Guerreiro, Uran Oh, Chieko Asakawa · 2019 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper addresses a critical but often overlooked problem in turn-by-turn navigation assistance for people with visual impairments or blindness (VIB): rotation errors at turning points. While much navigation research focuses on improving localization accuracy, this work…

  navigation assistance · visual impairment · blindness · deep learning · turn-by-turn navigation

• NavCog3 in the Wild: Large-scale Blind Indoor Navigation Assistant with Semantic Features

  Daisuke Sato, Uran Oh, João Guerreiro, Dragan Ahmetovic, Kakuya Naito, Hironobu Takagi, Kris M. Kitani, Chieko Asakawa · 2019 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper presents NavCog3, a smartphone-based indoor navigation assistant for people with visual impairments that combines high-accuracy Bluetooth beacon localization with rich semantic environmental features. The system uses off-the-shelf BLE beacons installed in the…

  indoor navigation · visual impairment · blindness · Bluetooth beacons · localization

• Multimodal Exploration of Mathematical Function Graphs with AudioFunctions.web

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Niccolò Cantù, Cristian Bernareggi, João Guerreiro, Sergio Mascetti, Anna Capietto · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents AudioFunctions.web, a web-based system designed to make mathematical function graphs accessible to people who are blind or have visual impairments. Function graphs are a fundamental tool in mathematics education and STEM fields, yet they remain…

  sonification · mathematics accessibility · visual impairment · blindness · STEM accessibility

• AudioFunctions.web: Multimodal Exploration of Mathematical Function Graphs

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Cristian Bernareggi, João Guerreiro, Sergio Mascetti, Anna Capietto · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This full research paper presents AudioFunctions.web, a web application that enables blind and visually impaired people to explore mathematical function graphs through a combination of sonification, earcons, and speech synthesis. The system is the platform-independent successor…

  sonification · mathematics accessibility · visual impairment · blindness · STEM accessibility

• Exploring feasibility of wrist gestures for non-visual interactions with wearables

  Shirin Feiz, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates the accessibility of wrist gestures as an input modality for people with visual impairments (PVIs) interacting with smartwatches. Smartwatches hold particular promise for PVIs: they are always available, enable one-handed use (important when the other…

  wearable technology · smartwatch · gesture-based interaction · visual impairment · blindness

• Blind Web Development Training at Oysters and Pearls Technology Camp in Uganda

  Claire Ferrari, Amy Hurst, Scott Fitzgerald · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper describes the development and delivery of a 7-day web development course for 13 blind and low-vision students (ages 18-35, average 24) at the Oysters and Pearls Technology Camp in Gulu, northern Uganda. None of the students had prior experience building websites,…

  STEM accessibility · blindness · low vision · web development · coding education

• Write-it-Yourself: Empowering Blind People to Independently Fill-out Paper Forms

  Syed Masum Billah, Shirin Feiz, Vikas Ashok, Roy Shilkrot, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper introduces WiYG (Write-it-Yourself Guide), a system that enables blind people to independently fill out printed paper forms such as bank checks, consent forms, and restaurant receipts — a task that has until now been impossible without sighted…

  blindness · assistive technology · computer vision · 3D printing · writing assistance