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• Design and Evaluation of Hybrid Search for American Sign Language to English Dictionaries: Making the Most of Imperfect Sign Recognition

  Saad Hassan, Akhter Al Amin, Alexis Gordon, Sooyeon Lee, Matt Huenerfauth · 2022 · Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '22)

  This CHI 2022 paper tackles a practical problem faced by the roughly 200,000 students currently studying American Sign Language (ASL) in the US: how do you look up the meaning of a sign you just saw when you don't know its English gloss? Unlike written languages, ASL has no…

  american sign language · sign language · sign language recognition · search interfaces · dictionary

• What difference does tech make? Conceptualizations of Disability and Assistive Technology among Kenyan Youth

  Giulia Barbareschi, Norah Shitawa Kopi, Ben Oldfrey, Catherine Holloway · 2021 · Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '21)

  This paper examines how young Kenyans without disabilities conceptualize both disability and assistive technology (AT), addressing a significant gap in accessibility research that has predominantly focused on Global North perspectives. While over 80% of people with disabilities…

  disability stigma · assistive technology · Global South · Kenya · youth attitudes

• Beyond Fun: Players' Experiences of Accessible Rehabilitation Gaming for Spinal Cord Injury

  Gabriele Cimolino, Sussan Askari, T.C. Nicholas Graham · 2021 · The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2021)

  This paper explores how accessible rehabilitation games can affect the experiences of patients with spinal cord injury beyond simply making exercise more fun. Six participants with spinal cord injury (three with tetraplegia, three with paraplegia, aged 23-33) played three…

  spinal cord injury · rehabilitation · game accessibility · digital games · assistive technology

• Understanding Barriers and Design Opportunities to Improve Healthcare and QOL for Older Adults through Voice Assistants

  Chen Chen, Janet G. Johnson, Kemeberly Charles, Alice Lee, Ella T. Lifset, Michael Hogarth, Alison A. Moore, Emilia Farcas, Nadir Weibel · 2021 · Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper investigates the barriers older adults face when managing their healthcare and daily routines, and explores how voice-based Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs) might address those challenges. The researchers employed a user-centered design approach, conducting…

  voice assistants · older adults · healthcare · intelligent virtual assistants · gerontechnology

• Irrelevant Gadgets or a Source of Worry: Exploring Wearable Activity Trackers with Older Adults

  Dimitri Vargemidis, Kathrin Gerling, Vero Vanden Abeele, Luc Geurts, Katta Spiel · 2021 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This qualitative study explores older adults' perspectives on wearable activity trackers and physical activity (PA), addressing a gap in research that typically focuses on system performance rather than user perspectives. The researchers conducted a two-part study: first, focus…

  wearables · older adults · physical activity · participatory design · co-design

• Deaf Users' Preferences Among Wake-Up Approaches during Sign-Language Interaction with Personal Assistant Devices

  Vaishnavi Mande, Abraham Glasser, Becca Dingman, Matt Huenerfauth · 2021 · Extended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '21)

  This CHI 2021 Extended Abstract investigates a narrow but previously unexplored question: if future personal-assistant devices (Alexa, Google Assistant, etc.) could recognise sign language, how should Deaf users wake them up? Current wake-up mechanisms — speaking a wake-word…

  deaf and hard of hearing · sign language · personal assistants · voice interface · conversational user interfaces

• Comparison of Methods for Evaluating Complexity of Simplified Texts among Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Adults at Different Literacy Levels

  Oliver Alonzo, Jessica Trussell, Becca Dingman, Matt Huenerfauth · 2021 · Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '21)

  This CHI 2021 paper is the companion methodological study to Alonzo et al.'s 2022 fluency work: where that later paper asked how to evaluate the fluency (grammaticality) of simplified texts, this one asks how to evaluate their complexity (whether the simplification actually made…

  automatic text simplification · deaf and hard of hearing · readability · reading accessibility · research methodology

• Understanding In-Situ Use of Commonly Available Navigation Technologies by People with Visual Impairments

  Vaishnav Kameswaran, Jatin Gureja, Joyojeet Pal, Sile O'Modhrain, Tiffany L. Ye, Jon Froehlich, Leah Findlater, Meredith Ringel Morris · 2020 · ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents a qualitative study investigating how people with visual impairments use commonly available navigation technologies in their daily lives. Conducted by researchers at Microsoft Research and the University of Michigan, the study involved semi-structured…

  visual impairments · navigation · wayfinding · assistive technology · complementarity

• Understanding Audio Production Practices of People with Vision Impairments

  Abir Saha, Anne Marie Piper · 2020 · ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents the first detailed empirical study of how people with vision impairments use digital audio production tools in their personal and professional work. Through semi-structured interviews with 18 blind and visually impaired audio professionals and hobbyists —…

  visual impairments · audio production · creative content production · screen readers · assistive technology

• Socio-Technical Aspirations for Children with Special Needs: A Study in Two Locations – India and Finland

  Sumita Sharma, Krishnaveni Achary, Saurabh Srivastava, Blessin Varkey, Jaakko Hakulinen, Markku Turunen · 2020 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This cross-cultural qualitative study proposes extending Boujarwah et al.'s three-part framework for assistive technology design by adding a fourth dimension: socio-technical aspirations. The authors define this as "individual- or community-driven ambition and desire to own or…

  assistive technology design · cross-cultural research · special education · autism · ADHD

• 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

• Automatic Text Simplification Tools for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adults: Benefits of Lexical Simplification and Providing Users with Autonomy

  Oliver Alonzo, Matthew Seita, Abraham Glasser, Matt Huenerfauth · 2020 · Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '20)

  This CHI 2020 paper is the first empirical study of lexical Automatic Text Simplification (ATS) with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) adult readers, and introduces user autonomy as a central design variable in accessibility ATS tools. Prior ATS research with DHH users had looked…

  automatic text simplification · deaf and hard of hearing · lexical simplification · user autonomy · reading accessibility

• Understanding the Motivations of Final-year Computing Undergraduates for Considering Accessibility

  Paula Conn, Taylor Gotfrid, Qiwen Zhao, Rachel Celestine, Vaishnavi Mande, Kristen Shinohara, Stephanie Ludi, Matt Huenerfauth · 2020 · ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE), Vol. 20, No. 2, Article 15

  This 22-page ACM Transactions on Computing Education article asks a question that most accessibility education research has side-stepped: what happens to students’ motivation to build accessible technology two years after a required accessibility-education intervention?…

  accessibility education · computing education · pedagogy · professional development · qualitative research

• Methods for Evaluation of Imperfect Captioning Tools by Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Users at Different Reading Literacy Levels

  Larwan Berke, Sushant Kafle, Matt Huenerfauth · 2018 · Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '18)

  This CHI 2018 paper (awarded an Honourable Mention) is the originating methodological study behind the group’s later Alonzo et al. work on Automatic Text Simplification evaluation. It asks: when Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) participants evaluate imperfect captions produced by…

  captioning · deaf and hard of hearing · automatic speech recognition · research methodology · literacy

• Understanding Accessibility as a Process through the Analysis of Feedback from Disabled Students

  Tim Coughlan, Thomas Daniel Ullmann, Kate Lister · 2017 · Proceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from The Open University UK analyzes over 6,000 open comment feedback responses from disabled students (out of 93,148 total responses) to argue that accessibility must be understood as an ongoing process rather than a state achieved through technical guideline…

  education accessibility · disability · organizational accessibility · distance learning · accessibility theory

• Evaluating the Accessibility of the Job Search and Interview Process for People who are Blind and Visually Impaired

  William Grussenmeyer, Jesel Garcia, Eelke Folmer, Fang Jiang · 2017 · Proceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This study investigates the accessibility barriers that people who are blind and visually impaired encounter throughout the job search and interview process in the United States, where the unemployment rate for this population stands at approximately 70%. The researchers…

  blindness · low vision · employment accessibility · job search · onboarding

• Technology-Mediated Sight: A Case Study of Early Adopters of a Low Vision Assistive Technology

  Annuska Zolyomi, Anushree Shukla, Jaime Snyder · 2017 · Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This qualitative case study examines the psychosocial and adaptive experiences of early adopters of the eSight 2.0 — a head-mounted assistive device for people with low vision that captures live video and displays enhanced images on high-resolution OLED screens inside…

  low vision · assistive technology · head-mounted display · qualitative research · disability identity

• Narratives of Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Their Caregivers

  Galina Madjaroff, Helena Mentis · 2017 · Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper examines how the narratives — the stories people tell about their lives and experiences — of older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and their spousal caregivers shape and are shaped by technology in the home. MCI is defined as a noticeable decrement in…

  cognitive impairment · dementia · caregiving · aging · home-based technology

• An empirical investigation of the situationally-induced impairments experienced by blind mobile device users

  Ali Abdolrahmani, Ravi Kuber, Amy Hurst · 2016 · Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates the situationally-induced impairments and disabilities (SIIDs) experienced by blind people when using mobile devices in real-world contexts. While prior SIID research has focused on sighted users encountering temporary impediments (like walking while…

  situational impairment · mobile accessibility · visual impairment · blindness · screen readers

• The Invisible Work of Accessibility: How Blind Employees Manage Accessibility in Mixed-Ability Workplaces

  Stacy M. Branham, Shaun K. Kane · 2015 · ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

  This qualitative field study examines how blind employees navigate accessibility in shared office environments where they work alongside sighted colleagues. The researchers conducted a multi-session study with five blind office workers (ages 25-54) across different…

  blindness · workplace accessibility · assistive technology · screen readers · employment

• "Just Let the Cane Hit It": How the Blind and Sighted See Navigation Differently

  Michele A. Williams, Caroline Galbraith, Shaun K. Kane, Amy Hurst · 2014 · Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper reveals fundamental mismatches between how blind and sighted people understand pedestrian navigation, drawing on over a year of immersive qualitative research including focus groups, diary studies, and partner observations. The researchers conducted two focus groups…

  blind navigation · white cane · orientation and mobility · wayfinding · qualitative research

• Uncovering the Role of Expectations on Perceived Web Accessibility

  Amaia Aizpurua, Myriam Arrue, Markel Vigo · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This short paper investigates how user expectations shape the perception of web accessibility for blind users, arguing that guideline compliance alone does not guarantee a satisfying user experience. The authors note a key gap: prior research found that only 50.4% of problems…

  web accessibility · blind users · screen readers · user experience · perceived accessibility

• Towards a Framework to Situate Assistive Technology Design in the Context of Culture

  Fatima A. Boujarwah, Nazneen, Hwajung Hong, Gregory D. Abowd, Rosa I. Arriaga · 2011 · Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper presents findings from a cross-cultural qualitative study examining societal expectations, perceptions, and support structures for individuals with autism and other intellectual disabilities (AOID) across four countries: Kuwait, Pakistan, South Korea, and the United…

  assistive technology · autism · cross-cultural design · intellectual disability · cultural accessibility

• Fashion for the Blind: A Study of Perspectives

  Michele A. Burton · 2011 · Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This qualitative study explores how people with vision impairments perceive beauty and make fashion choices, an area largely overlooked in accessibility research which has focused primarily on functional clothing for mobility impairments. The researchers conducted face-to-face…

  blindness · low vision · fashion · clothing design · assistive technology

• Observing Sara: A Case Study of a Blind Person's Interactions with Technology

  Kristen Shinohara, Josh Tenenberg · 2007 · Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  This paper from the University of Washington, Tacoma presents a rich, in-depth case study of Sara, a congenitally blind college student, observed and interviewed across multiple sessions as she interacts with a wide range of technologies in her home. The study uses Blythe, Monk…

  blindness · assistive technology · case study · technology biographies · workarounds