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• MokE: A Tool for Mobile-ok Evaluation of Web Content

  John Garofalakis, Vassilios Stefanis · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents MokE (Mobile-OK Evaluator), a web-based tool for evaluating whether web content provides an acceptable experience on mobile devices, based on W3C's mobileOK Basic Tests and Mobile Web Best Practices. Written at a time when mobile web access was rapidly…

  mobile accessibility · mobile web · automated testing · web crawling · W3C standards

• Is Wikipedia Usable for the Blind?

  Marina Buzzi, Barbara Leporini · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper evaluates the accessibility and usability of Wikipedia for blind screen reader users by analyzing three key interaction modes: browsing the home page, searching and viewing results, and editing content. The authors tested both the English and Italian Wikipedia using…

  screen readers · blind users · wiki accessibility · usability · Wikipedia

• E-learning 2.0: You Are We-LCoME!

  Stefano Ferretti, Silvia Mirri, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Marco Roccetti, Paola Salomoni · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents We-LCoME (Wiki e-Learning Compound Multimedia Environment), a collaborative platform for creating and enriching accessible multimedia e-learning resources. Built on top of DokuWiki, the system allows a community of "prosumers" — lecturers, students, learning…

  e-learning · multimedia accessibility · collaborative authoring · Web 2.0 · SMIL

• Evaluating Web Accessibility for Specific Mobile Devices

  Markel Vigo, Amaia Aizpurua, Myriam Arrue, Julio Abascal · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper addresses a fundamental limitation in early mobile web accessibility testing: the reliance on a single Default Delivery Context (DDC) that assumed all mobile devices shared the same baseline capabilities. The W3C mobileOK Basic tests, designed to verify compliance…

  mobile accessibility · automated testing · evaluation tools · device independence · mobile web

• Enabling Access to Geo-referenced Information: Atlas.txt

  Kavita E. Thomas, Livia Sumegi, Leo Ferres, Somayajulu Sripada · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from the University of Aberdeen and Carleton University presents Atlas.txt, a data-to-text natural language generation (NLG) system designed to make geo-referenced data — such as census maps and thematic choropleth maps — accessible to visually impaired users. The…

  natural language generation · visual impairment · data accessibility · geographic information · data visualization

• A Syntactic Analysis of Accessibility to a Corpus of Statistical Graphs

  Leo Ferres, Petro Verkhogliad, Livia Sumegi, Louis Boucher, Martin Lachance, Gitte Lindgaard · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from Carleton University and Statistics Canada tackles a persistent accessibility challenge: making statistical graphs accessible to blind and visually impaired users. The authors analysed a corpus of 120 real-world statistical graphs from Statistics Canada's daily…

  data visualization · graph accessibility · blind and low vision · alt text · knowledge representation

• The Impact of Accessibility Assessment in Macro Scale Universal Usability Studies of the Web

  Rui Lopes, Luís Carriço · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A 2008)

  This paper introduces Web Interaction Environments (WIEs), a modelling framework for studying universal usability of the web at large scale. The authors argue that existing approaches to accessibility evaluation treat audiences as homogeneous groups, failing to capture the…

  universal usability · audience modelling · web accessibility · WCAG evaluation · Wikipedia

• A Web Compliance Engineering Framework to Support the Development of Accessible Rich Internet Applications

  Carlos A Velasco, Dimitar Denev, Dirk Stegemann, Yehya Mohamad · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A 2008)

  This paper from Fraunhofer Institute introduces Web Compliance Engineering as a new discipline within Web Engineering, and presents a software framework (imergo) designed to support accessibility compliance for Rich Internet Applications. The authors argue that existing…

  web compliance engineering · rich internet applications · accessibility testing · semantic web · EARL

• WebAnywhere: A Screen Reader On-the-Go

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Craig M. Prince, Richard E. Ladner · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A 2008)

  This paper introduces WebAnywhere, a web-based, self-voicing screen reader that enables blind users to access the web from virtually any computer with an Internet connection and sound output, without installing any software. The system addresses a fundamental equity problem:…

  screen readers · blind users · assistive technology · web-based · text-to-speech

• Towards One World Web with HearSay3

  Yevgen Borodin, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Amanda Stent, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This short paper presents HearSay 3, a self-voicing non-visual web browser developed at Stony Brook University and the University of Washington, designed to address accessibility challenges introduced by Web 2.0. Building on two previous versions — the original HearSay that…

  screen readers · non-visual web browser · blind users · collaborative accessibility · multilingual accessibility

• The Accessibility Kit for SharePoint: A Community-Based Approach to Web Accessibility

  Robert B. Yonaitis, Dana Louise Simberkoff, Kurt A. Mueffelmann, Cynthia Shelly · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper describes the Accessibility Kit for SharePoint (AKS), an open-source add-on developed by HiSoftware in collaboration with Microsoft to bring WCAG 1.0 AA conformance to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS). SharePoint was at the time Microsoft's…

  web accessibility · content management systems · organizational accessibility · WCAG compliance · open source

• Grouping Hyperlinks for Improved Voice/Mobile Accessibility

  Alex Penev, Raymond K. Wong · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from UNSW Sydney proposes an automatic technique for clustering a web page's hyperlinks into topical groups to help blind screen reader users and mobile device users locate desired links more quickly. The core problem is that sighted users can visually scan a page in…

  web accessibility · screen readers · blind users · navigation · mobile accessibility

• Thailand's National Digital Divide Strategic Framework

  Proadpran Punyabukkana, Suchai Thanawastien, Ajin Jirachiefpattana · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents Thailand's Digital Divide Strategic Framework (2008-2010), a national plan developed by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to address ICT accessibility for three target populations: the poor, people with disabilities, and senior…

  accessibility policy · digital divide · assistive technology · web accessibility · universal design

• Accessible Blog Posts with Windows Live Writer

  Cynthia Shelly, Becky Pezely · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This short paper from Microsoft describes how Windows Live Writer, a desktop blogging application installed on over 20 million machines with approximately 100,000 daily active users, was designed to produce accessible HTML output without requiring authors to understand HTML or…

  web accessibility · authoring tools · blogging · semantic HTML · alternative text

• The SADIe Transcoding Platform

  Darren Lunn, Sean Bechhofer, Simon Harper · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This short paper presents the SADIe (Structural-Semantics for Accessibility and Device Independence) transcoding platform, developed at the University of Manchester. SADIe addresses a fundamental challenge for visually impaired screen reader users: web pages are designed…

  web accessibility · transcoding · screen readers · visual impairment · semantic web

• Towards Bridging the Accessibility Needs of People with Disabilities and the Ageing Community

  Shadi Abou-Zahra, Judy Brewer, Andrew Arch · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This keynote paper introduces the WAI-AGE (Web Accessibility Initiative: Ageing Education and Harmonisation) project, a 36-month W3C/WAI initiative funded by the European Commission under its 6th Framework Programme. The project aimed to bridge the gap between the disability and…

  web accessibility · aging · accessibility policy · WCAG · standards harmonization

• AxsJAX: A Talking Translation Bot Using Google IM: Bringing Web-2.0 Applications to Life

  Charles L. Chen, T. V. Raman · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from Google describes how the AxsJAX framework uses WAI-ARIA live regions to make Google Talk — an instant messaging client integrated into GMail — fully accessible to screen reader and self-voicing browser users, and demonstrates a compelling mashup application: a…

  ARIA · web accessibility · screen readers · live regions · Web 2.0

• Ubiquitous Accessibility, Common Technology Core, and Micro Assistive Technology: Commentary on "Computers and People with Disabilities"

  Gregg C. Vanderheiden · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This influential commentary reflects on the evolution of digital accessibility from 1992 to 2008 and proposes a vision for addressing emerging challenges. Vanderheiden, director of the Trace R&D Center, traces progress from an era when only Apple had built-in accessibility…

  ubiquitous accessibility · assistive technology · accessibility policy · digital divide · universal design

• Computers and People with Disabilities

  Ephraim P. Glinert, Bryant W. York · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This is a 2008 reprint of a landmark 1992 Communications of the ACM article that issued a "call-to-arms" for research on computers and people with disabilities. Glinert and York argued that human-computer interfaces systematically failed to account for disabled users, treating…

  accessibility history · assistive technology · accessibility policy · HCI · universal access

• Sibylle, an assistive communication system adapting to the context and its user

  Tonio Wandmacher, Jean-Yves Antoine, Franck Poirier, Jean-Paul Départe · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  Sibylle is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system designed for people with severe motor disabilities who cannot use conventional keyboards. The system has been in clinical use at the Kerpape rehabilitation center in Brittany, France since 2001, serving…

  AAC · word prediction · language modeling · user adaptation · n-gram models

• Accessible Computing -- Past Trends and Future Suggestions: Commentary on "Computers and People with Disabilities"

  Alan F. Newell · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This influential commentary by Alan Newell reflects on 15 years of progress since Glinert and York's seminal 1992 paper on computers and disability. While acknowledging advances—specialized journals, accessibility features in mainstream software, AAC devices with prediction, and…

  inclusive design · older adults · cognitive accessibility · design methodology · user-centered design

• Keeping Up with Technology: Commentary on "Computers and People with Disabilities"

  Alistair D. N. Edwards · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This reflective commentary by Alistair Edwards examines what has—and crucially, what has not—changed in accessible computing since Glinert and York's influential 1992 paper. Edwards frames his analysis through a fashion-versus-style metaphor: while technology "fashions"…

  accessibility history · screen readers · GUI accessibility · assistive technology · web accessibility

• Access and Empowerment: Commentary on "Computers and People with Disabilities"

  Richard E. Ladner · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  Richard Ladner offers an optimistic assessment of progress since Glinert and York's 1992 call-to-arms, emphasizing how market forces—not just legal mandates—have driven accessibility improvements. With 16% of the U.S. population disabled and 10% of the working population…

  universal design · ubiquitous computing · web accessibility · user empowerment · accessibility history

• Multimodal Trajectory Playback for Teaching Shape Information and Trajectories to Visually Impaired Computer Users

  Andrew Crossan, Stephen Brewster · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This research investigates how haptic (force-feedback) and audio trajectory playback can teach shapes and gestures to blind and visually impaired computer users. The fundamental challenge addressed is that spatial information—shapes, diagrams, graphs, maps—is difficult to convey…

  haptic technology · multimodal interaction · visual impairment · force feedback · tactile graphics

• The Field Evaluation of a Mobile Digital Image Communication Application Designed for People with Aphasia

  Meredith Allen, Joanna McGrenere, Barbara Purves · 2008 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents PhotoTalk, a mobile application designed to help people with aphasia capture and manage digital photographs for face-to-face communication. The research addresses a significant gap: while AAC devices exist for aphasia, very few have been evaluated through…

  aphasia · AAC · mobile devices · field evaluation · participatory design