The literature-review database. Every paper Bob has reviewed (he has read many more), with a short summary, key findings, and tags. Browse, filter, search.
WebAIM · 2024 · WebAIM
Annual large-scale automated accessibility evaluation of the top one million website home pages. The study consistently reveals widespread accessibility failures, with the majority of pages containing detectable WCAG conformance errors.
automated testing · web accessibility · large-scale analysis
Ryoichi Takashima, Takeru Otani, Ryo Aihara, Tetsuya Takiguchi, Shinya Taguchi · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2024)
This paper tackles a critical barrier in accessible speech technology: automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems perform poorly for people with speech disorders because they are trained almost exclusively on typical speech. The authors from Kobe University and Mitsubishi…
speech recognition · speech disorders · machine learning · self-supervised learning · assistive technology
Mai Ricaplaza Thøgersen, Rasmus Jens Frølich Kjeldsen · 2024 · Assets '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
This paper investigates whether active echolocation — emitting a sound and interpreting its echo — can serve as a viable navigation tool for blind and low-vision (BLV) individuals in virtual 3D environments. Virtual spaces remain overwhelmingly visual, lacking the physical and…
virtual environments · echolocation · blind and low vision · spatial navigation · sonic design space
Diogo Lança, Manuel Piçarra, Inês Gonçalves, Uran Oh, André Rodrigues, João Guerreiro · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2024)
This paper explores how blind people can locate and interact with close-range virtual objects in Virtual Reality (VR), a space that relies almost entirely on visual cues. Researchers from the University of Lisbon and Ewha Womans University adapted the arcade game Speed-of-Light…
virtual reality · visual impairments · blindness · nonvisual feedback · sonification
Krista D. Kleban · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2024)
This practitioner-focused paper shares first-hand lessons from conducting UX research with people living with Alzheimer's disease, other forms of dementia, and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The author, a UX researcher at the Alzheimer's Association with four years of…
cognitive accessibility · dementia · Alzheimer's · UX research · usability testing
Ana O. Henriques, Patricia Piedade, Filipa Rocha, Isabel Neto, Hugo Nicolau · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper critically examines the ethical challenges researchers face when conducting studies involving mixed-ability groups of children — groups that include both children with and without disabilities working together. The authors draw on two case studies from their own…
ethics · mixed-ability groups · children · participatory design · inclusive research
Patricia Piedade, Isabel Neto, Ana Cristina Pires, Rui Prada, Hugo Nicolau · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper documents a seven-month co-design process in which researchers worked with 80 children (18 of whom were neurodivergent) across four neurodiverse classrooms in Lisbon, Portugal, to design an inclusive tabletop robotic game. The children, aged 6 to 12, included those…
neurodiversity · children · co-design · inclusive play · robotics
Adele Smolansky, Miranda Yang, Shiri Azenkot · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper investigates how digital learning tools should be designed to support students with cortical/cerebral visual impairment (CVI), a neurological condition that affects the brain's ability to process visual information rather than the eyes themselves. CVI is now the most…
cortical visual impairment · education · digital learning tools · visual impairment · assistive technology
Leya Breanna Baltaxe-Admony, Jared Duval, Kathryn E. Ringland · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper introduces DREEM (Disability-Related Empathy from Existing Media), a four-step method that replaces traditional empathy-building exercises in human-centred design with an enculturation approach grounded in disability culture. The authors argue that conventional…
design methods · disability culture · empathy · human-centred design · ableism
Apoorva Avadhana · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This short paper proposes a set of new design methodologies that bridge the gaps between Human-Centred Design (HCD), accessibility research, disability studies, occupational therapy (OT), and assistive technology (AT) development. The author argues that these fields have…
design methods · assistive technology · inclusive design · occupational therapy · adaptation
Laura South, Caglar Yildirim, Amy Pavel, Michelle A. Borkin · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper investigates how photosensitivity warnings should be designed for digital visual media to effectively help people with photosensitive epilepsy (PSE) navigate content safely. Photosensitive seizures can be triggered by flashing lights, strobing effects, and rapid…
photosensitive epilepsy · seizure safety · video accessibility · content warnings · web accessibility
Khang Dang, Grace Burke, Hamdi Korreshi, Sooyeon Lee · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper develops a conceptual framework for omnidirectional audio description (AD) designed to make musical performances in virtual reality accessible to blind and low-vision (BLV) users. Traditional AD — a monaural narration track describing visual elements — was developed…
audio description · virtual reality · blind and low vision · spatial audio · musical performances
Jon E. Froehlich, Chu Li, Maryam Hosseini, Fabio Miranda, Andres Sevtsuk, Yochai Eisenberg · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This workshop paper examines the emerging role of artificial intelligence in designing equitable and accessible cities, transportation systems, and navigation tools for people with disabilities. The authors — spanning HCI, urban planning, public health, and accessibility…
urban accessibility · artificial intelligence · smart cities · autonomous vehicles · pedestrian infrastructure
Crescentia Jung, Jazmin Collins, Ricardo E. Gonzalez Penuela, Jonathan Isaac Segal, Andrea Stevenson Won, Shiri Azenkot · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper addresses the inaccessibility of nonverbal communication for blind and low-vision (BLV) users in social virtual reality environments. Social VR platforms like VRChat, Rec Room, and Meta Horizon Worlds rely heavily on avatar-mediated nonverbal cues — eye contact, head…
virtual reality · blind and low vision · nonverbal communication · haptic feedback · social VR
Noor Hammad, Frank Elavsky, Sanika Moharana, Jessie Chen, Seyoung Lee, Patrick Carrington, Dominik Moritz, Jessica Hammer, Erik Harpstead · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper investigates how game-aware streaming systems can be made accessible to blind and low-vision (BLV) viewers on platforms like Twitch. Live game streaming is a major social and entertainment medium, but the experience is overwhelmingly visual — viewers watch gameplay…
game accessibility · blind and low vision · live streaming · Twitch · sonification
Emma J. McDonnell, Leah Findlater · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper synthesises thinking from four fields — disability studies, Deaf studies, disability justice, and communication studies — into a framework of collective communication access, then uses it to analyse a decade of HCI captioning research (2013–2023). The authors argue…
captioning · deaf and hard of hearing · collective access · disability justice · disability studies
Ananya Gubbi Mohanbabu, Amy Pavel · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper addresses a fundamental limitation of current AI-generated image descriptions: they describe images in isolation without considering the surrounding webpage context. When blind and low-vision (BLV) users encounter images on the web, what they need to know about an…
alt text · image descriptions · blind and low vision · artificial intelligence · large language models
Cynthia L. Bennett, Renee Shelby, Negar Rostamzadeh, Shaun K. Kane · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper explores how disabled creatives intentionally use and choose not to use generative AI (GAI) tools in their artistic practices. Through interviews with 10 creatives with disabilities — whose work spans audio engineering, leathercraft, visual art, photography, music…
generative AI · creativity · disability · responsible AI · access hacks
Ruipu Hu, Ge Gao, Amanda Lazar · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper examines how older adults with cognitive concerns — ranging from subjective cognitive complaints to diagnosed mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early-stage dementia — experience videoconferencing platforms like Zoom. Using Erving Goffman's dramaturgical framework…
cognitive accessibility · older adults · videoconferencing · mild cognitive impairment · dementia
Jos Ritmeester, Beyza Sümer, Marije Boonstra, Maartje de Meulder, Belinda van der Aa, Floris Roelofsen · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This short paper examines the potential of ZINinNGT, a mobile learning application designed to help hearing parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children learn Dutch Sign Language (Nederlandse Gebarentaal, NGT). The research addresses a critical communication gap: over 90%…
sign language · deaf and hard of hearing · language learning · mobile application · family communication
Yuxiang Zhai, Jiawen Zhang, Jihong Jeung · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This short paper explores the potential of generative AI technologies — specifically ChatGPT for conversational elicitation and text-to-image generation (DALL-E) — as tools to support reminiscence storytelling by older adults. Reminiscence, the act of recalling and sharing…
older adults · generative AI · reminiscence therapy · well-being · storytelling
Ather Sharif, Joo Gyeong Kim, Jessie Zijia Xu, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper investigates the challenges visualization creators face in making online data visualizations accessible to screen-reader users and develops interventions to address these challenges. Data visualizations (charts, graphs, maps, dashboards) are increasingly prevalent on…
data visualization · screen readers · web accessibility · sonification · blind and low vision
Xinyun Cao, Dhruv Jain · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '24)
This paper challenges the prevailing approach to VR sound accessibility for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) people, which has focused almost exclusively on substituting audio with visual or haptic alternatives (captions, flashing indicators, vibrations). The authors argue that…
deaf and hard of hearing · virtual reality · sound modification · audio accessibility · partial hearing
Ha-Kyung Kong, Derek Xie, Ankith Chandra, Rachel Lowy, Arielle F Maignan, Sehoon Ha, Chung Hyuk Park, Jennifer G Kim · 2024 · ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
This paper explores how robot dogs might support the daily lives of neurodivergent individuals through a series of three co-design workshops conducted over five weeks. While social robots have been studied in clinical and educational settings for neurodivergent populations,…
neurodiversity · social robotics · co-design · participatory design · autism
Yunzhi Li, Vimal Mollyn, Kuang Yuan, Patrick Carrington · 2024 · ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
This paper presents WheelPoser, a real-time body pose estimation system designed specifically for wheelchair users using only four inertial measurement units (IMUs). Existing pose estimation methods are largely developed for standing and ambulatory users, relying on assumptions…
wheelchair users · pose estimation · inertial measurement units · motion capture · body tracking