Reviews

Search results

• System-class Accessibility: The Architectural Support for Making a Whole System Usable by People with Disabilities

  Chris Fleizach, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2024 · ACM Queue

  This article introduces the concept of "system-class accessibility" — the architectural support built into an operating system to make the entire platform usable by people with disabilities. Written by Chris Fleizach (who led the development of VoiceOver on iOS at Apple) and…

  accessibility API · screen readers · VoiceOver · iOS accessibility · operating systems

• "I stepped into a puddle": Non-Visual Texting in Nomadic Contexts

  Pegah Karimi, Erin Brady, Aqueasha Martin-Hammond, Davide Bolchini · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)

  This study investigates the under-explored practice of texting by people who are blind and visually impaired (BVI) while navigating outdoors — what the authors term "nomadic contexts." While previous research has examined accessible text entry methods (screen readers, speech…

  blind and low vision · text entry · mobile accessibility · navigation · assistive technology

• Understanding Peer-to-Peer Instructional Support in an Online Community for Blind Audio Producers

  Abir Saha, Darren Gergle, Anne Marie Piper · 2023 · Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2023)

  This paper examines how blind and low-vision audio producers seek and provide instructional support through an online text-based Q&A mailing list community centered around using Logic Pro, a professional digital audio workstation (DAW), with the VoiceOver screen reader. The…

  screen readers · blind and low vision · audio production · peer support · online communities

• Understanding the Touchscreen-based Nonvisual Target Acquisition Task Performance of Screen Reader Users

  Hwayeon Joh, Yun Jung Lee, Uran Oh · 2022 · Proceedings of the 19th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2022)

  This study investigates how screen reader users find and select targets on a smartphone touchscreen without visual cues, examining the effects of screen size, target size, and the ratio between them. Twelve participants with visual impairments (three totally blind, three with…

  touchscreen · screen readers · target acquisition · mobile accessibility · visual impairment

• Ally: Understanding Text Messaging to Build a Better Onscreen Keyboard for Blind People

  Danielle Lottridge, Chris Yoon, Darren Burton, Chester Wang, Jofish Kaye · 2022 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research presents Ally, a smartphone onscreen keyboard designed specifically for blind users who need to enter text messages when voice input or external keyboards are unavailable. The authors recognized that blind smartphone users employ heterogeneous input methods—voice…

  blindness · text entry · mobile accessibility · keyboard design · VoiceOver

• Developing Accessible Mobile Applications with Cross-Platform Development Frameworks

  Sergio Mascetti, Mattia Ducci, Niccolò Cantù, Paolo Pecis, Dragan Ahmetovic · 2021 · Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This experience report from the EveryWare Lab at the University of Milan systematically analyzes how well cross-platform development frameworks (CPDFs) support screen reader accessibility APIs compared to native iOS and Android development. The team, which has been developing…

  mobile accessibility · cross-platform development · screen readers · React Native · Xamarin

• Expanding a Large Inclusive Study of Human Listening Rates

  Danielle Bragg, Katharina Reinecke, Richard E. Ladner · 2021 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This study presents the first large-scale, inclusive online investigation of human listening rates for fast synthetic speech, conducted via the LabintheWild crowdsourcing platform over 12 months with 1,409 participants. The research aimed to understand how fast people can…

  screen readers · synthetic speech · text-to-speech · listening rates · auditory processing

• Screen Recognition: Creating Accessibility Metadata for Mobile Applications from Pixels

  Xiaoyi Zhang, Lilian de Greef, Amanda Swearngin, Samuel White, Kyle Murray, Lisa Yu, Qi Shan, Jeffrey Nichols, Jason Wu, Chris Fleizach, Aaron Everitt, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2021 · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  This paper from Apple introduces Screen Recognition, a system that automatically generates accessibility metadata for mobile apps by analyzing their visual pixels, enabling screen readers to work with apps that lack proper developer-provided accessibility information. The…

  mobile accessibility · screen readers · machine learning · object detection · VoiceOver

• Making Mobile Augmented Reality Applications Accessible

  Jaylin Herskovitz, Jason Wu, Samuel White, Amy Pavel, Gabriel Reyes, Anhong Guo, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This paper tackles a fundamental accessibility gap in augmented reality: AR applications are overwhelmingly visual, mixing virtual 3D objects with the real world in ways that existing screen readers and accessibility services cannot interpret. The researchers analyzed 105…

  augmented reality · visual accessibility · blindness and low vision · mobile accessibility · screen readers

• Personalization in the Interactive EPUB 3 Reading Experience: Accessibility Issues for Screen Reader Users

  Barbara Leporini, Clara Meattini · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates the accessibility of interactive EPUB 3 digital books when accessed via screen readers. The authors designed and developed a multimedia, interactive EPUB 3 prototype — a digital guide to Sienese cuisine featuring 8 recipe chapters and 8 walking itinerary…

  EPUB · accessible publishing · screen reader · digital books · personalization

• Demo: Expanding Blocks4All with Variables and Functions

  Jacqueline Shao Yi Ong, Nana Adwoa O. Amoah, Alison E. Garrett-Engele, Mariella Irene Page, Katherine R. McCarthy, Lauren R. Milne · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This demonstration paper describes extensions to Blocks4All, an accessible blocks-based programming environment (BBPE) for iPad designed to enable children with visual impairments to learn programming through touchscreen interaction with screen reader support. Traditional BBPEs…

  programming education · blind · low vision · visual impairment · screen readers

• DarkReader: Bridging the Gap Between Perception and Reality of Power Consumption in Smartphones for Blind Users

  Jian Xu, Syed Masum Billah, Roy Shilkrot, Aruna Balasubramanian · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper presents DarkReader, a modified Android screen reader that truly turns off the smartphone screen while preserving full touchscreen interaction for blind users, saving 24-52% of power compared to the default TalkBack screen reader. The work addresses two problems blind…

  blind · screen readers · TalkBack · VoiceOver · Android

• VERSE: Bridging Screen Readers and Voice Assistants for Enhanced Eyes-Free Web Search

  Alexandra Vtyurina, Adam Fourney, Meredith Ringel Morris, Leah Findlater, Ryen W. White · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper identifies the complementary strengths and weaknesses of screen readers and voice assistants (VAs) for blind web searchers, then presents VERSE (Voice Exploration, Retrieval, and SEarch), a prototype that merges the best of both technologies. An online survey of 53…

  screen readers · voice assistant · blind · web search · information retrieval

• MathMelodies 2: a Mobile Assistive Application for People with Visual Impairments Developed with React Native

  Niccolò Cantù, Mattia Ducci, Dragan Ahmetovic, Cristian Bernareggi, Sergio Mascetti · 2018 · Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This demo paper from the University of Milan and University of Turin reports on MathMelodies 2, a cross-platform math education app for blind and visually impaired (BVI) children in grades 1-5, developed using React Native. The original MathMelodies was iPad-only, developed in…

  blindness · low vision · mathematical accessibility · education · children

• Investigating Laboratory and Everyday Typing Performance of Blind Users

  Hugo Nicolau, Kyle Montague, Tiago Guerreiro, André Rodrigues, Vicki L. Hanson · 2017 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper presents the first longitudinal study comparing blind users' touchscreen typing performance in laboratory versus everyday real-world settings. Over 12 weeks, five novice blind smartphone users participated in eight weekly laboratory sessions while also having their…

  visual impairment · text entry · touchscreen · mobile accessibility · longitudinal study

• An empirical investigation of the situationally-induced impairments experienced by blind mobile device users

  Ali Abdolrahmani, Ravi Kuber, Amy Hurst · 2016 · Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates the situationally-induced impairments and disabilities (SIIDs) experienced by blind people when using mobile devices in real-world contexts. While prior SIID research has focused on sighted users encountering temporary impediments (like walking while…

  situational impairment · mobile accessibility · visual impairment · blindness · screen readers

• Blind Photographers and VizSnap: A Long-Term Study

  Dustin Adams, Sri Kurniawan, Cynthia Herrera, Veronica Kang, Natalie Friedman · 2016 · Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

  This paper reports on a two-month longitudinal study with 13 blind participants (ages 18-65, nine totally blind and two with some light perception, seven adventitiously and six congenitally blind) using VizSnap, a free iPhone app designed to help blind people organize and browse…

  blindness · photography · mobile accessibility · social media · iPhone

• Supporting Orientation of People with Visual Impairment: Analysis of Large Scale Usage Data

  Hernisa Kacorri, Sergio Mascetti, Andrea Gerino, Dragan Ahmetovic, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2016 · Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

  This paper analyzes large-scale remote usage data from iMove, an iOS GPS-based orientation app for people with visual impairments, to understand how users interact with assistive navigation technology in real-world conditions. Traditional assistive technology user studies are…

  visual impairment · blindness · navigation · orientation and mobility · mobile accessibility

• A Platform Agnostic Remote Desktop System for Screen Reading

  Syed Masum Billah, Vikas Ashok, Donald E. Porter, IV Ramakrishnan · 2016 · ASSETS '16: Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  Sinter addresses a fundamental barrier to remote desktop accessibility: traditional remote desktop technology scrapes pixels from the remote screen and redraws them as bitmaps on the client, losing all semantic information that screen readers require—text content, UI element…

  screen reader · remote desktop · cross-platform accessibility · UI virtualization · blind accessibility

• Follow That Sound: Using Sonification and Corrective Verbal Feedback to Teach Touchscreen Gestures

  Uran Oh, Shaun K. Kane, Leah Findlater · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper proposes and evaluates two techniques for teaching touchscreen gestures to users with visual impairments: gesture sonification (mapping finger position to audio using pitch for the y-axis and stereo panning for the x-axis) and corrective verbal feedback…

  touchscreen accessibility · sonification · gesture learning · blind users · visual impairment

• Exploring the Use of Speech Input by Blind People on Mobile Devices

  Shiri Azenkot, Nicole B. Lee · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper investigates how blind people use speech input on mobile devices through two studies: a survey of 169 participants (64 blind/low-vision, 105 sighted) and a laboratory study with 8 blind participants composing paragraphs on an iPod Touch using speech dictation versus…

  visual impairment · blindness · speech input · speech recognition · mobile accessibility

• PassChords: Secure Multi-Touch Authentication for Blind People

  Shiri Azenkot, Kyle Rector, Richard Ladner, Jacob Wobbrock · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper presents PassChords, a non-visual multi-touch authentication method for blind mobile device users that is resistant to both aural and visual eavesdropping. The research begins with interviews of 13 blind smartphone users (average age 51, range 26-64) that revealed…

  accessible authentication · blind users · mobile security · touch screen · VoiceOver

• Tapulator: A Non-Visual Calculator Using Natural Prefix-Free Codes

  Vaspol Ruamviboonsuk, Shiri Azenkot, Richard E. Ladner · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This demonstration paper presents the Tapulator, a non-visual calculator for smartphones that replaces traditional on-screen buttons with a simple gesture-based numeric entry system using multi-finger taps and swipes. The core innovation is a natural prefix-free code for…

  blindness · low vision · touchscreen accessibility · screen reader · gesture input

• Assistive Web Browsing with Touch Interfaces

  Faisal Ahmed, Muhammad Asiful Islam, Yevgen Borodin, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This demo paper from Stony Brook University proposes a touch-based directional navigation technique to improve web browsing for blind users on touch devices (iPhone, MacBook trackpad). The authors identify two key problems with Apple's VoiceOver touch interface: the "fat finger"…

  web accessibility · touch interface · screen reader · VoiceOver · visual impairment

• A Cisco Education Tool Accessible to the Vision Impaired

  J. Hope, B. R. von Konsky, I. Murray, L. C. Chew, B. Farrugia · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper describes iNetSim, a universally accessible network simulator developed at Curtin University of Technology to allow vision-impaired and sighted students to complete Cisco Certified Network Associate level 2 (CCNA 2) laboratory sessions. The standard Cisco learning…

  visual impairment · education · screen reader · VoiceOver · network simulation

25 results.