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• Towards a Universal Accessibility for Textual Information

  Vasile Topac · 2011 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This student award paper from Politehnica University Timisoara proposes a universal framework for understanding and addressing textual information accessibility across all media formats and contexts — not just web accessibility, but also document accessibility, desktop…

  content adaptation · cloud computing · text-to-speech · speech recognition · multilingual accessibility

• WebAnywhere: Experiences with a New Delivery Model for Access Technology

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Wendy Chisholm, Richard E. Ladner · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This follow-up paper describes the evolution of WebAnywhere two years after its initial release, documenting how it expanded from a web-based screen reader for blind users into a broader platform for delivering access technology. Released publicly in June 2008, WebAnywhere…

  screen readers · blindness · low vision · web-based assistive technology · text-to-speech

• Towards collaborative annotation for video accessibility

  Pierre-Antoine Champin, Benoît Encelle, Nicholas W. D. Evans, Magali O.-Beldame, Yannick Prié, Raphaël Troncy · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the ACAV (Collaborative Annotation for Video Accessibility) project, a French research initiative involving Dailymotion, the University of Lyon (LIRIS), and EURECOM, aimed at making web video accessible to blind and deaf users through rich, collaborative…

  video accessibility · audio description · captioning · crowdsourcing · speech recognition

• Investigating Grid-Based Navigation: The Impact of Physical Disability

  Shaojian Zhu, Jinjuan Feng, Andrew Sears · 2010 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper investigates enhancements to grid-based navigation, a speech-controlled cursor technique designed for people who cannot use traditional keyboard and mouse input due to upper-body motor disabilities. Grid-based navigation works by recursively dividing the screen into…

  motor disabilities · speech recognition · cursor control · target selection · alternative input

• EPG: Speech Access to Program Guides for People with Disabilities

  Michael Johnston, Amanda J. Stent · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This demo paper from AT&T Labs Research presents an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) prototype that uses speech input and text-to-speech output to make television listing navigation accessible to people with visual disabilities or limited hand mobility. The authors identify that…

  speech recognition · voice interface · television accessibility · visual impairment · motor impairment

• TeleWeb: accessible service for web browsing via phone

  Yevgen Borodin, Glenn Dausch, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibililty (W4A)

  This paper presents TeleWeb, a telephony service that enables web browsing via any standard telephone using speech and keypad input. Built on top of the HearSay non-visual web browser engine from Stony Brook University, TeleWeb allows users to call a phone number and then search…

  screen readers · voice interface · visual impairment · blindness · telephony

• Sudoku Access: A Sudoku Game for People with Motor Disabilities

  Stéphane Norte, Fernando G. Lobo · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper from the University of Algarve, Portugal presents Sudoku Access, an accessible version of the Sudoku puzzle game designed for people with motor disabilities. The system provides two alternative input methods: switch-based scanning and speech recognition, allowing…

  game accessibility · motor disability · scanning input · speech recognition · switch access

• Early Diagnosis of Autism through Analysis of Pre-Speech Vocalizations

  Keshi Dai · 2007 · SIGACCESS Accessibility and Computing

  This paper proposes an approach for early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by computationally analyzing the pre-speech vocalizations of infants aged 6 to 18 months. The author notes that while autism can be reliably diagnosed by age 3, and potentially as early as 12…

  autism spectrum disorder · early diagnosis · speech recognition · pre-speech vocalization · early intervention

• The HearSay Non-Visual Web Browser

  Yevgen Borodin, Jalal Mahmud, I. V. Ramakrishnan, Amanda Stent · 2007 · Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the original HearSay non-visual web browser (version 1/2), developed at Stony Brook University in collaboration with the Helen Keller Services for the Blind. HearSay is a free, open-source, cross-platform browser written in Java that uses Mozilla for web…

  non-visual web browser · screen readers · blind users · web accessibility · natural language processing

• VoiceDraw: a hands-free voice-driven drawing application for people with motor impairments

  Susumu Harada, Jacob O. Wobbrock, James A. Landay · 2007 · Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  Harada, Wobbrock, and Landay's Assets '07 paper introduces VoiceDraw, a hands-free digital painting application for people with severe motor impairments that uses *non-speech* vocalisations — continuously-held vowel sounds and short consonant clicks — rather than discrete speech…

  motor accessibility · voice interface · non-speech vocalisation · speech recognition · vocal joystick

• A Flexible VXML Interpreter for Non-Visual Web Access

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

  This doctoral consortium paper from Stony Brook University presents VXMLSurf, an open-source VoiceXML interpreter being developed as part of the HearSay project for non-visual web browsing. VoiceXML is the W3C standard for specifying interactive voice dialogs, widely used in…

  VoiceXML · non-visual browsing · voice browser · blind users · screen readers

• A Voice-Activated Syntax-Directed Editor for Manually Disabled Programmers

  Thomas J. Hubbell, David D. Langan, Thomas F. Hain · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper presents VASDE (Voice-Activated Syntax-Directed Editor), a programming environment designed to allow people with manual disabilities to write Java code using voice commands instead of a keyboard and mouse. The authors argue that traditional programming IDEs, which are…

  speech recognition · programming · motor impairment · voice input · IDE

• The Impact of User Research on Product Design Case Study: Accessibility Ecosystem for Windows Vista

  Annuska Perkins, Tira Cohene · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper describes how user research conducted by Microsoft's Windows Accessible Technology Group shaped the accessibility features in Windows Vista. The research encompassed a wide range of users across major disability types (vision, dexterity, hearing, speech, cognitive),…

  accessibility · user research · operating system · universal design · usability

• Non-speech Input and Speech Recognition for Real-time Control of Computer Games

  Adam J. Sporka, Sri H. Kurniawan, Murni Mahmud, Pavel Slavik · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper compares two acoustic input methods — speech recognition and non-speech humming — for controlling the arcade game Tetris in real time. The motivation is that while turn-based and strategic games are not greatly affected by motor impairments (they allow time for…

  game accessibility · speech recognition · non-speech input · motor impairment · voice control

• Speech-Based Cursor Control: A Study of Grid-Based Solutions

  Liwei Dai, Rich Goldman, Andrew Sears, Jeremy Lozier · 2004 · Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper investigates grid-based approaches to speech-controlled cursor positioning, addressing a well-documented weakness of speech recognition technology: while dictation-based text entry has improved dramatically, using speech for precise cursor control remains slow and…

  speech recognition · cursor control · motor accessibility · voice interaction · input methods

• Speech-Based Cursor Control

  Azfar S. Karimullah, Andrew Sears · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '02)

  This paper from UMBC investigates the effectiveness of speech-based cursor control for navigating graphical user interfaces, comparing a standard cursor with a predictive cursor designed to compensate for speech recognition delays. While speech recognition is well-studied for…

  speech recognition · cursor control · motor disability · pointing devices · assistive technology

• TESSA, a System to Aid Communication with Deaf People

  Stephen Cox, Michael Lincoln, Judy Tryggvason, Melanie Nakisa, Mark Wells, Marcus Tutt, Sanja Abbott · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper describes TESSA (Text and Sign Support Assistant), an experimental system developed collaboratively by the University of East Anglia, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, and Televirtual Ltd. to facilitate communication between deaf customers and Post Office…

  deaf accessibility · sign language · British Sign Language · sign language avatar · speech recognition

• Voice over Workplace (VoWP): Voice Navigation in a Complex Business GUI

  Frankie James, Jeff Roelands · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper explores the design of voice navigation interfaces for complex business GUIs, specifically SAP Workplace, to support physically disabled users who cannot use a mouse or keyboard. The authors conducted two user studies examining the fundamental trade-off in voice…

  voice interface · speech recognition · physical disability · GUI accessibility · navigation

• Speech Recognition in University Classrooms: Liberated Learning Project

  Keith Bain, Sara H. Basson, Mike Wald · 2002 · Proceedings of the Fifth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets 02)

  This paper describes the Liberated Learning Project (LLP), an international applied research initiative studying whether speech recognition technology can successfully convert live university lectures into real-time text displays, serving as an alternative to traditional…

  speech recognition · higher education · deaf accessibility · real-time captioning · universal design

• A Comparison of Voice Controlled and Mouse Controlled Web Browsing

  Kevin Christian, Bill Kules, Ben Shneiderman, Adel Youssef · 2000 · Proceedings of the Fourth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '00)

  This within-subjects study from the University of Maryland compared voice-controlled web browsing with traditional mouse-based browsing using 18 participants. The researchers used Conversa, a commercial voice browser from Conversational Computing that renders pages visually…

  voice browser · speech recognition · web navigation · voice control · hypertext

• Programming by Voice, VocalProgramming

  Stephen C. Arnold, Leo Mark, John Goldthwaite · 2000 · Proceedings of the Fourth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '00)

  This paper presents VocalProgrammer, a system designed to enable programming entirely by voice, motivated primarily by the high incidence of repetitive stress injuries (RSI) among programmers. The authors note that the total cost of RSI of all types was estimated at nearly $6…

  voice programming · speech recognition · repetitive stress injury · code accessibility · assistive technology

• Head Pointing and Speech Control as a Hands-Free Interface to Desktop Computing

  Rainer Malkewitz · 1998 · Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This paper presents a hands-free computer interface that combines head pointing with speech control to enable users who cannot use a mouse and keyboard to operate standard WIMP-style graphical user interfaces. Developed at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, the system uses a…

  head tracking · speech recognition · hands-free interface · alternative input · motor disability

• Factors Leading to the Successful Use of Voice Recognition Technology

  Tanya Goette · 1998 · Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This paper from Georgia College & State University presents results from a field study investigating why voice recognition technology (VRT) succeeds for some individuals with disabilities and fails for others. Drawing on expectancy theory and innovation-diffusion theory, the…

  speech recognition · assistive technology · technology abandonment · motor impairment · user studies

• SUITEKeys: A Speech Understanding Interface for the Motor-Control Challenged

  Bill Manaris, Alan Harkreader · 1998 · Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This paper from the University of Southwestern Louisiana presents SUITEKeys, a continuous speech understanding interface that provides complete computer access to users with motor-control impairments by modelling all interaction at the physical keyboard and mouse level. Unlike…

  speech recognition · motor disabilities · voice input · alternative input · natural language interface

• Toward the Use of Speech and Natural Language Technology in Intervention for a Language-Disordered Population

  Jill Fain Lehman · 1998 · Proceedings of the Third International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '98)

  This paper from Carnegie Mellon University describes the design of Simone Says, an interactive software environment for language remediation in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The system brings together speech recognition, natural language processing, and…

  autism spectrum disorder · language remediation · speech recognition · natural language processing · computer-aided instruction