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• Providing Haptic Feedback Using the Kinect

  Brandon T. Shrewsbury · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This poster paper presents a system that combines the Microsoft Kinect depth camera with a custom haptic glove to provide spatial awareness to people who are blind or visually impaired. The research addresses a gap in existing mobility aids: while canes detect obstacles within a…

  haptic technology · sensory substitution · blindness and low vision · assistive technology · depth camera

• Analyzing Visual Questions from Visually Impaired Users

  Erin L. Brady · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This doctoral consortium paper presents an analysis of the types of visual questions that visually impaired users ask through VizWiz, a mobile phone application that provides near-realtime answers to visual questions. VizWiz allows users to take a photo with their phone, speak a…

  blindness and low vision · crowdsourcing · computer vision · mobile accessibility · visual question answering

• TypeInBraille: A Braille-Based Typing Application for Touchscreen Devices

  Sergio Mascetti, Cristian Bernareggi, Matteo Belotti · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demonstration paper presents TypeInBraille, a novel text entry application for touchscreen smartphones that allows blind users to type using Braille code rather than the standard on-screen QWERTY keyboard. While screen readers like VoiceOver have made smartphones broadly…

  blindness and low vision · braille · text entry · touchscreen accessibility · mobile accessibility

• Situation-based Indoor Wayfinding System for the Visually Impaired

  Eunjeong Ko, Jin Sun Ju, Eun Yi Kim · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents an indoor wayfinding system for visually impaired people that uses situation-aware color codes affixed to building walls to guide users to destinations in unfamiliar environments. The key innovation is a situation-based approach: rather than providing all…

  blindness and low vision · indoor navigation · wayfinding · computer vision · assistive technology

• Empowering Individuals with Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology

  Amy Hurst, Jasmine Tobias · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper investigates the potential of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) approaches to address the persistent problem of assistive technology abandonment, where 35% or more of purchased AT devices end up unused. The authors argue that empowering non-engineers to create, modify, or build…

  assistive technology · DIY assistive technology · maker culture · 3D printing · rapid prototyping

• Note-Taker 3.0: An Assistive Technology Enabling Students Who Are Legally Blind to Take Notes in Class

  David S. Hayden, Michael Astrauskas, Qian Yan, Liqing Zhou, John A. Black · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demonstration paper presents the results of a three-year iterative development of Note-Taker, a portable hardware/software assistive device that enables students with low vision to independently take handwritten or typed notes during classroom lectures. The core problem is…

  low vision · blindness and low vision · educational technology · assistive technology · STEM accessibility

• ZigADL: An ADL Training System Enabling Teachers to Assist Children with Intellectual Disabilities

  Zhi-Zhan Lu · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This poster paper presents ZigADL, a wireless sensor network system based on ZigBee technology designed to assist teachers in training children with severe intellectual disabilities to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) independently. The system addresses a practical…

  intellectual disability · independent living · assistive technology · special education · sensors

• Towards a Framework to Situate Assistive Technology Design in the Context of Culture

  Fatima A. Boujarwah, Nazneen, Hwajung Hong, Gregory D. Abowd, Rosa I. Arriaga · 2011 · Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper presents findings from a cross-cultural qualitative study examining societal expectations, perceptions, and support structures for individuals with autism and other intellectual disabilities (AOID) across four countries: Kuwait, Pakistan, South Korea, and the United…

  assistive technology · autism · cross-cultural design · intellectual disability · cultural accessibility

• 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

• Evaluating Importance of Facial Expression in American Sign Language and Pidgin Signed English Animations

  Matt Huenerfauth, Pengfei Lu, Andrew Rosenberg · 2011 · Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper presents the first empirical evaluation of the impact of facial expressions on the understandability and perceived quality of American Sign Language (ASL) and Pidgin Signed English (PSE) computer animations. ASL animations have significant accessibility benefits since…

  sign language · sign language animation · deaf accessibility · facial expression · American Sign Language

• The PhonicStick: A Joystick to Generate Novel Words Using Phonics

  Rolf Black · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This short paper introduces the PhonicStick, a novel joystick-based device that enables non-speaking children to explore letter sounds (phonics) and blend them into words. The motivation stems from a key limitation of existing Voice Output Communication Aids (VOCAs): while VOCAs…

  AAC · phonological awareness · literacy · joystick · cerebral palsy

• Humsher: A Predictive Keyboard Operated by Humming

  Ondrej Polacek, Zdenek Mikovec, Adam J. Sporka, Pavel Slavik · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper presents Humsher, a novel text entry system controlled entirely by humming — short melodic and rhythmic vocal gestures distinguished by pitch (high/low) and duration (short/long). The system targets people with severe upper-limb motor impairments such as quadriplegia…

  text entry · alternative input · assistive technology · motor disability · non-verbal vocal interface

• Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance Help (NOAH) for Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Study

  Pooja Viswanathan, James J. Little, Alan K. Mackworth, Alex Mihailidis · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper describes NOAH (Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance Help), an intelligent powered wheelchair system designed to provide adaptive navigation assistance to older adults with cognitive impairment in long-term care settings. An estimated 60-80% of residents in long-term…

  intelligent wheelchair · dementia · cognitive impairment · collision avoidance · wayfinding

• A Mobile Phone Based Personal Narrative System

  Rolf Black, Annalu Waller, Nava Tintarev, Ehud Reiter, Joseph Reddington · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper describes the development and evaluation of a mobile phone-based data collection system that supports personal narrative for children with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI). Personal narrative — the ability to tell others about one's experiences — is…

  AAC · personal narrative · cerebral palsy · natural language generation · mobile technology

• The TaskTracker: Assistive Technology for Task Completion

  Victoria E. Hribar · 2011 · Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This short paper presents the TaskTracker, an Android smartphone application designed to help individuals with cognitive impairments complete everyday tasks by combining time-management and prompting features into a single tool. The author identifies a gap in existing assistive…

  assistive technology · cognitive impairment · task completion · time management · mobile applications

• Fashion for the Blind: A Study of Perspectives

  Michele A. Burton · 2011 · Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This qualitative study explores how people with vision impairments perceive beauty and make fashion choices, an area largely overlooked in accessibility research which has focused primarily on functional clothing for mobility impairments. The researchers conducted face-to-face…

  blindness · low vision · fashion · clothing design · assistive technology

• Kinerehab: A Kinect-based System for Physical Rehabilitation — A Pilot Study for Young Adults with Motor Disabilities

  Jun-Da Huang · 2011 · Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper presents Kinerehab, a Kinect-based intelligent rehabilitation system designed to assist young adults with motor disabilities in performing physical therapy exercises. Developed in collaboration with physical therapists at the Kaohsiung County Special Education School…

  physical rehabilitation · motor disability · Kinect · motion sensing · cerebral palsy

• On the Audio Representation of Radial Direction

  Susumu Harada, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2011 · Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '11)

  This paper proposes a new primitive for auditory displays — radial direction — and evaluates a concrete mapping of vowel-like sounds to eight cardinal and ordinal directions. The authors observe that almost all prior sonification work has mapped data to linear sound properties…

  sonification · auditory display · auditory interface · non-visual interaction · eyes-free interaction

• Sasayaki: Augmented Voice Web Browsing Experience

  Daisuke Sato, Shaojian Zhu, Masatomo Kobayashi, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2011 · Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '11)

  This paper introduces Sasayaki (Japanese for 'whisper'), a prototype that augments the standard screen-reader voice with a second, physically separated synthesised voice that whispers contextually relevant hints — for example 'entering main content', 'skipped the main', 'the…

  screen readers · auditory interface · voice browser · web accessibility · blindness and low vision

• The potential of adaptive interfaces as an accessibility aid for older web users

  David Sloan, Matthew Tylee Atkinson, Colin Machin, Yunqiu Li · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper examines the challenge of supporting web accessibility for older people whose capabilities fluctuate gradually over time due to age-related decline in vision, hearing, dexterity, and cognition. The authors argue that current accessibility solutions — accessible…

  aging · adaptive interfaces · assistive technology · older users · personalization

• A Simple Solution: Solution Migration from Disabled to Small Device Context

  Yeliz Yesilada, Tianyi Chen, Simon Harper · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper demonstrates how accessibility solutions developed for motor-impaired desktop users can be migrated to benefit small-device (mobile) users who experience similar input difficulties. The authors had previously replicated a study originally investigating input…

  motor accessibility · mobile accessibility · input methods · situational impairment · error correction

• Exploring Web Accessibility Solutions in Developing Regions as Innovations for the Benefit of All

  Shadi Abou-Zahra, Shawn Lawton Henry · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  Written by two leaders of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, this paper explores the particular web accessibility challenges facing people with disabilities in developing regions and argues that solving these challenges will drive innovations benefiting all web users. The…

  Global South accessibility · digital divide · universal design · digital inclusion · multilingual accessibility

• VizWiz: Nearly Real-Time Answers to Visual Questions

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Chandrika Jayant, Hanjie Ji, Greg Little, Andrew Miller, Robert C. Miller, Aubrey Tatarowicz, Brandyn White, Samuel White, Tom Yeh · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper introduces VizWiz, a pioneering mobile application that enables blind and low-vision people to get nearly real-time answers to visual questions by connecting their smartphone cameras to remote paid workers on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Users take a photo with their…

  blind and low vision · crowdsourcing · assistive technology · mobile accessibility · human computation

• Accessibility Challenges and Tool Features: An IBM Web Developer Perspective

  Shari Trewin, Brian Cragun, Cal Swart, Jonathan Brezin, John Richards · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This highly cited (50 citations) survey of 49 IBM web developers explores the barriers they face in creating accessible rich internet applications and what features they value in accessibility testing tools. IBM mandates accessibility through Corporate Instruction 162, with a…

  developer awareness · accessibility testing · evaluation tools · software development · accessibility training

• More than Meets the Eye: A Survey of Screen-Reader Browsing Strategies

  Yevgen Borodin, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Glenn Dausch, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This comprehensive survey catalogues the browsing strategies that experienced screen reader users develop to overcome the accessibility and usability barriers they encounter on the web. Drawing from multiple user studies, the authors document how blind users are far from passive…

  screen readers · blindness · browsing strategies · web navigation · usability