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• SymbolPath: A Continuous Motion Overlay Module for Icon-Based Assistive Communication

  Karl Wiegand, Rupal Patel · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This demonstration paper introduces SymbolPath, an overlay module designed to improve the speed and ease of message formulation in icon-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. Traditional icon-based AAC devices require users to make precise, discrete tap…

  augmentative and alternative communication · AAC · motor impairment · speech impairment · icon-based communication

• IDEAL: A Dyslexic-Friendly eBook Reader

  Gaurang Kanvinde, Luz Rello, Ricardo Baeza-Yates · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This demonstration paper presents the IDEAL eBook Reader, an Android application that displays ePub-formatted ebooks with a text layout specifically adapted for readers with dyslexia. The design is grounded in empirical research: layout guidelines were derived from experiments…

  dyslexia · readability · ebook · ePub · text-to-speech

• Thematic Organization of Web Content for Distraction-Free Text-to-Speech Narration

  Muhammad Asiful Islam, Faisal Ahmed, Yevgen Borodin, I.V. Ramakrishnan · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper addresses a fundamental problem in how blind users experience web content through screen readers: the serial, linear narration of complex web pages that contain multiple thematic elements — news stories, ads, navigation taxonomies, and opinion pieces — all…

  screen readers · web segmentation · text-to-speech · blind users · cognitive load

• Web Educational Services for All: The APEINTA Project

  Ana Iglesias, Lourdes Moreno, Belén Ruiz, José Luis Pajares, Javier Jiménez, Juan Francisco López, Pablo Revuelta, Julián Hernández · 2011 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents APEINTA, a Spanish educational project from Carlos III University of Madrid and the Spanish Centre of Captioning and Audio Description (CESyA), aimed at providing inclusive education through three cloud-based web services. Started in 2008, the project was…

  education accessibility · captioning · text-to-speech · deaf and hard of hearing · speech disability

• Towards a Universal Accessibility for Textual Information

  Vasile Topac · 2011 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This student award paper from Politehnica University Timisoara proposes a universal framework for understanding and addressing textual information accessibility across all media formats and contexts — not just web accessibility, but also document accessibility, desktop…

  content adaptation · cloud computing · text-to-speech · speech recognition · multilingual accessibility

• Farfalla Project: Browser-Based Accessibility Solutions

  Andrea Mangiatordi, Harpreet Singh Sareen · 2011 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents Farfalla, a free and open-source project from the University of Milano Bicocca that provides cloud-based assistive technology through the browser, eliminating the need for locally installed software. The core insight is that traditional AT is deeply tied to…

  assistive technology · cloud computing · web accessibility · accessibility tools · browser extension

• Spindex (Speech Index) Improves Auditory Menu Acceptance and Navigation Performance

  Myounghoon Jeon, Bruce N. Walker · 2011 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper introduces the "spindex" (speech index), a novel auditory cue designed to improve navigation through spoken menus on mobile devices. The spindex works by pronouncing the first letter of each menu item before the full text-to-speech (TTS) rendering—analogous to the…

  auditory interfaces · mobile accessibility · text-to-speech · screen readers · user interface design

• On the Intelligibility of Fast Synthesized Speech for Individuals with Early-Onset Blindness

  Amanda Stent, Ann Syrdal, Taniya Mishra · 2011 · Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper reports on a pilot experiment comparing the intelligibility of fast synthesized speech across different text-to-speech (TTS) systems for individuals with early-onset blindness (onset before age seven). People who are blind increasingly use TTS as their primary…

  text-to-speech · screen readers · blindness · speech technology · speech intelligibility

• WebAnywhere: Experiences with a New Delivery Model for Access Technology

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Wendy Chisholm, Richard E. Ladner · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This follow-up paper describes the evolution of WebAnywhere two years after its initial release, documenting how it expanded from a web-based screen reader for blind users into a broader platform for delivering access technology. Released publicly in June 2008, WebAnywhere…

  screen readers · blindness · low vision · web-based assistive technology · text-to-speech

• Describing online videos with text-to-speech narration

  Masatomo Kobayashi, Tohru Nagano, Kentarou Fukuda, Hironobu Takagi · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from IBM Research Tokyo presents a technology platform that uses text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis to add audio descriptions (AD) to online videos at minimal cost. The system addresses the two main barriers that prevent most online video creators from providing audio…

  audio description · text-to-speech · video accessibility · speech synthesis · external metadata

• Evaluating a Tool for Improving Accessibility to Charts and Graphs

  Leo Ferres, Gitte Lindgaard, Livia Sumegi · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents two formative usability studies of iGraph-Lite, a natural language-based assistive technology that enables blind and visually impaired people to interact with statistical line graphs through keyboard commands and text-to-speech output. The system comprises…

  data visualization · blindness · natural language generation · information graphics · screen readers

• EPG: Speech Access to Program Guides for People with Disabilities

  Michael Johnston, Amanda J. Stent · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This demo paper from AT&T Labs Research presents an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) prototype that uses speech input and text-to-speech output to make television listing navigation accessible to people with visual disabilities or limited hand mobility. The authors identify that…

  speech recognition · voice interface · television accessibility · visual impairment · motor impairment

• Using Accessible Math Textbooks with Students Who Have Learning Disabilities

  Preston Lewis, Steve Noble, Neil Soiffer · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper reports results from Project SMART (Supported Math Accessibility Reading Tool), a classroom study conducted at the University of Kentucky with 48 eighth grade students who had learning disabilities. The project provided digital versions of Pearson's Connected…

  learning disabilities · mathematics accessibility · MathML · DAISY · print disabilities

• Autonomous Navigation through the City for the Blind

  Jaime Sánchez, Natalia de la Torre · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper presents a study on the use of an audio-based GPS navigation application designed to help blind people navigate independently through urban environments. The software, developed for PocketPC devices with Bluetooth GPS receivers, uses a clock metaphor to communicate…

  blind navigation · GPS · orientation and mobility · mobile technology · assistive technology

• Are Synthesized Video Descriptions Acceptable?

  Masatomo Kobayashi, Trisha O'Connell, Bryan Gould, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This paper from IBM Research Tokyo and WGBH National Center for Accessible Media investigates whether text-to-speech (TTS) synthesised narrations are an acceptable alternative to human-narrated audio descriptions for online videos. While accessibility standards like WCAG 2.0,…

  audio description · video accessibility · text-to-speech · speech synthesis · web accessibility

• Augmenting social media accessibility

  Roberto Borrino, Marco Furini, Marco Roccetti · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibililty (W4A)

  This paper presents SOMFA (SOcial Media For All), an architecture that transforms web-based social media content into multimodal audio/video presentations suitable for television sets. The system addresses the growing social divide created by social media: while technologically…

  social media · digital divide · aging · content adaptation · text-to-speech

• Evaluating Prosodic Cues as a Means to Disambiguate Algebraic Expressions: An Empirical Study

  Ed Gellenbeck, Andreas Stefik · 2009 · Proceedings of the 11th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '09)

  This paper investigates whether inserting pauses into text-to-speech renderings of mathematical expressions can help listeners distinguish between structurally different but verbally similar algebraic expressions. The core problem is that written mathematics relies on…

  mathematical accessibility · text-to-speech · screen readers · MathML · SSML

• Cognitively Motivated Features for Readability Assessment

  Lijun Feng, Noémie Elhadad, Matt Huenerfauth · 2009 · Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (EACL 2009)

  Feng, Elhadad, and Huenerfauth (2009) develop and evaluate an automatic readability-assessment tool targeted specifically at adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) — people in the 'mild' category (IQ 55-70), who comprise roughly 3% of the U.S. population. Rather than reusing…

  readability · automatic readability assessment · cognitive accessibility · intellectual disability · mild intellectual disability

• WebAnywhere: A Screen Reading Interface for the Web on Any Computer

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Craig M. Prince, Sangyun Hahn, Richard E. Ladner · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This short paper introduces WebAnywhere, a free web-based screen reader from the University of Washington that enables blind users to access the web from any computer with a standard browser and sound capability, without installing any software. The system addresses a critical…

  screen readers · blindness · web-based assistive technology · text-to-speech · digital equity

• WebAnywhere: A Screen Reader On-the-Go

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Craig M. Prince, Richard E. Ladner · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A 2008)

  This paper introduces WebAnywhere, a web-based, self-voicing screen reader that enables blind users to access the web from virtually any computer with an Internet connection and sound output, without installing any software. The system addresses a fundamental equity problem:…

  screen readers · blind users · assistive technology · web-based · text-to-speech

• Towards One World Web with HearSay3

  Yevgen Borodin, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Amanda Stent, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2008 · Proceedings of the 2008 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This short paper presents HearSay 3, a self-voicing non-visual web browser developed at Stony Brook University and the University of Washington, designed to address accessibility challenges introduced by Web 2.0. Building on two previous versions — the original HearSay that…

  screen readers · non-visual web browser · blind users · collaborative accessibility · multilingual accessibility

• Personalization of User Interfaces for Browsing XML Content Using Transformations Built on End-User Requirements

  Benoît Encelle, Nadine Baptiste-Jessel · 2007 · Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from IRIT at the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse presents a model for generating personalized multimodal user interfaces for browsing XML content, driven by end-user requirements rather than developer-imposed defaults. The authors identify a core accessibility…

  personalization · multimodal interaction · user profiles · content adaptation · XML

• (Natural Language) Interaction with Graphical Representations of Statistical Data

  Leo Ferres, Petro Verkhogliad, Louis Boucher · 2007 · Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from Carleton University and Statistics Canada presents iGraph-Lite, a system that makes statistical graphs published in "The Daily" (Statistics Canada's main dissemination publication) accessible to blind and visually impaired users through natural language…

  data visualization · blind users · visual impairment · natural language processing · web accessibility

• WebAnywhere: A Screen Reader On-the-Go

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Craig M. Prince · 2007 · Assets '07: Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This demonstration paper introduces WebAnywhere, a web-based, self-voicing screen reader that enables blind users to access the web from any computer with a standard browser and sound output, without needing to install specialized software. The paper addresses a fundamental…

  screen readers · web accessibility · blind users · assistive technology · text-to-speech

• EasyVoice: Integrating Voice Synthesis with Skype

  Paulo A. Condado, Fernando G. Lobo · 2007 · Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  This paper presents EasyVoice, a system developed at the University of Algarve that integrates text-to-speech synthesis with Skype to enable people with voice disabilities to have real-time phone conversations. The core insight is that while TTS systems and VoIP applications had…

  voice disabilities · text-to-speech · VoIP · augmentative communication · virtual keyboard