The literature-review database. Every paper Bob has reviewed (he has read many more), with a short summary, key findings, and tags. Browse, filter, search.
Anuradha Madugalla · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This doctoral consortium paper proposes semi-automated methods for transcribing online graphics — particularly floor plans — into accessible formats for blind users. The research is motivated by the fundamental problem that screen readers and voice synthesisers can only process…
blindness · tactile graphics · accessible graphics · floor plans · SVG
M. A. Naomi Jobrack · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper presents preliminary research toward developing a Refreshable Braille Oral Appliance (RBOA) — a refreshable Braille display embedded in an oral retainer that would allow users to read Braille with their tongue. The envisioned device connects to a wireless lapel…
braille · haptics · refreshable display · deaf accessibility · assistive technology
Chaohai Ding, Nawar Halabi, Lama Al-Zaben, Yunjia Li, E. A. Draffan, Mike Wald · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper presents Symbol Dragoman, a web-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) application that enables users who have no spoken language to communicate in both Arabic and English using pictographic symbols. The core problem addressed is that existing AAC…
AAC · augmentative and alternative communication · symbol communication · multilingual accessibility · Arabic
Daniel Costa · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This doctoral consortium paper proposes a two-stage research programme to study and improve the accessibility of connected TV platforms for visually impaired users. Connected TVs — smart TVs and set-top boxes with internet connectivity — use web technologies (HTML5, JavaScript)…
connected TV · blindness · visual impairment · accessibility evaluation · multimodal interaction
Andrii Soviak · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This doctoral consortium paper proposes FeelX, a haptic glove system that would enable blind users to explore web page layouts through touch on any flat surface such as a desk or table. The core problem is that screen readers linearise web pages into a one-dimensional sequence…
blindness · haptic technology · tactile interface · screen reader · web accessibility
Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper investigates the role of web localization professionals (translators) in maintaining image accessibility when websites are adapted for different language audiences. The author identifies a significant gap: when websites are localized from one language to another, text…
image accessibility · text alternatives · web localization · accessibility evaluation tools · quality assurance
Hironobu Takagi, Takashi Itoh, Kaoru Shinkawa · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper from IBM Research Tokyo investigates a hybrid approach to real-time captioning that combines Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) with human correction to make workplace meetings accessible for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) employees. Professional stenography services…
real-time captioning · deaf and hard of hearing · automated speech recognition · workplace accessibility · Japanese
Nádia Fernandes, Tiago Guerreiro, Diogo Marques, Luís Carriço · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper presents Optimus Web, a client-side web proxy system that automatically selects and delivers the most accessible version of a website — either its desktop or mobile representation — to blind users. The system uses QualWeb, an automated accessibility evaluator that…
web accessibility · blind users · screen readers · mobile accessibility · automated testing
Michele A. Williams, Erin Buehler, Amy Hurst, Shaun K. Kane · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper documents two participatory design workshops conducted with a team of eight visually impaired adults to explore features and form factors for a wearable navigation device. The research team met monthly over nine months as a "design team," with two sessions dedicated…
wearable technology · participatory design · blind users · navigation · assistive technology
Chris J. Hughes, Mike Armstrong, Rhianne Jones, Michael Crabb · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper from BBC R&D and the University of Dundee proposes applying responsive web design principles to subtitle display, moving away from the legacy Teletext format that has constrained subtitling since 1979. Traditional subtitles are pre-blocked into fixed 38-character-wide…
subtitles · captions · responsive design · video accessibility · personalization
Yury Puzis, Yevgen Borodin, Andrii Soviak, Valentyn Melnyk, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper argues that the primary barrier to web accessibility is not technical limitations but the high cost of implementing WAI-ARIA, the W3C accessibility specification for rich internet applications. The authors systematically analyze why ARIA implementation is expensive by…
WAI-ARIA · web accessibility · screen readers · web development · accessibility economics
Valentyn Melnyk, Vikas Ashok, Yury Puzis, Yevgen Borodin, Andrii Soviak, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper proposes an alternative approach to web widget accessibility that bypasses ARIA entirely. Rather than relying on web developers to correctly implement ARIA markup — which is often missing, incorrect, or inconsistent — the system automatically detects, classifies, and…
widget accessibility · screen readers · WAI-ARIA · machine learning · web chat
Aqueasha Martin-Hammond, Abdullah Ali, Catherine Hornback, Amy K. Hurst · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper explores user preferences for adaptive user interfaces (AUIs) that detect and accommodate pointing difficulties when using a mouse, touchpad, or touchscreen to interact with the web. The researchers conducted participatory design sessions with 38 participants — 8…
adaptive user interfaces · pointing performance · motor accessibility · older adults · aging
Yu Zhong, Astrid Weber, Casey Burkhardt, Phil Weaver, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper introduces Touch Guard, a system-wide Android accessibility service developed as a Google intern research project that helps users with hand tremor interact more accurately with touchscreen devices. The core problem addressed is that conventional touchscreen…
mobile accessibility · touchscreen accessibility · hand tremor · motor impairment · Android
Aqueasha Martin-Hammond, Abdullah Ali, Catherine Hornback, Amy K. Hurst · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper investigates how older and younger adults want adaptive user interfaces (AUIs) to detect and respond to pointing difficulties when using computers. Pointing problems — such as misclicks, erratic cursor movements, and difficulty with target acquisition — affect people…
adaptive user interfaces · pointing performance · older adults · participatory design · motor impairment
Vikas Ashok, Yevgen Borodin, Yury Puzis, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper presents Capti-Speak, a speech-augmented screen reader for web browsing that allows blind users to combine natural language voice commands with traditional keyboard shortcuts. Built as an extension to the Capti Narrator screen reader, Capti-Speak addresses a…
screen readers · speech recognition · voice interface · web accessibility · blind users
Afra Pascual, Mireia Ribera, Toni Granollers · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper presents EmpathicEditor4Accessibility (EE4A), a prototype web editor that helps non-technical content writers understand and fix accessibility errors by communicating barriers through the perspective of disabled personas rather than technical jargon. The authors…
authoring tools · user-generated content · accessibility education · empathic design · WCAG compliance
Steven Gardiner, Anthony Tomasic, John Zimmerman · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2015)
This paper presents SmartWrap, a Firefox extension that enables sighted web users — including nonprogrammers — to create reusable "wrappers" that extract the semantic structure of visually-presented datasets on web pages, making them navigable by screen readers. The core problem…
crowdsourcing · screen readers · web accessibility · semantic annotation · web scraping
Mengni Zhang, Can Wang, Jiajun Bu, Zhi Yu, Yi Lu, Ruijie Zhang, Chun Chen · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2015)
This short paper proposes OPS-WAQM, an optimal page sampling method specifically designed for use with the Web Accessibility Quantitative Metric (WAQM) when evaluating large websites. The core problem is that evaluating every page of a large website for accessibility is…
accessibility evaluation · sampling methods · accessibility metrics · WAQM · large-scale evaluation
Carlos Miguel Dias de Brito, João Tiago Pinheiro Neto Jacob, Rui Nóbrega, António Manuel Nogueira Santos · 2015 · ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility
This paper presents two exergames designed to motivate elderly adults to perform fall-prevention exercises while simultaneously collecting balance assessment data using the Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB). Falls are a major health concern for older adults, and while exercise is…
exergames · fall prevention · older adults · balance assessment · Wii Balance Board
Jean K. Rodriguez-Cartagena, Andrea C. Claudio-Palacios, Natalia Pacheco-Tallaj, Valerie Santiago González, Patricia Ordonez-Franco · 2015 · ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility
This paper presents the development of a standardized vocabulary and grammar for voice-based programming, designed to make coding accessible to people with limited hand mobility or visual impairments. The work is part of the larger Kavita Project, which aims to create an…
speech recognition · voice input · programming · motor impairment · repetitive strain injury
Andrea Gerino, Lorenzo Picinali, Cristian Bernareggi, Sergio Mascetti · 2015 · ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility
This paper presents Invisible Puzzle Game, an iPhone application that uses sonification techniques to enable people who are blind or visually impaired to explore shapes on touchscreen devices. Image exploration is fundamental for developing visuospatial skills and STEM…
sonification · blindness · visual impairment · touchscreen · image exploration
Giovanni Fusco, Valerie S. Morash · 2015 · ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility
This paper presents the Tactile Graphics Helper (TGH), a machine vision system that enables students who are blind or visually impaired to independently access clarifying information about tactile graphics without sighted assistance. Tactile graphics—raised line drawings,…
tactile graphics · visual impairment · blindness · STEM education · machine vision
André Rodrigues · 2015 · ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility
This paper introduces Assistive Macros, an Android accessibility service that enables users with motor impairments to perform multi-step interactions with a single selection. The system addresses two critical problems: the extreme time consumption of sequential scanning…
switch access · motor impairment · mobile accessibility · Android · macros
Stefan Johansson, Jan Gulliksen, Ann Lantz · 2015 · ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility
This paper describes methods developed to enable meaningful participation in ICT research by people with mental and cognitive disabilities—a population often excluded from user studies. Over 100 participants with conditions including depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar…
mental health · cognitive disability · participatory design · user research · inclusion