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• Tinged with Heartbreak: An Ethnographic Account of Navigating Autistic Loneliness and the Fragile Promise of AI Companionship

  Anna Hollis · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper is a reflexive ethnographic case study (n=1) of 'Andrea', a middle-aged autistic businesswoman in the Western world, and her six-month relationship with Xander, a Replika AI companion she ultimately lost to a corrupting software update. Anna Hollis, a…

  chatbot companions · autism · grief · technological instability · AI companionship

• "I Felt Like I Was in a Fishbowl": Lived Experience with Telepresence and Non-Visible Disabilities in Higher Education

  Hanlin Zhang, Yifan Feng, Adam Walker, Jennifer A. Rode · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper presents the first ethnographic study of telepresence robot use by students with non-visible disabilities in higher education. The researchers conducted a 10-week ethnography in a postgraduate seminar course at University College London, where students could attend…

  telepresence · non-visible disability · neurodiversity · mental health · higher education

• Minor Resistance: The Everyday Politics and Power Dynamics of Assistive Technology Adoption

  Stacy Hsueh, Danielle Van Dusen, Anat Caspi, Jennifer Mankoff · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper proposes a power-aware framework for understanding assistive technology adoption that moves beyond the traditional "fit" model, where adoption signals good fit between device and user while abandonment signals poor fit. Drawing from an eight-month ethnographic study…

  assistive technology · power dynamics · social inequity · intersectionality · ethnography

• Accessibility barriers to online education for young adults with intellectual disabilities

  Erin Buehler, William Easley, Amy Poole, Amy Hurst · 2016 · Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents an emic ethnographic account of the accessibility barriers that young adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) encounter when using online education tools in a postsecondary environment. The authors—researchers and educators in an inclusive postsecondary…

  intellectual disability · cognitive accessibility · e-learning accessibility · higher education · file management

• Developing for Autism with User-Centred Design

  Rachel Menzies · 2011 · Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This short paper describes the development of software designed to help children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) explore social situations, specifically the concept of sharing. The author identifies a gap in the use of User-Centred Design (UCD) methods with children with…

  autism · user-centred design · social skills · inclusive design · ethnography

• About the relevance of accessibility barriers in the everyday interactions of older people with the web

  Sergio Sayago, Josep Blat · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper reports findings from a remarkable 3-year ethnographic study (2005-2008) of 388 older people (aged 65-80) using web and computer technologies in their daily lives at the Àgora adult centre in Barcelona. Unlike most accessibility research that relies on lab-based…

  aging · ethnography · web accessibility · cognitive accessibility · mouse interaction

• Understanding mobile phone requirements for young adults with cognitive disabilities

  Melissa Dawe · 2007 · Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  Melissa Dawe's Assets '07 paper is a small, qualitative, ethnographically-informed study of how five Colorado families use mobile phones to support remote communication between parents and their young-adult children (ages 19-25) with cognitive disabilities. The paper is grounded…

  cognitive accessibility · mobile accessibility · ethnography · semi-structured interviews · caregivers

• Designing Assistive Technology for Blind Users

  Kristen Shinohara · 2006 · Proceedings of the 8th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '06)

  This paper reports on an observational and interview case study of a congenitally blind college student (pseudonym Sara) conducted in her home to develop design insights for improving interactions between blind users and everyday technological artifacts. The researcher used…

  blindness · assistive technology · human-centered design · ethnography · case study

• The Ethnographically Informed Participatory Design of a PDA Application to Support Communication

  Rhian Davies, Skip Marcella, Joanna McGrenere, Barbara Purves · 2004 · Proceedings of the 6th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets 04)

  This paper describes an ethnographically informed participatory design process for creating a PDA-based file management system to support communication for a person with aphasia. The research was conducted at the University of British Columbia with one primary participant, SM, a…

  aphasia · augmentative and alternative communication · participatory design · ethnography · mobile technology

9 results.