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• Click on Bake to Get Cookies: Guiding Word-Finding with Semantic Associations

  Sonya Nikolova, Marilyn Tremaine, Perry R. Cook · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents ViVA (Visual Vocabulary for Aphasia), a vocabulary navigation system that uses semantic associations to help people with aphasia find words more effectively. The authors address a core challenge in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC): navigating…

  aphasia · semantic networks · AAC · visual vocabularies · word-finding

• Using Accessible Math Textbooks with Students Who Have Learning Disabilities

  Preston Lewis, Steve Noble, Neil Soiffer · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper reports results from Project SMART (Supported Math Accessibility Reading Tool), a classroom study conducted at the University of Kentucky with 48 eighth grade students who had learning disabilities. The project provided digital versions of Pearson's Connected…

  learning disabilities · mathematics accessibility · MathML · DAISY · print disabilities

• Field Evaluation of a Collaborative Memory Aid for Persons with Amnesia and Their Family Members

  Mike Wu, Ronald M. Baecker, Brian Richards · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents Family-Link, a collaborative memory aid designed through participatory design with people with amnesia (PwAs) and their families. The system was built as a shared calendar running on Palm Treo smartphones that synchronised events across all family members'…

  amnesia · memory aid · collaborative technology · caregiving · participatory design

• A Tool to Promote Prolonged Engagement in Art Therapy: Design and Development from Arts Therapist Requirements

  Jesse Hoey, Krists Zutis, Valerie Leuty, Alex Mihailidis · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper describes the design and evaluation of a customisable touch-screen tool that assists creative arts therapists working with older adults with dementia. The system uses a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) controller to autonomously monitor a client's…

  dementia · art therapy · computer vision · adaptive systems · user modeling

• Autonomous Navigation through the City for the Blind

  Jaime Sánchez, Natalia de la Torre · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents a study on the use of an audio-based GPS navigation application designed to help blind people navigate independently through urban environments. The software, developed for PocketPC devices with Bluetooth GPS receivers, uses a clock metaphor to communicate…

  blind navigation · GPS · orientation and mobility · mobile technology · assistive technology

• Broadening Accessibility Through Special Interests: A New Approach for Software Customization

  Robert R. Morris, Connor R. Kirschbaum, Rosalind W. Picard · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper from MIT Media Lab presents a software approach for automatically embedding the special interests of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) into computer-based interventions. People with ASD often have intense, narrow interests — ranging from specific cartoon…

  autism spectrum disorder · special interests · software customization · personalization · computer-mediated intervention

• Disability Studies as a Source of Critical Inquiry for the Field of Assistive Technology

  Jennifer Mankoff, Gillian R. Hayes, Devva Kasnitz · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This keynote-style paper argues that the assistive technology (AT) research community should draw more deeply from disability studies scholarship to improve both the problems it chooses to address and its research methods. The authors — two of whom identify as disabled — review…

  disability studies · assistive technology · social model of disability · medical model · critical theory

• Vi-Bowling: A Tactile Spatial Exergame for Individuals with Visual Impairments

  Tony Morelli, John Foley, Eelke Folmer · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents VI Bowling, an accessible exergame (exercise video game) for blind and visually impaired players that introduces tactile dowsing — a novel interaction technique using vibrotactile feedback from a Nintendo Wii remote to perform spatial aiming challenges…

  exergame · visual impairment · haptic technology · game accessibility · physical activity

• Multiple View Perspectives: Improving Inclusiveness and Video Compression in Mainstream Classroom Recordings

  Raja S. Kushalnagar, Anna C. Cavender, Jehan-François Pâris · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents Multiple View Perspectives (MVP), a system that captures and presents multiple focused video views of a classroom for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students. DHH students in mainstream classrooms face a fundamental visual attention problem: they must…

  deaf and hard of hearing · lecture capture · video accessibility · classroom accessibility · sign language interpreting

• A Web-Based User Survey for Evaluating Power Saving Strategies for Deaf Users of MobileASL

  Jessica J. Tran, Tressa W. Johnson, Joy Kim, Rafael Rodriguez, Sheri Yin, Eve A. Riskin, Richard E. Ladner, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents research on power-saving video compression algorithms for MobileASL, a project enabling real-time, two-way video communication on mobile phones so Deaf people can communicate in American Sign Language. Running video calls drains phone batteries rapidly — only…

  deaf and hard of hearing · sign language · American Sign Language · mobile technology · video compression

• Understanding the Challenges and Opportunities for Richer Descriptions of Stereotypical Behaviors of Children with ASD: A Concept Exploration and Validation

  Fnu Nazneen, Fatima A. Boujarwah, Shone Sadler, Amha Mogus, Gregory D. Abowd, Rosa I. Arriaga · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper from Georgia Institute of Technology explores the concept of a wearable sensor system that can tacitly collect contextual data — physiological state, environmental conditions, and location — and map it to occurrences of stereotypical behaviours in children with autism…

  autism spectrum disorder · stereotypical behavior · wearable sensors · physiological sensing · participatory design

• Are Synthesized Video Descriptions Acceptable?

  Masatomo Kobayashi, Trisha O'Connell, Bryan Gould, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper from IBM Research Tokyo and WGBH National Center for Accessible Media investigates whether text-to-speech (TTS) synthesised narrations are an acceptable alternative to human-narrated audio descriptions for online videos. While accessibility standards like WCAG 2.0,…

  audio description · video accessibility · text-to-speech · speech synthesis · web accessibility

• A Tactile Windowing System for Blind Users

  Denise Prescher, Gerhard Weber, Martin Spindler · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper from Technische Universität Dresden presents the Braille Window System (BWS), a windowing interface designed for a large planar tactile display — the BrailleDis9000, a touch-sensitive pin-matrix of 120 columns and 60 rows (7,200 pins). Standard screen readers…

  braille · tactile display · tactile graphics · gesture interaction · blindness

• Designing Auditory Cues to Enhance Spoken Mathematics for Visually Impaired Users

  Emma Murphy, Enda Bates, Dónal Fitzpatrick · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents a novel auditory math system designed to make spoken mathematical equations more accessible to visually impaired users. The core challenge addressed is that visual mathematical notation conveys structure — such as fractions, superscripts, subscripts, and…

  mathematical accessibility · auditory display · non-speech sound · spearcons · visual impairment

• Helping Older Adults Locate 'Lost' Cursors Using FieldMouse

  Nic Hollinworth · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This short paper describes FieldMouse, a modified standard optical mouse augmented with a touch sensor (Quantum QT110) embedded in its top surface to detect when a user grasps the mouse after releasing it. The motivation addresses a common problem among older adult computer…

  aging · mouse cursor · pointing devices · input devices · assistive technology

• ZigAlert: A ZigBee Alert for Toileting Training Children with Developmental Delay in a Public School Setting

  Yi-Chien Chen · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This short paper presents ZigAlert, a wireless sensor network system based on ZigBee technology designed to assist with toilet training for children with severe developmental delays in a public school setting. The system addresses a practical challenge: children with conditions…

  assistive technology · developmental disabilities · intellectual disability · wireless sensor network · special education

• Towards a Tool for Keystroke Level Modeling of Skilled Screen Reading

  Shari Trewin, Bonnie E. John, John Richards, Cal Swart, Jonathan Brezin, Rachel Bellamy, John Thomas · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper explores whether cognitive models of auditory interaction — specifically the Keystroke-Level Model (KLM) — can be adapted to predict task completion times for skilled screen reader users, with the goal of helping designers evaluate the usability of their interfaces…

  screen readers · cognitive modeling · usability · keyboard navigation · JAWS

• In-Situ Study of Blind Individuals Listening to Audio-Visual Contents

  Claude Chapdelaine · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents an in-situ observational study examining how ten legally blind individuals (WHO levels 3-5) listen to and comprehend audio-visual content such as films, television dramas, and science reports. The research aims to understand the type, quantity, and frequency…

  audio description · video description · visual impairment · blindness · residual vision

• Improving Public Transit Usability for Blind and Deaf-Blind People by Connecting a Braille Display to a Smartphone

  Shiri Azenkot, Emily Fortuna · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This short paper explores the public transit challenges faced by blind and deaf-blind people and presents MoBraille, a novel framework that connects any Wi-Fi-enabled Braille display to an Android smartphone. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with four blind and…

  deafblindness · blindness · braille display · public transit accessibility · mobile accessibility

• A System of Clothes Matching for Visually Impaired Persons

  Shuai Yuan · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This short paper presents a proof-of-concept computer vision system designed to help blind and visually impaired people determine whether two clothing items match in both color and pattern. The system addresses a common daily living challenge: selecting appropriate clothing…

  computer vision · blindness · visual impairment · daily living · independent living

• Participation of High School and Undergraduate Students who are Deaf in Research on American Sign Language Animation

  Matt Huenerfauth · 2010 · SIGACCESS Accessibility and Computing, Issue 97

  This SIGACCESS newsletter article describes the educational-outreach component of a five-year NSF CAREER Award (#0746556) research project at the Linguistic and Assistive Technologies Laboratory (LATLab) at Queens College, CUNY. The scientific goal of the project is to advance…

  American Sign Language · ASL animation · deaf community · STEM education · research outreach

• Collecting a Motion-Capture Corpus of American Sign Language for Data-Driven Generation Research

  Pengfei Lu, Matt Huenerfauth · 2010 · Proceedings of the NAACL HLT 2010 Workshop on Speech and Language Processing for Assistive Technologies (SLPAT '10)

  This workshop paper describes the first year of a multi-year project at CUNY to build a motion-capture corpus of American Sign Language (ASL) specifically intended to support data-driven ASL animation and machine-translation research. The authors argue that current ASL animation…

  American Sign Language · ASL animation · motion capture · sign language corpus · deaf accessibility

• A Comparison of Features for Automatic Readability Assessment

  Lijun Feng, Martin Jansche, Matt Huenerfauth, Noémie Elhadad · 2010 · Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Computational Linguistics (COLING '10), Posters

  Feng et al. (2010) is a computational-linguistics paper that compares a wide variety of text features for automatically predicting the grade level of reading material aimed at primary-school students. The motivation is both intrinsic — traditional readability formulas such as…

  readability · automatic readability assessment · text simplification · plain language · cognitive accessibility