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• Tenets for Social Accessibility: Towards Humanizing Disabled People in Design

  Kristen Shinohara, Cynthia L. Bennett, Wanda Pratt, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2018 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper investigates how student designers think about disability and accessibility when tasked with designing for multiple users with and without disabilities, and uses the findings to refine the Design for Social Accessibility framework. Conducted across two university…

  social accessibility · design methodology · accessibility education · inclusive design · user-centered design

• Pictures in Your Mind: Using Interactive Gesture-Controlled Reliefs to Explore Art

  Andreas Reichinger, Helena Garcia Carrizosa, Joanna Wood, Svenja Schröder, Christian Löw, Laura Rosalia Luidolt, Maria Schimkowitsch, Anton Fuhrmann, Stefan Maierhofer, Werner Purgathofer · 2018 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper presents an interactive audio guide (IAG) system that combines 3D-printed tactile reliefs with gesture-controlled, location-dependent audio descriptions to make visual art accessible to blind, visually impaired, and cognitively disabled users. Traditional tactile…

  tactile graphics · museum accessibility · blind and visually impaired · audio description · gesture interaction

• Designing Gesture-Based Applications for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities: Guidelines from User Studies in India

  Sumita Sharma, Blessin Varkey, Krishnaveni Achary, Jaakko Hakulinen, Markku Turunen, Tomi Heimonen, Saurabh Srivastava, Nitendra Rajput · 2018 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper presents the design, evaluation, and resulting guidelines from three gesture-based applications created for individuals with developmental disabilities in India, developed through a long-term collaboration with Tamana, an NGO and special education school in New Delhi.…

  developmental disabilities · gesture interaction · special education · inclusive design · Global South accessibility

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Web Accessibility: Is Conformance Evaluation a Way Forward?

  Shadi Abou-Zahra, Judy Brewer, Michael Cooper · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This short paper from three W3C/WAI staff members explores the potential and limitations of applying artificial intelligence to improve web accessibility, proposing accessibility conformance evaluation as a strategic pathway to accelerate AI adoption in this domain. The authors…

  artificial intelligence · web accessibility · WCAG · automated testing · machine learning

• Collaborative Accessibility Assessments by Senior Citizens Using Smartphone Application ReAcTS (Real-world Accessibility Transaction System)

  Takahiro Miura, Ken-ichiro Yabu, Ryogo Ogino, Atsushi Hiyama, Michitaka Hirose, Tohru Ifukube · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This paper presents ReAcTS (Real-world Accessibility Transaction System), a smartphone application designed to enable senior citizen volunteers to collaboratively assess and share real-world physical accessibility conditions in their local communities. While accessibility…

  crowdsourcing · older adults · urban accessibility · accessibility mapping · volunteering

• Exploring the Role of Tunnel Vision Simulation in the Design Cycle of Accessible Interfaces

  Rie Kamikubo, Keita Higuchi, Ryo Yonetani, Hideki Koike, Yoichi Sato · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This paper investigates whether gaze-contingent tunnel vision simulation can serve as a reliable tool within the design cycle for accessible web interfaces, enabling sighted developers to experience and evaluate prototypes under simulated visual field loss. The challenge…

  low vision · tunnel vision · retinitis pigmentosa · simulation · eye tracking

• On Accessibility Policies for Higher Education Institutions

  Giorgio Brajnik, Sanela Graca · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This short paper analyses the web accessibility policies of twenty universities across Europe, the USA, Canada, and Australia to identify what constitutes an effective accessibility policy and provide guidance for institutions creating or revising their own. The authors argue…

  web accessibility · higher education · accessibility policy · WCAG · organizational accessibility

• The accessibility of administrative processes: Assessing the impacts on students in higher education

  Tim Coughlan, Kate Lister · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This paper investigates the impacts that administrative processes — such as applying for disability support, gaining medical evidence, registering for courses, and applying for government benefits — have on disabled university students. The research was conducted at The Open…

  administrative burden · higher education · disability · mental health · forms accessibility

• Parallel DOM Architecture for Accessible Interactive Simulations

  Taliesin L. Smith, Jesse Greenberg, Sam Reid, Emily B. Moore · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This paper presents the Parallel DOM (PDOM) architecture developed by the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder to make their suite of 140+ free science and mathematics simulations accessible to students with visual impairments. PhET sims are…

  web accessibility · interactive simulations · screen readers · keyboard accessibility · WAI-ARIA

• Application for the configuration and adaptation of the Android operating system for the visually impaired

  Bruna de Oliveira, Juliana Cristina Braga, Rafael J. Pezzuto Damaceno · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This short paper presents the design and preliminary evaluation of an Android application that allows people with visual impairments (PVI) to configure their device’s accessibility settings using voice commands, bypassing the paradoxical problem that activating accessibility…

  Android · visual impairment · blind · low vision · TalkBack

• Towards Language Independent Detection of Dyslexia with a Web-based Game

  Maria Rauschenberger, Luz Rello, Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This paper presents MusVis, a web-based game designed to detect dyslexia in children using musical and visual elements that are language independent, potentially enabling screening before children learn to read. Dyslexia affects 5-15% of the world’s population and early…

  dyslexia · screening · serious games · language independent · auditory processing

• A TensorFlow-based Assistive Technology System for Users with Visual Impairments

  Davide Mulfari · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This extended abstract presents a wearable computer vision system that uses deep learning to classify objects in a blind user’s surroundings and provide audio descriptions via text-to-speech. The system addresses a limitation of smartphone-based object recognition apps: people…

  computer vision · deep learning · blind · visual impairment · wearable technology

• Adaptable maps for people with autism

  Claudia De Los Rios Perez, David A. McMeekin, Marita Falkmer, Tele Tan · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This demonstration paper presents a web application that adapts digital maps for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), addressing the fact that mainstream map services like Google Maps are not designed with the needs, limitations, and capabilities of autistic users in…

  autism · maps · user interface · personalization · navigation

• DysHelper: The Dyslexia Assistive User Experience

  Tereza Pařilová, Romana Remšíková · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This demonstration paper presents DysHelper, a web browser extension designed to assist people with dyslexia by visually modifying the appearance of web text without altering its content or meaning. The extension addresses the core visual processing difficulty in dyslexia:…

  dyslexia · browser extension · reading accessibility · typography · web accessibility

• Home Automation for an Independent Living: Investigating the Needs of Visually Impaired People

  Barbara Leporini, Marina Buzzi · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This paper investigates the habits, expectations, and unmet needs of visually impaired people regarding home automation and remote control systems through an online survey of 42 participants (32 totally blind, 10 low vision; ages 18-70+; 64.3% male) and face-to-face interviews…

  smart home · blind · visual impairment · Internet of Things · independent living

• Improving Usability of Math Editors

  Neil Soiffer · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This short paper presents an empirical analysis of mathematical symbol usage across US grade 6-12 textbooks to demonstrate that context-aware math editors could dramatically reduce the number of buttons needed for symbol entry, significantly improving usability for screen reader…

  mathematics accessibility · STEM accessibility · MathML · equation editors · screen readers

• Web Accessibility Evaluation in a Crowdsourcing-Based System with Expertise-Based Decision Strategy

  Shuyi Song, Jiajun Bu, Ye Wang, Zhi Yu, Andreas Artmeier, Lianjun Dai, Can Wang · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This short paper presents a crowdsourcing-based web accessibility evaluation system that addresses the scalability bottleneck in manual accessibility evaluation: expert evaluators are scarce (training takes years) and expensive, yet many WCAG checkpoints cannot be evaluated…

  web accessibility · crowdsourcing · accessibility evaluation · WCAG · automated testing

• Computer Anxiety and Interaction: A Systematic Review

  Thiago Donizetti dos Santos, Vagner Figueredo de Santana · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This paper presents a systematic review of 111 papers on Computer Anxiety (CA) in the context of Human-Computer Interaction, synthesising research spanning 1986-2017 across four databases (Springer, ACM, IEEExplore, PubMed). Computer Anxiety is defined as negative emotions and…

  computer anxiety · older adults · aging · digital inclusion · self-efficacy

• Automatic Natural Language Generation Applied to Alternative and Augmentative Communication for Online Video Content Services using SimpleNLG for Spanish

  Silvia García-Méndez, Milagros Fernández-Gavilanes, Enrique Costa-Montenegro, Jonathan Juncal-Martínez, Francisco Javier González-Castaño · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This short paper presents the development of a Spanish version of SimpleNLG — a natural language generation (NLG) library — specifically enhanced for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) applications. The work addresses a gap at the intersection of AAC and online…

  AAC · natural language processing · pictograms · Spanish · natural language generation

• Arabic web accessibility guidelines: Understanding and use by web developers in Kuwait

  Muhammad Saleem · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This extended abstract describes a doctoral research project aimed at developing and implementing Arabic-language web accessibility resources for developers, web content managers, and designers in Kuwait and the broader Middle East. The paper highlights a significant gap: while…

  web accessibility · Arabic · Kuwait · Middle East · WCAG

• Accessify: An ML Powered Application to Provide Accessible Images on Web Sites

  Shivam Singh, Anurag Bhandari, Nishith Pathak · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This demonstration paper presents Accessify, a browser plugin that uses machine learning to automatically generate alternative text descriptions for all images on a website, injecting them into the page’s DOM so screen readers can access them. The system addresses the persistent…

  alternative text · image accessibility · machine learning · browser extension · computer vision

• Automatic Role Detection of Visual Elements of Web Pages for Automatic Accessibility Evaluation

  Carlos Duarte, Ana Salvado, M. Elgin Akpinar, Yeliz Yeşilada, Luís Carriço · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This short paper presents an approach to automatically detect the visual roles of web page elements — specifically menus and lists — to enable automated accessibility evaluation tools to assess WCAG techniques that require understanding an element’s semantic role, not just its…

  automated testing · web accessibility · WCAG · web page segmentation · navigation

• Exploring Aural Navigation by Screenless Access

  Mikaylah Gross, Joe Dara, Christopher Meyer, Davide Bolchini · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This paper introduces screenless access, a paradigm for browsing aural information architectures using one-handed, in-air gestures recognised by an off-the-shelf Myo armband, freeing blind and visually impaired users from the constraint of holding and touching a smartphone…

  blind · visual impairment · gesture interaction · wearable technology · mobile accessibility

• WebSight: Using AR and WebGL shaders to assist the visually impaired

  Dan Ruta, Louis Jordan, Tom James Fox, Rich Boakes · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This demonstration paper presents WebSight, a browser-based augmented reality system that uses WebGL shaders to process a smartphone’s live camera feed in real time, enhancing visual features to assist people with low vision in navigating real-world environments. An estimated…

  augmented reality · low vision · visual impairment · WebGL · edge detection

• How Context and User Behavior Affect Indoor Navigation Assistance for Blind People

  João Guerreiro, Eshed Ohn-Bar, Dragan Ahmetovic, Kris Kitani, Chieko Asakawa · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This short paper presents a fine-grained thematic analysis of user behaviour during indoor assisted navigation to understand when and why navigation errors occur even when the underlying localisation system is accurate. The research uses NavCog, a smartphone-based indoor…

  indoor navigation · blind · orientation and mobility · guide dog · white cane