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• Disability, ICT and eLearning Platforms: Faculty-Facing Embedded Work Tools in Learning Management Systems

  Sushil K. Oswal · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents preliminary findings from a longitudinal study of the accessibility of the Canvas learning management system (LMS) for faculty with visual disabilities. What makes this study distinctive is its focus on the faculty-facing interface — nearly all prior research…

  learning management systems · higher education · screen readers · visual impairment · faculty accessibility

• Designing a Low-cost Finger Wearable Audio-tactile Device

  Arshad Nasser · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This student research abstract describes the iterative design of ColorTact, a finger-worn wearable device that provides audio annotations when users explore tactile diagrams. The device addresses a fundamental limitation of conventional tactile graphics: they can only…

  assistive technology · tactile graphics · wearable technology · audio description · visual impairment

• Making Nonvisually: Lessons from the Field

  Cynthia L. Bennett, Abigale Stangl, Alexa F. Siu, Joshua A. Miele · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This experience report shares lessons from a team of researchers, activists, and blind makers who conducted workshops introducing Arduino electronics to blind hobbyists and guided assembly of an accessible voltmeter prototype. The authors — including blind HCI researcher Cynthia…

  maker movement · blind · DIY assistive technology · Arduino · participatory design

• A Demonstration of Molder: An Accessible Design Tool for Tactile Maps

  Lei Shi, Yuhang Zhao, Elizabeth Kupferstein, Shiri Azenkot · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This demonstration paper presents Molder, an accessible design tool that enables teachers of the visually impaired (TVIs) and orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists to create 3D printed tactile maps without requiring professional 3D modeling skills. The problem Molder…

  tactile maps · tactile graphics · 3D printing · visual impairment · orientation and mobility

• Research to Market Transition of Mobile Assistive Technologies for People with Visual Impairments

  Sergio Mascetti, Dragan Ahmetovic, Cristian Bernareggi · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper examines why so few mobile assistive technology research prototypes for people with visual impairments ever reach end users, and shares practical lessons from the authors’ experience developing and distributing three iOS apps through EveryWare Technologies, a…

  assistive technology · visual impairment · mobile accessibility · technology transfer · blind

• Deep Learning for Automatically Detecting Sidewalk Accessibility Problems Using Streetscape Imagery

  Galen Weld, Esther Jang, Anthony Li, Aileen Zeng, Kurtis Heimerl, Jon E. Froehlich · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents the first application of deep learning to automatically assess sidewalk accessibility from Google Street View (GSV) panoramas, addressing four types of accessibility problems: curb ramps, missing curb ramps, sidewalk obstructions, and surface problems.…

  computer vision · deep learning · sidewalk accessibility · curb ramps · crowdsourcing

• RoboGraphics: Dynamic Tactile Graphics Powered by Mobile Robots

  Darren Guinness, Annika Muehlbradt, Daniel Szafir, Shaun K. Kane · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper introduces RoboGraphics, a novel approach to creating dynamic tactile graphics by combining a touchscreen tablet, static laser-cut tactile overlays, and small mobile robots (Ozobot Bit 2.0, approximately one cubic inch, ~$60 each). Traditional tactile graphics are…

  tactile graphics · robotics · blind · tangible interaction · data visualization

• shapeCAD: An Accessible 3D Modelling Workflow for the Blind and Visually-Impaired Via 2.5D Shape Displays

  Alexa F. Siu, Son Kim, Joshua A. Miele, Sean Follmer · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents shapeCAD, an accessible 3D modelling workflow that enables people who are blind or visually impaired (BVI) to author, explore, and modify 3D models using a combination of declarative programming (OpenSCAD scripts) and a 2.5D tactile shape display for…

  3D printing · blind · low vision · tactile displays · haptic technology

• Leveraging Augmented Reality to Create Apps for People with Visual Disabilities: A Case Study in Indoor Navigation

  Chris Yoon, Ryan Louie, Jeremy Ryan, MinhKhang Vu, Hyegi Bang, William Derksen, Paul Ruvolo · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents Clew, an iOS app that leverages Apple’s ARKit augmented reality framework to help people who are blind or visually impaired (B/VI) navigate indoor environments — a setting where GPS is unreliable (accuracy drops to ~5m+ indoors). Clew uses visual-inertial…

  augmented reality · indoor navigation · orientation and mobility · blind · low vision

• Leveraging Participation: Supporting Skills Development of Young Adults with Intellectual Disability Using Social Media

  Andrew A. Bayor, Laurianne Sitbon, Bernd Ploderer, Filip Bircanin, Stewart Koplick, Margot Brereton · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper investigates how young adults with intellectual disability (ID) can leverage their existing social media participation — particularly on YouTube and Facebook — to develop new skills beyond entertainment. The researchers conducted a participatory study at an Australian…

  intellectual disability · social media · digital inclusion · participatory design · skills development

• GoDonnie: A Robot Programming Language to Improve Orientation and Mobility Skills in People Who are Visually Impaired

  Juliana Damasio Oliveira, Márcia de Borba Campos, Alexandre Amory, Rafael H. Bordini · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This demonstration paper presents GoDonnie, a text-based programming language designed to help people who are visually impaired (PVI) develop both computational thinking and orientation and mobility (O&M) skills simultaneously. GoDonnie is based on Logo, the classic educational…

  orientation and mobility · visual impairment · programming education · robotics · screen readers

• Leveraging Shared Control to Empower People with Tetraplegia to Participate in Extreme Sports

  Ahmad Alsaleem, Ross Imburgia, Mateo Godinez, Andrew Merryweather, Roger Altizer, Tamara Denning, Jeffery Rosenbluth, Stephen Trapp, Jason Wiese · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper describes the iterative design and field evaluation of Tetra-Ski, a power-assisted adaptive ski chair that enables people with tetraplegia to participate in alpine skiing — a high-risk, high-independence activity previously inaccessible to this population. Existing…

  tetraplegia · spinal cord injury · adaptive sports · shared control · sip-and-puff

• Non-Visual Beats: Redesigning the Groove Pizza

  William Payne, Alex Xu, Amy Hurst, S. Alex Ruthmann · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This demonstration paper describes the accessible redesign of the Groove Pizza, a popular free web-based drum step-sequencer developed by NYU’s Music Experience Design Lab (MusEDLab) that reaches thousands of users per month. The original Groove Pizza uses a circular visual…

  music accessibility · blind · visual impairment · screen readers · sonification

• Voice Telephony for Individuals with Hearing Loss: The Effects of Audio Bandwidth, Bit Rate and Packet Loss

  Linda Kozma-Spytek, Paula Tucker, Christian Vogler · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents three experiments conducted over three years with a total of 114 individuals with hearing loss (68 cochlear implant users and 46 hearing aid users) and 12 hearing controls, investigating how audio quality parameters in telecommunications networks affect the…

  hearing loss · telecommunications · cochlear implant · hearing aid · audio quality

• μGraph: Haptic Exploration and Editing of 3D Chemical Diagrams

  Cristian Bernareggi, Dragan Ahmetovic, Sergio Mascetti · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents μGraph (Multimodal Graph), a system that combines haptic force feedback and speech to enable people who are blind or visually impaired (VIB) to explore and edit three-dimensional structural chemical formulae. Chemical diagrams represent molecular structures…

  haptic technology · STEM accessibility · blind · visual impairment · chemistry education

• Ageing is Not a Disease: Pitfalls for the Acceptance of Self-Management Health Systems Supporting Healthy Ageing

  Ine D’Haeseleer, Kathrin Gerling, Dominique Schreurs, Bart Vanrumste, Vero Vanden Abeele · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper reports on a qualitative study with 20 older adults (mean age 80, range 65-92) in Belgium, investigating their attitudes towards self-management health systems (SMHS) — integrated solutions that combine data from sensors and self-reports with risk assessment and…

  aging · older adults · health monitoring · self-management · digital inclusion

• Defining Problems of Practices to Advance Inclusive Tactile Media Consumption and Production

  Abigale Stangl, Ann Cunningham, Lou Ann Blake, Tom Yeh · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents findings from three Tactile Art and Graphics Symposia (TAGS) that gathered 64 participants — 49% of whom were blind or had low vision — including artists, museum curators, tactile media designers, access technologists, teachers of the visually impaired…

  tactile graphics · tactile art · blind · low vision · accessible art

• Perception and Adoption of Mobile Accessibility Features by Older Adults Experiencing Ability Changes

  Rachel L. Franz, Jacob O. Wobbrock, Yi Cheng, Leah Findlater · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents the first empirical study exploring how older adults experiencing progressive ability changes perceive and adopt built-in mobile accessibility features on smartphones and tablets. The researchers conducted interviews with 14 older adults (aged 65-93, mean 77)…

  aging · older adults · mobile accessibility · ability-based design · accessibility features

• Reading Between the Guidelines: How Commercial Voice Assistant Guidelines Hinder Accessibility for Blind Users

  Stacy M. Branham, Antony Rishin Mukkath Roy · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents a qualitative document review of public-facing voice assistant design guidelines published by five leading commercial vendors — Amazon (Alexa), Google (Google Assistant), Microsoft (Cortana), Apple (Siri), and Alibaba (Xiao AI) — to examine how these…

  voice assistant · blind · visual impairment · conversational user interfaces · design guidelines

• WatchOut: Obstacle Sonification for People with Visual Impairment or Blindness

  Giorgio Presti, Dragan Ahmetovic, Mattia Ducci, Cristian Bernareggi, Luca Ludovico, Adriano Baratè, Federico Avanzini, Sergio Mascetti · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents WatchOut, a sonification technique that conveys real-time information about obstacle characteristics to people who are blind or visually impaired (BVI) through non-verbal sound, enabling them to avoid obstacles while walking. The white cane, the primary…

  sonification · obstacle avoidance · blind · low vision · computer vision

• User Perspectives on Robotics for Post-stroke Hand Rehabilitation

  Chloe Ng · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This student research abstract presents a preliminary qualitative study investigating user perceptions of an exoskeleton robotic device designed for post-stroke hand rehabilitation. Impaired hand motor function is one of the most significant disabilities following stroke,…

  stroke rehabilitation · exoskeleton · robotics · motor disability · assistive technology

• Automatic Generation and Evaluation of Usable and Secure Audio reCAPTCHA

  Mohit Jain, Rohun Tripathi, Ishita Bhansali, Pratyush Kumar · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents reCAPGen, a system that automatically generates usable and secure audio CAPTCHAs by leveraging the gap between human and machine speech recognition abilities. Visual CAPTCHAs — the dominant form of online human verification — are inherently inaccessible to…

  CAPTCHA · audio accessibility · blind · visual impairment · web accessibility

• HowToApp: Supporting Life Skills Development of Young Adults with Intellectual Disability

  Andrew A. Bayor · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This student research abstract describes the co-design and preliminary evaluation of HowToApp, a mobile application that helps young adults with intellectual disability (ID) search for, watch, archive, and share YouTube videos related to their personal skills development…

  intellectual disability · co-design · social media · YouTube · skills development

• BrailleBlocks: Braille Toys for Cross-Ability Collaboration

  Vinitha Gadiraju · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This student research abstract presents BrailleBlocks, a tangible learning system designed to help blind or visually impaired children learn Braille collaboratively with their sighted parents. Braille literacy in the United States is critically low — less than 10% of blind…

  braille · blind · education · children · tangible interaction

• Prefigurative Politics and Passionate Witnessing

  Rua M. Williams, LouAnne E. Boyd · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This experience report traces the unlikely partnership between two researchers — Rua Williams, an autistic disability studies scholar and activist, and LouAnne Boyd, a former behaviour therapist turned HCI researcher — whose work initially placed them on opposite sides of a…

  critical disability studies · autism · research ethics · disability justice · participatory design