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• V-Lynx: Bringing the World Wide Web to Sight Impaired Users

  Mitchell Krell, Davor Cubranic · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This 1996 paper from the University of Southern Mississippi presents V-Lynx, one of the earliest voice-enabled web browsers designed to make the World Wide Web accessible to sight-impaired users. At this time, WWW traffic had only recently become significant — comprising just…

  web accessibility · screen reader · speech synthesis · web browser · blind users

• Touching and Hearing GUIs: Design Issues for the PC-Access System

  Christophe Ramstein, Odile Martial, Aude Dufresne, Michel Carignan, Patrick Chassé, Philippe Mabilleau · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This 1996 paper from Canada's Centre for Information Technology Innovation presents PC-Access, a pioneering multimodal system that combines haptic (touch) and auditory feedback to make Microsoft Windows graphical user interfaces accessible to visually impaired users. The core…

  haptic technology · force feedback · multimodal interface · GUI accessibility · blind users

• A Gesture Recognition Architecture for Sign Language

  Annelies Braffort · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from LIMSI-CNRS in France presents a gesture recognition architecture specifically designed for sign languages, grounded in a detailed linguistic analysis of French Sign Language (LSF). The key insight is that sign languages differ fundamentally from oral languages in…

  sign language · gesture recognition · French Sign Language · data glove · sign language recognition

• An Approach to the Evaluation of Assistive Technology

  Robert D. Stevens, Alistair D. N. Edwards · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This University of York paper addresses a fundamental challenge in assistive technology research: the difficulty of conducting rigorous evaluations using conventional controlled testing paradigms. The authors identify several obstacles specific to assistive technology…

  assistive technology evaluation · mathematical accessibility · blind users · earcon · auditory interface

• Designing the World Wide Web for People with Disabilities: A User Centered Design Approach

  Lila F. Laux, Peter R. McNally, Michael G. Paciello, Gregg C. Vanderheiden · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This 1996 panel paper brings together four perspectives on making the early World Wide Web accessible to people with disabilities. Lila Laux frames the problem by identifying special user populations — elderly people, those with low incomes, rural and inner-city residents, and…

  web accessibility · user-centered design · assistive technology · universal design · presentation independence

• Designing Interface Toolkit with Dynamic Selectable Modality

  Shiro Kawai, Hitoshi Aida, Tadao Saito · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper presents the Fruit (Flexible and Rearrangeable User Interface Toolkit) system, an architecture for building user interfaces that allow dynamic switching between interaction modalities at runtime. The authors argue that the rigid coupling between applications and…

  multimodal interaction · user interface design · assistive technology · abstract widgets · toolkit design

• Computer Generated 3-Dimensional Models of Manual Alphabet Handshapes for the World Wide Web

  Sarah Geitz, Timothy Hanson, Stephen Maher · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from Gallaudet University and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center presents a web-based teaching tool for learning American Sign Language (ASL) fingerspelling through interactive 3D computer models. The authors created VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language)…

  sign language · deaf accessibility · fingerspelling · virtual reality · VRML

• Multimodal Input for Computer Access and Augmentative Communication

  Alice Smith, John Dunaway, Patrick Demasco, Denise Peischl · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from the University of Delaware describes a research project exploring the integration of speech recognition with head-pointing as a multimodal input method for people with physical disabilities who cannot use standard keyboards and mice. The authors frame the problem…

  multimodal interaction · speech recognition · head pointing · augmentative and alternative communication · assistive technology

• EVA, an Early Vocalization Analyzer: An Empirical Validity Study of Computer Categorization

  Harriet J. Fell, Linda J. Ferrier, Zehra Mooraj, Etienne Benson, Dale Schneider · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from Northeastern University presents EVA (Early Vocalization Analyzer), a Macintosh-based software tool that automatically analyzes digitized recordings of infant vocalizations to support early identification of speech and language delays. The research is grounded in…

  early intervention · speech and language · acoustic analysis · infant vocalization · babbling

• AudioGraf: A Diagram-Reader for the Blind

  Andrea R. Kennel · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from ETH Zürich presents AudioGraf, a system that enables blind and visually impaired users to read diagrams through a combination of touch panel input and auditory display. The core problem addressed is that diagrams — widely used in technical reports and papers to…

  blindness and low vision · auditory display · tactile graphics · diagram accessibility · non-visual access

• TDraw: A Computer-Based Tactile Drawing Tool for Blind People

  Martin Kurze · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from Freie Universität Berlin presents TDraw, a computer-based system that enables blind people to create tactile drawings and, equally importantly, allows researchers to study how blind people draw. The paper begins with a theoretical analysis of how blind and…

  blindness and low vision · tactile graphics · tactile drawing · mental model · spatial cognition

• Enhancing Scanning Input with Non-Speech Sounds

  Stephen A. Brewster, Veli-Pekka Raty, Atte Kortekangas · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper proposes adding structured non-speech sounds (earcons) to scanning input systems used by people with severe motor disabilities who can only operate a single switch. Scanning input works by sequentially highlighting items in a grid; the user presses their switch when…

  scanning input · earcons · sonification · auditory display · switch access

• Interactive Tactile Display System: A Support System for the Visually Disabled to Recognize 3D Objects

  Yoshihiro Kawai, Fumiaki Tomita · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from the Electrotechnical Laboratory in Tsukuba, Japan describes an interactive tactile display system that combines stereo computer vision with a pin-based tactile display and voice synthesis to help blind users recognize three-dimensional objects and environments.…

  blindness and low vision · tactile display · stereo vision · computer vision · 3D object recognition

• Development of Dialogue Systems for a Mobility Aid for Blind People: Initial Design and Usability Testing

  Thomas Strothotte, Steffi Fritz, Rainer Michel, Andreas Raab, Helen Petrie, Valerie Johnson, Lars Reichert, Axel Schalt · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper presents the MoBIC Travel Aid (MoTA), an EU-funded system designed to increase independent mobility for blind and elderly travellers by combining Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with the Global Positioning System (GPS). The system has two complementary…

  blindness and low vision · navigation · GPS · GIS · orientation and mobility

• Emacspeak — Direct Speech Access

  T. V. Raman · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper by T. V. Raman (then at Adobe Systems, developed while at Digital Equipment Corporation's Cambridge Research Lab) presents Emacspeak, a speech output subsystem for Emacs that provides what the author terms "direct speech access" to UNIX workstations. Raman draws a…

  screen reader · speech output · blindness and low vision · UNIX accessibility · text-to-speech

• The Keybowl: An Ergonomically Designed Document Processing Device

  Peter J. McAlindon, Kay M. Stanney · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from the University of Central Florida presents the Keybowl, a novel alphanumeric input device designed as an ergonomic alternative to the standard QWERTY keyboard for users with upper extremity disabilities and for preventing carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The Keybowl…

  ergonomics · alternative input · keyboard design · carpal tunnel syndrome · repetitive strain injury

• "Composability": Widening Participation in Music Making for People with Disabilities via Music Software and Controller Solutions

  Tim Anderson, Clare Smith · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from the Drake Music Project and University of York discusses enabling visually impaired and physically disabled people to compose and perform music through adapted software and controller solutions. The Drake Music Project (DMP), a UK charity founded in 1988,…

  music accessibility · creative arts · MIDI · adaptive technology · physical disability

• A Study of Input Device Manipulation Difficulties

  Shari Trewin · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from the University of Edinburgh describes a pilot study designed to gather detailed, quantified data about physical input errors made by people with motor disabilities when using standard keyboards and mice. The author identifies a significant gap: despite widespread…

  motor disability · keyboard accessibility · mouse accessibility · input errors · performance errors

• A Generic Direct-Manipulation 3D-Auditory Environment for Hierarchical Navigation in Non-Visual Interaction

  Anthony Savidis, Constantine Stephanidis, Andreas Korte, Kai Crispien, Klaus Fellbaum · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper presents a generic, reusable 3D-auditory environment designed to support hierarchical navigation in non-visual user interfaces. The authors address a significant gap in assistive technology development: while 3D audio had been used in a few specialized systems for…

  non-visual interaction · auditory interface · 3D audio · spatial audio · gesture recognition

• Combining Haptic and Braille Technologies: Design Issues and Pilot Study

  Christophe Ramstein · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper presents the Pantobraille, a novel device that combines a single braille cell with a pantograph-based force feedback device to allow blind users to navigate and read content on graphical user interfaces. Developed as part of the CITI PC-Access project, the device…

  braille · haptic technology · force feedback · braille display · tactile accessibility

• Improving the Usability of Speech-Based Interfaces for Blind Users

  Ian J. Pitt, Alistair D. N. Edwards · 1996 · Proceedings of the Second Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '96)

  This paper from the University of York examines the usability problems inherent in speech-based interfaces for blind computer users and presents a study comparing how blind and sighted subjects process information delivered through synthetic speech. The authors identify six key…

  blindness and low vision · screen reader · speech synthesis · usability · speech dialogue design

21 results.