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• Interactive Technologies Designed for Children with Autism: Reports of Use and Desires from Parents, Teachers, and Therapists

  Cynthia Putnam, Christina Hanschke, Jennifer Todd, Jonathan Gemmell, Mia Kollia · 2019 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper examines how parents, teachers, and therapists use, perceive, discover, and desire interactive technologies for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The research combined 19 semi-structured interviews and 230 survey responses from caregivers across the United…

  autism · children · interactive technology · assistive technology · stakeholder perspectives

• Multimodal Exploration of Mathematical Function Graphs with AudioFunctions.web

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Niccolò Cantù, Cristian Bernareggi, João Guerreiro, Sergio Mascetti, Anna Capietto · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents AudioFunctions.web, a web-based system designed to make mathematical function graphs accessible to people who are blind or have visual impairments. Function graphs are a fundamental tool in mathematics education and STEM fields, yet they remain…

  sonification · mathematics accessibility · visual impairment · blindness · STEM accessibility

• SafeExit4All: An Inclusive Indoor Emergency Evacuation System for People With Disabilities

  Seyed Ali Cheraghi, Anup Sharma, Vinod Namboodiri, Güler Arsal · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents SafeExit4All, a smartphone-based emergency evacuation system designed to help people with disabilities independently find safe exits from indoor spaces during emergencies such as fires, tornadoes, and active shooter situations. The authors identify a critical…

  indoor navigation · emergency evacuation · wayfinding · visual impairment · mobility impairment

• AudioFunctions.web: Multimodal Exploration of Mathematical Function Graphs

  Dragan Ahmetovic, Cristian Bernareggi, João Guerreiro, Sergio Mascetti, Anna Capietto · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This full research paper presents AudioFunctions.web, a web application that enables blind and visually impaired people to explore mathematical function graphs through a combination of sonification, earcons, and speech synthesis. The system is the platform-independent successor…

  sonification · mathematics accessibility · visual impairment · blindness · STEM accessibility

• 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

• Pushpak: Voice Command-based eBook Navigator

  Shradha Holani, Akashdeep Bansal, M Balakrishnan · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents Pushpak, a voice command-based eBook navigator designed to reduce the steep learning curve associated with screen reader software. The authors identify a key accessibility barrier: effective use of screen readers like NVDA and JAWS requires…

  voice control · screen reader · NVDA · eBook · natural language understanding

• Write-it-Yourself: Empowering Blind People to Independently Fill-out Paper Forms

  Syed Masum Billah, Shirin Feiz, Vikas Ashok, Roy Shilkrot, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper introduces WiYG (Write-it-Yourself Guide), a system that enables blind people to independently fill out printed paper forms such as bank checks, consent forms, and restaurant receipts — a task that has until now been impossible without sighted…

  blindness · assistive technology · computer vision · 3D printing · writing assistance

• Feel-It: Personalized Audio-Tactile Web Browsing

  Anatoliy Borodin, Yevgen Borodin, Andrii Soviak, Vikas Ashok, Shirin Disfani, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents Feel-It, a hardware-software system for audio-tactile web browsing that enables blind users to explore the two-dimensional spatial layout of web pages through touch. The core problem addressed is that screen readers reduce web pages to a…

  blindness · haptic feedback · tactile display · web browsing · screen reader

• GuideCall: Affordable and Trustworthy Video Call-Based Remote Assistance for People with Visual Impairments

  Naveen M. Ravindran, Seyed Ali Cheraghi, Vinod Namboodiri, Rakesh Babu · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents GuideCall, a free Android application that enables blind or visually impaired (BVI) individuals to get remote visual assistance through video calls with trusted personal contacts. The system addresses two key limitations of existing remote…

  visual impairment · blindness · remote assistance · video calling · assistive technology

• Designing Personalized Therapy Tools for People with Dementia

  Sérgio Alves, Filipa Brito, Andreia Cordeiro, Luís Carriço, Tiago Guerreiro · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents the iterative design and clinical deployment of Scrapbook, a web platform that supports psychologists in conducting personalized reminiscence therapy and cognitive stimulation sessions for people with dementia using biographical materials. The work is…

  dementia · cognitive stimulation · reminiscence therapy · personalization · caregivers

• Continuous Web Personalization using Selector-template Pairs

  Vagner Figueredo de Santana, M. Cecilia C. Baranauskas · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents a continuous web personalization approach that automatically adjusts website user interfaces based on observed usage patterns to reduce accessibility barriers and usability problems. Built on the WELFIT (Web Event Logger and Flow Identification Tool)…

  web personalization · accessibility · usability · interaction logging · data mining

• Handsfree for Web: A Google Chrome extension to browse the web via voice commands

  Javier Pérez · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents Handsfree for Web, a free Google Chrome browser extension that enables users to browse the web entirely through voice commands. The tool addresses a fundamental accessibility barrier: nearly all websites require manual interaction via keyboard,…

  voice control · speech recognition · motor disability · browser extension · web accessibility

• WordMelodies: Supporting Children with Visual Impairment in Learning Literacy

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

  This demonstration paper presents WordMelodies, an inclusive cross-platform mobile application designed to support children with visual impairments in acquiring basic literacy skills. The app provides eight different exercises targeting foundational reading and writing…

  visual impairment · children · literacy · education · mobile application

• See-Thru: Towards Minimally Obstructive Eye-Controlled Wheelchair Interfaces

  Corten Clemente Singer, Björn Hartmann · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents See-Thru, an eye-tracking interface for controlling power wheelchairs that replaces the conventional obstructive computer screen with a transparent wire-frame device containing spatially arranged LEDs. The fundamental problem with existing eye-controlled…

  eye tracking · eye-gaze control · power wheelchair · motor disability · assistive technology

• Revisiting Blind Photography in the Context of Teachable Object Recognizers

  Kyungjun Lee, Jonggi Hong, Simone Pimento, Ebrima Jarjue, Hernisa Kacorri · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper introduces a real-time audio-haptic feedback system to help people with visual impairments frame objects in their smartphone camera when training teachable object recognizers. The challenge is that teachable recognizers — which let users train personalized models to…

  blind photography · teachable object recognizer · computer vision · deep learning · visual impairment

• A Community-Centered Design Framework for Robot-Assisted Feeding Systems

  Tapomayukh Bhattacharjee, Maria E. Cabrera, Anat Caspi, Maya Cakmak, Siddhartha S. Srinivasa · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper develops a community-centered design framework for evaluating robot-assisted feeding (RAF) systems, shifting the perspective from purely transactional (robot picks up food, delivers to mouth) to relational (feeding as a social, cultural, and identity-laden activity…

  assistive robotics · activities of daily living · motor disability · feeding assistance · community-centered design

• CHIMELIGHT: Augmenting Instruments in Interactive Music Therapy for Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

  Joana Lobo, Soichiro Matsuda, Izumi Futamata, Ryoichi Sakuta, Kenji Suzuki · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents CHIMELIGHT, an IoT-based system that augments handchime musical instruments with real-time visual feedback to support music therapists working with children who have neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and ADHD. The…

  music therapy · neurodevelopmental disorder · autism spectrum disorder · ADHD · children

• Personalization and Layering to Simplify Computer Accessibility

  Gregg Vanderheiden, J. Bern Jordan · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demonstration paper presents Morphic, an operating system extension that combines auto-personalization, complexity layering, enhanced feature discovery, and Install on Demand (IoD) to make computers easier to use for people who face barriers due to disability, literacy, or…

  auto-personalization · cognitive accessibility · digital literacy · assistive technology · operating system accessibility

• Autoethnography of a Hard of Hearing Traveler

  Dhruv Jain, Audrey Desjardins, Leah Findlater, Jon E. Froehlich · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents a 2.5-year autoethnographic account of the recreational travel experiences of Jain, a hard of hearing individual with severe-to-profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss who wears behind-the-ear hearing aids. The account draws on retrospective journals…

  hard of hearing · Deaf and hard of hearing · autoethnography · accessible tourism · disability disclosure

• Supporting Older Adults in Using Complex User Interfaces with Augmented Reality

  Junhan Kong, Anhong Guo, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demonstration paper presents an augmented reality system that provides step-by-step visual guidance to help older adults navigate complex user interfaces. The core problem is that older adults frequently struggle with complex digital interfaces — from self-service kiosks…

  older adults · aging · augmented reality · cognitive support · user interface

• Identifying Comfort Areas in 3D Space for Persons with Upper Extremity Mobility Impairments Using Virtual Reality

  Shanmugam Muruga Palaniappan, Ting Zhang, Bradley S. Duerstock · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This short paper presents a method for using virtual reality exergaming to identify personalized comfort areas in 3D space for people with upper extremity mobility impairments (UEMIs), enabling optimal placement of assistive technology input devices like switches, joysticks, and…

  virtual reality · motor disability · spinal cord injury · ergonomics · assistive technology

• Exploring Haptic Colour Identification Aids

  Richard Nguyen, Connor Geddes · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This poster paper presents two novel haptic devices — ColourWrist and ColourVest — designed to help people with Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD) identify colors through tactile feedback. Approximately 8% of males and 0.5% of females have some form of CVD, which creates barriers in…

  colour vision deficiency · haptic feedback · sensory substitution · wearable technology · vibrotactile

• A Wearable Input Mechanism for Blind Users of Computers Based on Mental Mapping of Thumb-To-Phalanx Distances

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

  This student research abstract presents Mentalitype, a glove-based wearable keyboard designed to provide blind users with an affordable and portable text input mechanism for computer-based tasks. The system maps 32 push-buttons to the phalanges (finger bones) of both hands, with…

  blindness · wearable technology · text input · assistive technology · alternative keyboards

• Jido: A Conversational Tactile Map for Blind People

  Luis Cavazos Quero, Jorge Iranzo Bartolomé, Dongmyeong Lee, Yerin Lee, Sangwon Lee, Jundong Cho · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This demonstration paper presents Jido, a system that combines a touch-sensitive tactile map with a voice-based conversational agent to help blind people understand and navigate indoor environments. The tactile map is constructed from laser-cut acrylic sheets mounted on a case…

  blindness · tactile maps · voice interaction · indoor navigation · conversational interface

• 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