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• The Three Praxes Framework — A Thematic Review and Map of Social Accessibility Research

  JiWoong (Joon) Jang, Patrick Carrington, Andrew Begel · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper by Jang, Carrington, and Begel (Carnegie Mellon) offers a thematic review and conceptual map of fifteen years of "social accessibility" research in HCI—the body of work, inaugurated by Shinohara and Wobbrock in 2011, that studies how disability is experienced…

  social accessibility · disability justice · critical technical practice · research framework · literature review

• From Autonomy to Sovereignty — A New Telos for Socially Assistive Technology

  JiWoong (Joon) Jang, Patrick Carrington, Andrew Begel · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 theory paper argues that assistive-technology (AT) research has long treated 'independence' as its primary goal — a framing codified in the 1988 U.S. Technology-Related Assistance Act — even though disabled people's lived experience is saturated with…

  social accessibility · assistive technology · relational sovereignty · interdependence · independence

• EmojiFan: Designing A Social Interface Supporting Facial Expression Interaction for Blind and Low Vision People in Party Settings

  Jinlin Miao, Shan Luo, Yue Chen, Hongyue Wang, Zhejun Zhang, Rina R. Wehbe · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper presents EmojiFan, an AI-assisted wearable prototype designed to help blind and low-vision (BLV) adults participate in facial-expression interactions in party settings — a social context the authors identify as particularly hostile to BLV inclusion because of…

  blind and low vision · visual impairment · facial expression · social accessibility · wearable technology

• Help and The Social Construction of Access: A Case-Study from India

  Vaishnav Kameswaran, Jerry Robinson, Nithya Sambasivan, Gaurav Aggarwal, Meredith Ringel Morris · 2024 · ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper examines the role of help in how people with visual impairments (PVI) navigate indoor environments in India, challenging the Western-centric assumption that independence should be the primary goal of assistive technology design. Through a mixed-methods qualitative…

  visual impairment · indoor navigation · Global South · India · social accessibility

• Experiences of Autistic Twitch Livestreamers: "I have made easily the most meaningful and impactful relationships"

  Terrance Mok, Anthony Tang, Adam McCrimmon, Lora Oehlberg · 2023 · Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '23)

  This paper presents a reflexive thematic analysis of interviews with 10 autistic adult Twitch livestreamers, exploring how autism uniquely shapes their experiences as content creators on a live video platform. The researchers first conducted a formative observation phase,…

  autism · livestreaming · social accessibility · online communities · neurodiversity

• Understanding Social and Environmental Factors to Enable Collective Access Approaches to the Design of Captioning Technology

  Emma McDonnell · 2022 · Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22)

  This doctoral consortium paper presents a dissertation research program that reimagines how captioning technology should be designed by applying the disability justice principle of collective access — the idea that accessibility is a shared responsibility of all group members,…

  captioning · collective access · disability justice · deaf and hard of hearing · co-design

• Reading-Assistance Tools Among Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Computing Professionals in the U.S.: Their Reading Experiences, Interests and Perceptions of Social Accessibility

  Oliver Alonzo, Lisa Elliot, Becca Dingman, Sooyeon Lee, Akhter Al Amin, Matt Huenerfauth · 2022 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research investigates the reading experiences, needs, and interests of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) computing professionals in Automatic Text Simplification (ATS) tools—software that automatically rewrites complex text to make it easier to read. The study addresses a gap…

  deaf · hard of hearing · DHH · automatic text simplification · reading assistance

• Improving Mealtime Experiences of People with Visual Impairments

  SeungA Chung, Soobin Park, Sohyeon Park, Kyungyeon Lee, Uran Oh · 2021 · Proceedings of the 18th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates the mealtime challenges faced by people with visual impairments (PVI) and explores how assistive technology can support more independent dining experiences. While most accessibility research for PVI has focused on navigation and object recognition, this…

  visual impairment · assistive technology · independent living · daily living · computer vision

• Design for Social Accessibility Method Cards: Engaging Users and Reflecting on Social Scenarios for Accessible Design

  Kristen Shinohara, Cynthia L. Bennett, Wanda Pratt, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2020 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper introduces Design for Social Accessibility (DSA) method cards, a practical tool that helps designers incorporate social dimensions of accessibility into their work. The authors argue that most accessibility guidelines focus on functional access — ensuring technology…

  social accessibility · design methods · method cards · participatory design · deaf and hard of hearing

• Privacy Considerations of the Visually Impaired with Camera Based Assistive Technologies: Misrepresentation, Impropriety, and Fairness

  Taslima Akter, Tousif Ahmed, Apu Kapadia, Swami Manohar Swaminathan · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This paper investigates the privacy concerns of both visually impaired people (PVIs) and sighted bystanders regarding camera-based assistive technologies like smart glasses (Orcam, Aira, eSight) that can identify people and provide demographic and behavioral information about…

  visual accessibility · blindness and low vision · privacy · AI bias · AI fairness

• Tenets for Social Accessibility: Towards Humanizing Disabled People in Design

  Kristen Shinohara, Cynthia L. Bennett, Wanda Pratt, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2018 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper investigates how student designers think about disability and accessibility when tasked with designing for multiple users with and without disabilities, and uses the findings to refine the Design for Social Accessibility framework. Conducted across two university…

  social accessibility · design methodology · accessibility education · inclusive design · user-centered design

• Incorporating Social Factors in Accessible Design

  Kristen Shinohara, Jacob O. Wobbrock, Wanda Pratt · 2018 · Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '18)

  This paper investigates how professional designers can incorporate social factors into accessible design using Design for Social Accessibility (DSA), a framework developed in prior work by Shinohara and Wobbrock. The core premise is that accessible design has traditionally…

  design methodology · social accessibility · inclusive design · user-centered design · visual impairment

• Using a Telepresence Robot to Improve Self-Efficacy of People with Developmental Disabilities

  Natalie Friedman, Alex Cabral · 2018 · Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '18)

  This student research paper investigates whether telepresence robots can improve the self-efficacy and wellbeing of people with developmental disabilities (DD) by enabling them to remotely explore public spaces. People with DD often depend on others for transportation, ticket…

  developmental disability · telepresence · robotics · self-efficacy · community participation

• Technology-Mediated Sight: A Case Study of Early Adopters of a Low Vision Assistive Technology

  Annuska Zolyomi, Anushree Shukla, Jaime Snyder · 2017 · Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This qualitative case study examines the psychosocial and adaptive experiences of early adopters of the eSight 2.0 — a head-mounted assistive device for people with low vision that captures live video and displays enhanced images on high-resolution OLED screens inside…

  low vision · assistive technology · head-mounted display · qualitative research · disability identity

• Imagining Artificial Intelligence Applications with People with Visual Disabilities using Tactile Ideation

  Cecily Morrison, Edward Cutrell, Anupama Dhareshwar, Kevin Doherty, Anja Thieme, Alex Taylor · 2017 · Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper presents a novel tactile ideation methodology for working with people with visual disabilities to imagine future AI applications, and reports on cross-cultural workshops conducted in the UK (6 participants) and India (8 participants). Rather than asking users about…

  artificial intelligence · blindness · visual impairment · participatory design · design methodology

• "But, I Don't Want/Need a Power Wheelchair": Toward Accessible Power Assistance for Manual Wheelchairs

  Dafne Zuleima Morgado Ramirez, Catherine Holloway · 2017 · Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper explores the needs, expectations, and experiences of manual wheelchair users regarding power assist devices — motorized attachments that augment a manual wheelchair's propulsion without converting it into a full power wheelchair. Manual wheelchair users face…

  wheelchair accessibility · assistive technology · participatory design · physical disability · spinal cord injury

• Nothing to Hide: Aesthetic Customization of Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants in an Online Community

  Halley P. Profita, Abigale Stangl, Laura Matuszewska, Sigrunn Sky, Shaun K. Kane · 2016 · Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

  This paper analyzes aesthetic customization practices within a Facebook community of over 4,800 members dedicated to decorating and personalizing hearing aids (HAs) and cochlear implants (CIs). Approximately 48 million people in the United States (20% of the population) have…

  hearing aid · cochlear implant · DIY assistive technology · social accessibility · disability identity

• Would You Be Mine: Appropriating Minecraft as an Assistive Technology for Youth with Autism

  Kathryn E. Ringland, Christine T. Wolf, LouAnne E. Boyd, Mark S. Baldwin, Gillian R. Hayes · 2016 · Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16)

  This paper presents findings from a 24-month digital ethnography of Autcraft, a semi-private Minecraft server created for children with autism and their allies, examining how this community has appropriated the game into a variety of assistive technologies. Autcraft has over…

  autism · gaming · game accessibility · DIY assistive technology · social accessibility

• Self-Conscious or Self-Confident? A Diary Study Conceptualizing the Social Accessibility of Assistive Technology

  Kristen Shinohara, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2016 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This landmark study introduces the concept of "social accessibility" as a complement to functional accessibility in assistive technology design. The authors argue that ATs have traditionally been defined purely in functional terms—the Technical Assistance to the States Act…

  assistive technology · social accessibility · AT abandonment · stigma · disability identity

• A Google Glass App to Help the Blind in Small Talk

  Mohammad Iftekhar Tanveer, Mohammed Ehsan Hoque · 2014 · Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demo paper presents a Google Glass prototype that helps blind individuals initiate small talk by automatically analysing a scene to detect the number of people present, their approximate ages, and gender distribution, then synthesising this information as speech feedback…

  blindness · Google Glass · wearable technology · computer vision · face detection

• Smarter Board: A Community-Oriented Communication Tool

  Mateus Molinaro, Sergio Borger, Carlos Cardonha, Diego Gallo, Ricardo Herrmann, Ademir Ferreira, Fernando Koch, Priscilla Avegliano, Kelly Shigeno · 2013 · Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This demo paper from IBM Research Brazil presents the Smarter Board, a lightweight community-focused social network platform designed specifically for groups of people with disabilities. The system deliberately uses SMS text messages as its primary input mechanism rather than…

  social accessibility · community · digital inclusion · communication accessibility · SMS

• Accessible Photo Album: Enhancing the Photo Sharing Experience for People with Visual Impairment

  Susumu Harada, Daisuke Sato, Dustin W. Adams, Sri Kurniawan, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2013 · Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '13)

  This paper investigates how blind and partially sighted people can be supported not only in capturing photographs but in organising, recalling, and sharing them afterwards — a step that the authors argue has been largely neglected in prior blind-photography research. The study…

  blindness and low vision · mobile accessibility · assistive technology · photography · audiophotography

• Alipi: A Framework for Re-Narrating Web Pages

  T. B. Dinesh, S. Uskudarli, Subramanya Sastry, Deepti Aggarwal, Venkatesh Choppella · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper introduces Alipi, a distributed and participatory framework for re-narrating web pages to make them more accessible to diverse audiences. The name "alipi" means "print illiterate" in Kannada and other Indian subcontinent languages, reflecting the project's origins in…

  social accessibility · web accessibility · crowdsourcing · localization · multilingual accessibility

• Alipi: Tools for a Re-Narration Web

  T. B. Dinesh, Venkatesh Choppella · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This companion demo paper to the full Alipi framework paper presents the concrete open-source toolset that implements the re-narration web concept. The authors frame the accessibility challenge around the "next billion" internet users — people who may not be literate in the…

  social accessibility · web accessibility · localization · multilingual accessibility · collaborative accessibility

• Accessibility Commons: A Metadata Repository for Web Accessibility

  Shinya Kawanaka, Masatomo Kobayashi, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2009 · ACM SIGWEB Newsletter, Summer 2009

  This short SIGWEB Newsletter article proposes Accessibility Commons (AC), a shared federated repository for externally authored web-accessibility metadata. The authors argue that accessibility cannot scale as long as fixes depend on the original site owner inlining alt text,…

  web accessibility · metadata · semantic transcoding · social accessibility · crowdsourcing