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• Eye Gaze Behaviour and Comprehension of Colour Commentary and Gameplay Captions of Live Fast-Paced Sports for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Television Viewers

  Somang Nam, Tatyana Kumarasamy, Maria Karam, Margot Whitfield, Evan Hibbard, Jenny Leung, Deborah Fels · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This ACM TACCESS study evaluates a novel captioning approach for live fast-paced sports broadcasting: 'Reduced Captioning' that displays only the colour commentary (opinions, context, analysis) and omits the verbatim play-by-play narration. The authors motivate this design…

  closed captioning · live captioning · broadcasting · sports · eye tracking

• SituFont: A Just-in-Time Adaptive Intervention Interface for Enhancing Mobile Readability in Situational Visual Impairments

  Jingruo Chen, Kexin Nie, Mingshan Zhang, Chun Yu, Zhiqi Gao, Kun Yue, Yuanchun Shi, Chen Liang · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  SituFont is a smartphone reading interface that treats situational visual impairment (SVI) as a first-class design target and dynamically adjusts font parameters in response to real-time context. The authors argue that static accessibility settings and one-off manual adjustments…

  situational visual impairment · situationally induced impairments and disabilities · adaptive typography · just-in-time adaptive intervention · human-in-the-loop

• Reading with Diversity in Mind: Pupillometry and Typography Towards Inclusive Design for ADHD Readers

  Borano Llana, Alisa Baron, Haihan Yu, Maedeh Hosseinpour, Yusra Suhail, Sean Chin, Kushas Khadka, Shaun Wallace · 2026 · Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '26)

  Llana and colleagues at the University of Rhode Island examine how typographic choices interact with ADHD when reading digital text. The motivation is practical: digital reading is now the default for most education and work, and small typographic decisions (font family, size,…

  readability · typography · ADHD · eye tracking · pupillometry

• A Review of 25 Years of Human-Computer Interaction Research on Reading Support Technologies for People with Disabilities Published in the ACM Digital Library

  Oliver Alonzo, Saad Hassan · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This systematic literature review analyzes 101 HCI publications from ACM venues spanning 2000 to 2024 that focus on reading support technologies for people with disabilities. The authors developed a comprehensive coding rubric covering publication metadata, contribution types,…

  systematic literature review · reading support · reading disability · dyslexia · blind or low vision

• Methods for Evaluating the Fluency of Automatically Simplified Texts with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Adults at Various Literacy Levels

  Oliver Alonzo, Jessica Trussell, Matthew Watkins, Sooyeon Lee, Matt Huenerfauth · 2022 · Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '22)

  This CHI 2022 paper is a methodological study, not a product evaluation: the authors ask how researchers should measure the fluency of Automatic Text Simplification (ATS) output when the evaluators are Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) adults spanning a wide range of English…

  automatic text simplification · deaf and hard of hearing · readability · reading accessibility · natural language processing

• Measuring Text Comprehension for People with Reading Difficulties Using a Mobile Application

  Andreas Säuberli · 2021 · Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This extended abstract presents a mobile touchscreen application designed to measure text comprehension for people with reading difficulties, specifically targeting users of Easy Language — simplified text used to make information accessible to people with intellectual…

  readability · intellectual disability · easy language · reading accessibility · cognitive accessibility

• Comparison of Methods for Evaluating Complexity of Simplified Texts among Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Adults at Different Literacy Levels

  Oliver Alonzo, Jessica Trussell, Becca Dingman, Matt Huenerfauth · 2021 · Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '21)

  This CHI 2021 paper is the companion methodological study to Alonzo et al.'s 2022 fluency work: where that later paper asked how to evaluate the fluency (grammaticality) of simplified texts, this one asks how to evaluate their complexity (whether the simplification actually made…

  automatic text simplification · deaf and hard of hearing · readability · reading accessibility · research methodology

• PDF Readability Enhancement on Mobile Devices

  Zachary Shelton, Chen-Hsiang Yu · 2020 · Proceedings of the 17th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents PDFroggy, an Android application that applies content transformation techniques to PDF documents on mobile devices to enhance readability. The research addresses a specific gap: while previous work has demonstrated that content transformation methods like…

  PDF accessibility · readability · mobile accessibility · content transformation · document accessibility

• Automatic Text Simplification Tools for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adults: Benefits of Lexical Simplification and Providing Users with Autonomy

  Oliver Alonzo, Matthew Seita, Abraham Glasser, Matt Huenerfauth · 2020 · Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '20)

  This CHI 2020 paper is the first empirical study of lexical Automatic Text Simplification (ATS) with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) adult readers, and introduces user autonomy as a central design variable in accessibility ATS tools. Prior ATS research with DHH users had looked…

  automatic text simplification · deaf and hard of hearing · lexical simplification · user autonomy · reading accessibility

• The effect of typeface and font size on reading text on a tablet computer for older and younger people

  Maneerut Chatrangsan, Helen Petrie · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This study investigated how typeface (serif vs. sans serif) and font size (14, 16, and 18 point) affect reading performance and preferences on tablet computers for younger and older people. The research was conducted cross-culturally in both Thailand and the UK, with…

  readability · typography · font size · older adults · aging

• Still Not Readable? An Interactive Tool for Recommending Color Pairs with Sufficient Contrast based on Existing Visual Designs

  Fredrik Hansen, Josef Jan Krivan, Frode Eika Sandnes · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This demonstration paper presents a web-based color contrast tool that goes beyond the pass/fail validation of existing contrast checkers by actively recommending how to fix insufficient color contrast while preserving the designer's original visual intent. The authors observe…

  color contrast · low vision · web design · design tools · readability

• Preferred Appearance of Captions Generated by Automatic Speech Recognition for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Viewers

  Larwan Berke, Khaled Albusays, Matthew Seita, Matt Huenerfauth · 2019 · Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '19)

  This CHI 2019 Late-Breaking Work (6 pages) investigates a practical question that has received surprisingly little research: when Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) is used to caption small-group meetings for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) viewers, how should those captions…

  captioning · deaf and hard of hearing · automatic speech recognition · user interface design · typography

• Good Background Colors for Readers: A Study of People with and without Dyslexia

  Luz Rello, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2017 · Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper presents the first large-scale user study measuring the effect of background colors on screen readability for people with and without dyslexia, providing empirical evidence for the widely recommended but previously unvalidated practice of using colored backgrounds to…

  dyslexia · readability · color contrast · reading accessibility · visual design

• The Effect of Font Type on Screen Readability by People with Dyslexia

  Luz Rello, Ricardo Baeza-Yates · 2016 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This eye-tracking study investigates how different font types affect screen reading performance for people with dyslexia compared to non-dyslexic readers. The researchers recruited 97 native Spanish speakers—48 diagnosed with dyslexia and 49 without—to read short texts displayed…

  dyslexia · typography · readability · eye tracking · font design

• A plug-in to aid online reading in Spanish

  Luz Rello, Roberto Carlini, Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents CASSA, a free Chrome browser plug-in designed to help people read Spanish text on the web by providing simpler synonyms and definitions on demand for complex words. The tool builds on the CASSA (Context Aware Synonym Simplification Algorithm) resource, which…

  text simplification · lexical simplification · dyslexia · cognitive accessibility · readability

• Dyslexia and web accessibility: synergies and challenges

  Luz Rello · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This position paper reviews the key challenges of studying dyslexia in the context of web accessibility, drawing on Rello's extensive body of research including her doctoral work on the DysWebxia text accessibility model. The paper addresses three interconnected problems:…

  dyslexia · cognitive accessibility · readability · typography · web accessibility guidelines

• Measuring Text Simplification with the Crowd

  Walter S. Lasecki, Luz Rello, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates whether non-expert crowd workers can reliably evaluate the simplicity of English text, addressing a key gap in text simplification research. Text simplification — reducing the lexical and syntactic complexity of sentences while preserving meaning — is…

  text simplification · crowdsourcing · natural language processing · readability · cognitive accessibility

• Making It Simplext: Implementation and Evaluation of a Text Simplification System for Spanish

  Horacio Saggion, Sanja Štajner, Stefan Bott, Simon Mille, Luz Rello, Biljana Drndarevic · 2015 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents Simplext, the first comprehensive automatic text simplification (ATS) system for Spanish. The research addresses a fundamental accessibility barrier: textual content written in complex language excludes people with cognitive disabilities, low literacy, and…

  text simplification · natural language processing · cognitive accessibility · readability · Spanish

• Simplify or Help? Text Simplification Strategies for People with Dyslexia

  Luz Rello, Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Stefan Bott, Horacio Saggion · 2013 · Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper evaluates two automatic lexical simplification strategies designed to make text more accessible for people with dyslexia. The research addresses a key gap: while previous tools for dyslexic readers focused on text presentation (fonts, spacing, colors), none had…

  dyslexia · text simplification · readability · cognitive accessibility · eye tracking

• DysWebxia 2.0! More Accessible Text for People with Dyslexia

  Luz Rello, Clara Bayarri, Azuki Gòrriz, Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Saurabh Gupta, Gaurang Kanvinde, Horacio Saggion, Stefan Bott, Roberto Carlini, Vasile Topac · 2013 · Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This demo paper introduces DysWebxia 2.0, a model for making text more accessible to people with dyslexia by modifying both the presentation and content of text. The project is notable for being the first model to combine text presentation changes (font, spacing, layout) with…

  dyslexia · text simplification · readability · assistive technology · text presentation

• Size Matters (Spacing Not): 18 Points for a Dyslexic-Friendly Wikipedia

  Luz Rello, Martin Pielot, Mari-Carmen Marcos, Roberto Carlini · 2013 · Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper investigates the effect of font size and line spacing on readability and comprehension for people with dyslexia, tested in the real-world context of Wikipedia articles rather than isolated text samples. The authors conducted an eye-tracking study with 28 participants…

  dyslexia · typography · readability · eye tracking · font size

• Web Accessibility for Older Adults: Effects of Line Spacing and Text Justification on Reading Web Pages

  Helen Petrie, Sorachai Kamollimsakul, Christopher Power · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This poster paper empirically tests two common web accessibility recommendations for older adults: increased line spacing and left-only text justification. The authors note that at least 10 sets of guidelines for making websites accessible to older people exist in English alone,…

  older adults · web accessibility · typography · line spacing · text justification

• Good Fonts for Dyslexia

  Luz Rello, Ricardo Baeza-Yates · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents the first experiment using eye tracking to objectively measure the impact of font type on reading performance for people with dyslexia. Using a within-subject design, 48 participants with clinically confirmed dyslexia (ages 11-50) read 12 comparable texts…

  dyslexia · typography · readability · eye tracking · font design

• Web accessibility and people with dyslexia: a survey on techniques and guidelines

  Vagner Figueredo de Santana, Rosimeire de Oliveira, Leonelo Dell Anhol Almeida, Maria Cecília Calani Baranauskas · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the state of the art on dyslexia and web accessibility, synthesising findings from academic research, dyslexia organisations (particularly the British Dyslexia Association), and practitioner guidance into a consolidated set of 41…

  dyslexia · cognitive accessibility · web accessibility guidelines · readability · inclusive design

• Layout Guidelines for Web Text and a Web Service to Improve Accessibility for Dyslexics

  Luz Rello, Gaurang Kanvinde, Ricardo Baeza-Yates · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents evidence-based layout guidelines for making web text more readable for people with dyslexia, derived from a user study with 22 dyslexic participants and a matched control group. The study is notable for being the first to combine eye-tracking data with…

  dyslexia · readability · typography · eye tracking · text presentation