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• Sound, Touch, or the Full Monty? A Comparative Study of Accessible Data Exploration Systems for Blind Users

  Pramod Chundury, J. Bern Jordan, Yasmin Reyazuddin, Niklas Elmqvist, Jonathan Lazar · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents a controlled within-subject comparative study of three accessible data exploration systems representing different sensory modalities: Olli (a screen-reader-based system using hierarchical text descriptions and keyboard navigation), TactualPlot (a tablet-based…

  data visualization · sonification · tactile graphics · refreshable braille display · multimodal accessibility

• Voice-Powered Assembly: Boosting Self-Efficacy in Older Adults with "Build2Race"

  Noah Zijie Qu, Mark Chignell, Jamy Li · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This study investigates whether voice assistants (VAs) can support older adults in physical product assembly—a largely unexplored use case despite the proliferation of self-assembly products and the importance of such tasks for independent living. The research compares a custom…

  older adults · voice assistants · self-efficacy · aging in place · assembly tasks

• Race, Disability, and Technology: A Call to Action for Accessibility Researchers

  Aashaka Desai, Aaleyah Lewis, Sanika Moharana, Anne Spencer Ross, Jennifer Mankoff, Christina Harrington · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents a framework for accessibility researchers to meaningfully engage with race and disability as intersecting identity dimensions. Building on Kimberlé Crenshaw's foundational work on intersectionality—which originated to address how Black women experienced…

  intersectionality · race · disability studies · research methods · critical theory

• Accessibility in Textile Crafting: A Critical Reflection on Making Technology, Disability, and Community

  Shanel Wu, Audrey Girouard · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This study examines what accessibility means for textile crafters with disabilities through a cross-sectional survey of 184 participants. The authors—both disabled/neurodivergent crafters themselves—use critical participatory action research (CPAR) to investigate how different…

  accessible making · textile crafts · DIY assistive technology · maker culture · chronic illness

• Understanding the Perspectives of Autistic Gamers through an Online Autistic Community and a Survey

  Sohyeon Park, Aehong Min, Anne Marie Piper, Gillian R. Hayes · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This study investigates the gaming experiences and preferences of autistic people using a multi-method approach that combines analysis of Reddit posts from an autism-focused subreddit with a survey of 145 autistic adults. The research addresses a significant gap: while video…

  autism · video games · gaming accessibility · cognitive accessibility · sensory processing

• The Intersecting Liminality of Technology Adoption and Disability during Life Transitions

  Eliane Figueira, Chaima Jemmali, Kristen Shinohara · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper introduces the concept of "intersecting liminality" to explain how people with disabilities navigate technology adoption during major life transitions. The research combines two complementary studies: semi-structured interviews with 22 blind and low vision (BLV) older…

  life transitions · liminality · technology adoption · blind and low vision · older adults

• Situated Understanding of Errors in Older Adults' Interactions with Voice Assistants: A Month-Long, In-Home Study

  Amama Mahmood, Junxiang Wang, Chien-Ming Huang · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This month-long field study examined how 15 older adults (ages 66-94) interact with voice assistants in their homes, with a particular focus on errors and conversational breakdowns. The researchers deployed Amazon Echo Dot smart speakers augmented with custom audio recording…

  voice assistants · older adults · conversational AI · errors · smart speakers

• Bridging the Digital Divide: Enhancing Digital Inclusion of Blind or Partially Sighted and Deaf or Hard of Hearing Individuals in Low- and Middle-Income Countries through Smartphones as Assistive Technology

  Maryam Bandukda, Mary Caroline Yuk, Giulia Barbareschi, Laxmi Gunupudi, Vinicius Ramos, Amit Prakash, Satish Mishra, Victoria Austin, Catherine Holloway · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This multi-country study evaluates a two-day scaffolded digital skills training intervention designed to improve smartphone proficiency among blind or partially sighted (BPS) and deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) individuals in Brazil, India, and Kenya. The research recruited 395…

  digital inclusion · digital literacy · LMIC · blind and low vision · deaf and hard of hearing

• Accessibility in Textile Crafting: A Critical Reflection on Making Technology, Disability, and Community

  Shanel Wu, Audrey Girouard · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper examines what accessibility means in the context of textile crafting through a cross-sectional survey of 184 crafters with disabilities. The authors—both disabled/neurodivergent crafters and HCI researchers—adopt a critical participatory action research (CPAR)…

  textile crafts · crafting communities · online communities · accessibility · participatory action research

• Touching Movement: 3D Tactile Poses for Supporting Blind People in Learning Body Movements

  Kengo Tanaka, Xiyue Wang, Hironobu Takagi, Yoichi Ochiai, Chieko Asakawa · 2026 · Proceedings of the Twentieth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '26)

  Tanaka and colleagues investigate whether 3D-printed tactile models of whole-body poses can help blind learners acquire physical movements that are normally taught through visual demonstration. Verbal descriptions are notoriously inconsistent and struggle to convey nuance, while…

  tactile graphics · 3D printing · blindness and low vision · visual impairment · physical activity

• Eyes on the Palm: Investigating a Ring-Shaped Camera for Seamless Accessible Tactile Exploration

  Ayaka Tsutsui, Xiyue Wang, Hironobu Takagi, Yoichi Ochiai, Chieko Asakawa · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Tsutsui and colleagues ask how the form factor of a camera-based assistive device shapes the way blind and low-vision (BLV) users coordinate their hands during tactile exploration of real museum exhibits. Smartphone apps such as Seeing AI and Be My AI are designed around a…

  wearable technology · assistive technology · blindness and low vision · visual impairment · tactile exploration

• MotionBuddy: Exploring Tactile-Based Motion Learning with a Tabletop Humanoid Robot for Blind People

  Kengo Tanaka, Xiyue Wang, Hironobu Takagi, Yoichi Ochiai, Chieko Asakawa · 2026 · Proceedings of the 21st ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI '26)

  This HRI 2026 study by the same team behind the earlier 3D tactile-pose work asks whether a tabletop humanoid robot can convey dynamic body movements to blind learners more effectively than audio instruction alone. The motivation is that physical 3D models and tactile graphics…

  human-robot interaction · humanoid robot · assistive robotics · blindness and low vision · visual impairment

• How Does Delegation in Social Interaction Evolve Over Time? Navigation with a Robot for Blind People

  Rayna Hata, Masaki Kuribayashi, Allan Wang, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Hata and colleagues run a three-week longitudinal study of how six blind participants delegate social navigation tasks to a guide robot in the Miraikan science museum. The paper pushes back against the default assumption that accessible navigation robots should be as autonomous…

  assistive robotics · navigation · blindness and low vision · visual impairment · shared control

• Robot-Assisted Group Tours for Blind People

  Yaxin Hu, Masaki Kuribayashi, Allan Wang, Seita Kayukawa, Daisuke Sato, Bilge Mutlu, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Hu and colleagues investigate how an assistive mobile robot can support blind people's participation in mixed-visual group tours, where blind and sighted visitors share the same guided experience. The motivation is that group activities are central to social life, but blind…

  assistive robotics · museum accessibility · blindness and low vision · visual impairment · group activities

• Fuzzy Feelings: Arousal's Interpretive Noise and the Case for Acoustic-Based Haptics

  Caluã de Lacerda Pataca, Stephanie Patterson, Roshan L Peiris, Matt Huenerfauth · 2026 · CHI '26: Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  This CHI 2026 paper from a team at Rochester Institute of Technology and Birmingham City University tackles a persistent gap in captioning: traditional captions carry words but strip the emotional tone, rhythm, and vocal affect that sighted hearing viewers absorb automatically.…

  captioning · expressive captions · haptic feedback · vibrotactile · affective computing

• ASL Educators' Perspectives on AI for Enhancing Student Learning in American Sign Language Education

  Saad Hassan, Laleh Nourian, Caluã de Lacerda Pataca, Michelle M Olson, Toni D'aurio, Kanupriya Agarwal, Syeda Mah Noor Asad, Garreth W. Tigwell, Matt Huenerfauth · 2026 · CHI '26: Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  This CHI 2026 paper from a multi-institution US team (Tulane, Rochester Institute of Technology, Birmingham City University) investigates how AI could support American Sign Language (ASL) education — and centres, for the first time in this literature, the perspectives of the…

  American Sign Language · ASL · sign language education · deaf educators · AI in education

• Ability Heuristics for Conducting Accessibility Inspections

  Claire L. Mitchell, Junhan Kong, Jesse J. Martinez, Shaun K. Kane, Amy J. Ko, Alexis Hiniker, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Mitchell and colleagues develop and evaluate a set of nine 'ability heuristics' intended to let designers and developers — not just accessibility specialists — inspect interactive technology for accessibility problems. The authors argue that existing approaches have significant…

  heuristic evaluation · ability-based design · accessibility inspection · accessibility evaluation · design methods

• Rhetoric vs Responsibility: How Tech Companies Shape AI for Accessibility

  Aparajita S Marathe, Quan Zhou, Achi Mishra, Anne Marie Piper · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Marathe, Zhou, Mishra, and Piper conduct a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of 126 public-facing blog posts and news articles published between 2016 and 2025 by 11 leading U.S.-based AI companies — Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Eleven Labs, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI,…

  artificial intelligence · AI accessibility · critical discourse analysis · disability justice · critical disability studies

• OPTIMAL-EM: Complexity-Driven Clustering for Optimised Web Accessibility Evaluation

  Alexander Hambley, Yeliz Yesilada, Markel Vigo, Simon Harper · 2026 · ACM Transactions on the Web, Vol. 20, No. 2

  Hambley, Yesilada, Vigo, and Harper (University of Manchester and METU-NCC) extend their OPTIMAL-EM methodology for large-scale web accessibility conformance evaluation. The problem they address is fundamental to professional auditing: the W3C's Website Accessibility Conformance…

  web accessibility · accessibility evaluation · WCAG-EM · OPTIMAL-EM · representative sampling

• Accessibility Education for Software Engineers: Evaluating the Impact of Game-Based Learning

  P D Parthasarathy, Swaroop Joshi · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Computing Education

  Parthasarathy and Joshi address a persistent industry problem: despite 25 years of WCAG, only 5.2% of top web homepages fully conform, and organizations consistently report that staff lack accessibility skills. Academic curricula are slowly integrating accessibility, but…

  accessibility education · game-based learning · serious games · WCAG · software engineering

• AccessQuest: A Game-Based Approach to Digital Accessibility Education

  P D Parthasarathy, Swaroop Joshi · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Computing Education

  Parthasarathy and Joshi present AccessQuest, a single-player, role-playing platformer that teaches five WCAG 2.1 Level A success criteria — text alternatives (1.1.1), captions for pre-recorded content (1.2.2), transcripts for audio-only content (1.2.1), focus order (2.4.3), and…

  accessibility education · game-based learning · serious games · WCAG · computing education

• AXECC: Benchmarking the Privacy and Accessibility Impact of Browser Extensions

  James Clarke, Maryam Mehrnezhad, Ehsan Toreini · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Privacy and Security

  This paper presents AXECC, a novel automated framework for jointly measuring the web-tracking behaviour and accessibility impact of browser extensions at scale. The authors argue that while browser extensions are widely installed to improve the browsing experience, including by…

  browser extensions · web tracking · privacy · accessibility testing · automated testing

• Towards Testing the Accessibility of Dynamic Visual Changes in Android Mobile GUI with Multi-Modal LLMs

  Mengxi Zhang, Jianlin Yu, Chen Xu, Jiqun Li, Xinglong Yin, Huaxiao Liu · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction

  This paper addresses a long-standing gap in mobile accessibility testing: dynamic visual changes in Android GUIs that communicate task status or feedback to sighted users but are invisible to blind users of screen readers such as TalkBack. Examples include an input field…

  Android · mobile accessibility · screen readers · TalkBack · automated testing

• Anthropomorphism in Human-Robot Interactions with Adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Robots

  Saminda Sundeepa Balasuriya, Laurianne Sitbon, Alicia Mitchell · 2026 · Journal of Human-Robot Interaction

  This qualitative study re-analyses video data from two prior field studies with an Australian disability service organisation, in which adults with intellectual disabilities interacted with two commercially available social robots: Pepper, a 120 cm humanoid with articulated…

  intellectual disability · human-robot interaction · social robots · anthropomorphism · inclusive design

• Towards Handicapping for Online Competitive Video Games: A Taxonomical Review of Intervention Studies

  Pete Gordon, William Kavanagh, Thomas Howson, David Lavallee · 2026 · ACM Games

  The paper addresses how skill disparities in online competitive video games create a "playerbase-diminishing feedback effect": weaker players suffer repeated defeats and quit, leaving the next tier to become the new bottom — a cycle that ultimately restricts access to only the…

  game accessibility · accessible gaming · inclusive design · literature review · player experience