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• 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

• 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

• RAVEN: Realtime Accessibility in Virtual ENvironments for Blind and Low-Vision People

  Xinyun Cao, Kexin Phyllis Ju, Chenglin Li, Venkatesh Potluri, Dhruv Jain · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  RAVEN is a GenAI-powered system enabling blind and low-vision (BLV) users to query and modify 3D virtual environments in real time through natural language. Rather than relying on developer-defined static accessibility features (such as fixed audio descriptions or color…

  blind and low vision · virtual environments · generative AI · 3D accessibility · natural language interaction

• A11yExtensions: Accessibility Extensions to Augment Mobile AI Assistive Technology In-Situ

  Jaylin Herskovitz, Ellie Seehorn, Ather Jammoa, Jason Meddaugh, Anhong Guo · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  A11yExtensions introduces the concept of in-situ extensions for mobile AI assistive technology — add-on services that augment existing deployed applications like Seeing AI, Be My AI, and Lookout with additional features, without modifying or replacing those apps. The project was…

  blind and low vision · mobile accessibility · AI assistive technology · co-design · automation

• A11y-CUA Dataset: Characterizing the Accessibility Gap in Computer Use Agents

  Ananya Gubbi Mohanbabu, Rosiana Natalie, Brandon Kim, Anhong Guo, Amy Pavel · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  A11y-CUA is an open dataset and benchmark designed to expose the accessibility gap in Computer Use Agents (CUAs) — AI systems like OpenAI Operator, Anthropic Computer Use, and Microsoft Copilot that operate computers by taking screenshots and performing mouse/keyboard actions.…

  blind and low vision · computer use agents · large language models · assistive technology · screen readers

• Accessibility-Driven Information Transformations in Mixed-Visual Ability Work Teams

  Yichun Zhao, Miguel A. Nacenta, Mahadeo A. Sukhai, Sowmya Somanath · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This paper presents a five-day diary study with follow-up interviews and two focus groups, examining how mixed-visual ability work teams perform accessibility-driven information transformations. The authors recruited 30 participants (18 BLV, 12 sighted) across seven teams…

  blind and low vision · workplace accessibility · mixed-ability teams · diary study · invisible work

• Programmers Who Use Screen Readers in the Vibe Coding Era: Adaptation, Empowerment, and New Accessibility Landscape

  Nan Chen, Luna K. Qiu, Arran Zeyu Wang, Zilong Wang, Yuqing Yang · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This two-week, three-phase longitudinal study investigates how 16 blind and low-vision (BLV) programmers who rely on screen readers engage with advanced AI code assistants, specifically GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code. The study was motivated by the rapid shift from direct…

  screen readers · blind and low vision · AI code assistants · GitHub Copilot · vibe coding

• Idea11y: Enhancing Accessibility in Collaborative Ideation for Blind or Low Vision Screen Reader Users

  Mingyi Li, Huiru Yang, Nihar Sanda, Maitraye Das · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Digital whiteboards such as Miro and FigJam have become central to brainstorming, design sprints, and UX research, yet their reliance on freeform spatial layout, drag-and-drop manipulation, and rapid visual scanning leaves blind and low-vision (BLV) screen reader users largely…

  blind and low vision · screen readers · digital whiteboards · collaborative ideation · creativity support

• ADCanvas: Accessible and Conversational Audio Description Authoring for Blind and Low Vision Creators

  Franklin Mingzhe Li, Michael Xieyang Liu, Cynthia L Bennett, Shaun K. Kane · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Li and colleagues tackle a rarely examined corner of accessibility: the fact that the tools used to produce Audio Description (AD) are themselves largely inaccessible to the blind and low-vision (BLV) creators who are often its most skilled practitioners. Professional AD…

  audio description · blind and low vision · conversational agent · multimodal LLM · visual question answering

• Understanding the Use of a Large Language Model-Powered Guide to Make Virtual Reality Accessible for Blind and Low Vision People

  Jazmin Collins, Sharon Y Lin, Tianqi Liu, Andrea Stevenson Won, Shiri Azenkot · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Collins and colleagues present the first empirical user study of an AI-powered 'sighted guide' for blind and low-vision (BLV) users in social virtual reality. Social VR platforms like VRChat (40,000 concurrent players) are largely inaccessible: they require interpreting avatars,…

  virtual reality · social VR · blind and low vision · AI guide · large language model

• Co-Designing Multimodal Systems for Accessible Asynchronous Dance Instruction

  Ujjaini Das, Shreya Kappala, Meng Chen, Mina Huh, Amy Pavel · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This paper investigates how to design multimodal systems that make asynchronous dance instruction accessible to blind and low vision (BLV) learners. While online exercise videos have proliferated, particularly since COVID-19, dance tutorials rely heavily on visual demonstrations…

  blind and low vision · audio description · haptics · multimodal instruction · co-design

• I-VAMOS: Independent Voting with Accessible Multimodal Offline System for Visually Impaired Users

  Gyeongdeok Kim, Chungman Lim, Gyungmin Jin, Gunhyuk Park · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This paper introduces I-VAMOS, an offline multimodal voting assistance system designed to enable blind and low-vision (BLV) voters to cast paper ballots independently and secretly. The authors situate their work in the constitutional right to a secret ballot, noting that BLV…

  blind and low vision · voting · optical character recognition · multimodal feedback · auditory feedback

• Resilience to Disruption: Accessible Navigation for People with Visual Impairment

  Trevor Cross, Ishani Pandey, Sophia S Jit, Robert Soden, Priyank Chandra · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This paper investigates how people with visual impairments (PwVI) actually navigate urban environments, especially during severe weather events such as snowstorms, high winds, and icy conditions, and how digital navigation technologies do or do not support those practices. The…

  blind and low vision · navigation · wayfinding · orientation and mobility · crisis informatics

• Access in the Shadow of Ableism: An Autoethnography of a Blind Student's Higher Education Experience in China

  Xinru Tang, Weijun Zhang · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This paper is a collaborative autoethnography written by Xinru Tang and Weijun Zhang, in which Zhang - a blind graduate student who completed his undergraduate work in a specialized program for blind and low-vision (BLV) students at "University A" in China and later became the…

  blind and low vision · higher education · autoethnography · ableism · disability studies

• Three Modalities, Two Design Probes, One Prototype, and No Vision: Experience-Based Co-Design of a Multi-modal 3D Data Visualization Tool

  Sanchita S. Kamath, Aziz N. Zeidieh, Venkatesh Potluri, Sile O'Modhrain, Kenneth Perry, JooYoung Seo · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Kamath et al. report an Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) process in which five blind or low-vision (BLV) researchers and one sighted collaborator built a web-native, multimodal prototype for exploring 3D surface plots - a class of visualisation central to VUV spectroscopy,…

  blind and low vision · data visualization · 3D visualization · sonification · spatial audio

• SceneScout: Towards AI-Driven Access to Street Level Imagery for Blind Users

  Gaurav Jain, Leah Findlater, Cole Gleason · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Jain, Findlater and Gleason present SceneScout, a prototype web interface that uses a multimodal large language model (GPT-4o) to make street level imagery — the panoramic pedestrian-height photography behind Apple Maps Look Around and Google Street View — directly usable by…

  accessibility · navigation · screen readers · AI · multimodal AI

• From Struggle to Success: Context-Aware Guidance for Screen Reader Users in Computer Use

  Nan Chen, Jing Lu, Zilong Wang, Luna K. Qiu, Siming Chen, Yuqing Yang · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Chen, Lu, Wang, Qiu, Chen and Yang present AskEase, an NVDA add-on that delivers on-demand, step-by-step, screen-reader-friendly guidance for blind and low-vision computer users tackling unfamiliar desktop software. The work responds to a persistent problem: mainstream tutorials…

  accessibility · screen readers · AI · LLM · assistive technology

• Nonvisual Support for Understanding and Reasoning about Data Structures

  Brianna L. Wimer, Ritesh Kanchi, Kaija Frierson, Venkatesh Potluri, Ronald A. Metoyer, Jennifer Mankoff, Miya Natsuhara, Matt X. Wang · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Wimer, Kanchi, and colleagues present Arboretum, a web-based system that generates accessible representations of introductory data structure diagrams (arrays and binary trees) for blind and visually impaired (BVI) computer science students. The authors argue that current…

  blind and low vision · BVI · screen readers · tactile graphics · data structures

• TouchScribe: Augmenting Non-Visual Hand-Object Interactions with Automated Live Visual Descriptions

  Ruei-Che Chang, Rosiana Natalie, Wenqian Xu, Jovan Zheng Feng Yap, Tiange Luo, Venkatesh Potluri, Anhong Guo · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  TouchScribe is a wearable, camera-based assistive system that delivers live, hierarchical visual descriptions of physical objects in response to a blind or low vision (BLV) user's hand-object interactions. The authors argue that existing AI assistants such as Seeing AI, Be My…

  blind and low vision · assistive technology · visual descriptions · hand-object interactions · gestures

• Understanding Nature Engagement Experiences of Blind People

  Mengjie Tang, Xinman Li, Juxiao Zhang, Franklin Mingzhe Li, Zhuying Li · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This mixed-methods study investigates how blind people in mainland China experience and relate to natural environments, a domain the authors argue has been almost entirely overlooked by Human-Nature Interaction (HNI) research and by accessibility tooling, which has focused…

  nature engagement · blind and low vision · human-nature interaction · multisensory · wellbeing

• 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

• Augmenting Imagery with Multimodal Vibrotactile Representations: Touch, Feel, and Hear

  Mazen Salous, Matthias Kramer, Wilko Heuten, Charles Hudin, Susanne Boll, Larbi Abdenebaoui · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper addresses a long-standing gap in image accessibility for blind and visually impaired (BVI) users: while alt text, sonification, tactile graphics, and refreshable Braille displays convey shape, layout, and identity, they rarely communicate how an object…

  image accessibility · blind and low vision · vibrotactile feedback · haptic rendering · material perception

• GeoVisA11y: An AI-based Geovisualization Question-Answering System for Screen-Reader Users

  Chu Li, Rock Yuren Pang, Arnavi Chheda-Kothary, Ather Sharif, Henok Assalif, Jeffrey Heer, Jon E. Froehlich · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper tackles a long-neglected corner of accessible data visualization: geovisualizations — choropleth maps, dot density maps, and similar spatially encoded displays that pack demographic, environmental, and public-health information into visual layouts that…

  geovisualization · data visualization · accessible visualization · screen readers · large language models

• Contextual Scaffolding and Self-Efficacy: Supporting Computer Skill Development among Blind Learners in India

  Akshay Kolgar Nayak, Yash Prakash, Sampath Jayarathna, Hae-Na Lee, Vikas Ashok · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This paper presents a four-month contextual inquiry at two Indian computer training centers serving 94 blind or visually impaired (BVI) students — one urban center in Bengaluru focused on job-oriented ICT training (KEONICS certification) and one rural residential blind school in…

  screen readers · blind and low vision · computer literacy · Global South accessibility · India

• "I Don't Trust Any Professional Research Tool": A Re-Imagination of Knowledge Production Workflows by, with, and for Blind and Low-Vision Researchers

  Omar Khan, JooYoung Seo · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper is an autoethnographically-grounded, mixed-methods study of how blind and low-vision (BLV) researchers actually do research inside an ecosystem of tools built with sighted workflows in mind. Written by two BLV researchers (one totally blind, one low vision),…

  meta-research · blind and low vision · research workflows · academic accessibility · activity theory