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• ExNovo: A user interface that supports novices without encumbering experts

  Mark Blair, Amanda Klassen, Justin O'Camb, Cal Woodruff, Rollin Poe, Christine Chuong, Robin Barrett · 2026 · ACM Games

  ExNovo is a novel hierarchical tree menu interface designed to bridge the long-standing divide between graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and keyboard hotkeys. Traditional GUIs scaffold novice users by making command options visible, but their reliance on precise mouse targeting…

  user interface design · keyboard accessibility · motor accessibility · visual impairment · novice-to-expert transition

• How Accessible are Virtual Reality Freehand Gestures? Understanding Barriers for Users with Upper Limb Motor Impairments

  Lauren Pococke, Crescent Jicol, Christof Lutteroth, Christopher Clarke · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper provides the first empirical examination of how accessible default freehand gesture implementations in virtual reality are for people with upper limb motor impairments. The researchers recruited 8 adults with conditions including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, carpal…

  virtual reality · motor accessibility · freehand gestures · hand tracking · upper limb impairments

• Empowering Accessible Gesture Input Design with Gesture-A11Y

  Mihail Terenti, Laura-Bianca Bilius, Ovidiu-Ciprian Ungurean, Radu-Daniel Vatavu · 2025 · Proceedings of the 22nd International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava (Romania) introduces Gesture-A11Y, the first open-access web-based tool and database for accessible gesture input design, containing over 22,000 gesture records collected from 122 users with visual and/or motor impairments.…

  gesture interaction · motor accessibility · visual impairment · mobile accessibility · wearable technology

• FootUI: Designing and Detecting Foot Gestures to Assist People with Upper Body Motor Impairments to Use Smartphones on the Bed

  Xiaozhu Hu, Jiting Wang, Weiwei Gao, Yongquan Hu · 2022 · Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents FootUI, a vision-based interaction technique that enables people with upper body motor impairments but sound lower limbs to use smartphones through foot gestures while reclining on a bed. The system uses the phone's front-facing camera, mounted on a phone…

  motor accessibility · foot-based interaction · gesture recognition · smartphone accessibility · computer vision

• Quantifying Touch: New Metrics for Characterizing What Happens During a Touch

  Junhan Kong, Mingyuan Zhong, James Fogarty, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2022 · Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22)

  This paper formalizes 15 target-agnostic metrics for characterizing what happens during a touch interaction on a touchscreen, moving beyond the traditional approach of treating touches as simple (x, y) coordinate events. The key insight is that touches are not atomic — they…

  touch input · motor accessibility · human performance · touch metrics · fine motor function

• Eyelid Gestures on Mobile Devices for People with Motor Impairments

  Mingming Fan, Zhen Li, Franklin Mingzhe Li · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This paper presents a novel approach to mobile device interaction for people with severe motor impairments: using eyelid gestures detected by the smartphone's front-facing camera. While existing eye-based interaction research has primarily focused on gaze direction and simple…

  motor accessibility · mobile accessibility · input methods · gesture interaction · eye tracking

• The Reliability of Fitts's Law as a Movement Model for People with and without Limited Fine Motor Function

  Ather Sharif, Victoria Pao, Katharina Reinecke, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This paper investigates a foundational assumption in HCI and assistive technology research: that Fitts's law reliably measures pointing performance. Fitts's law, introduced in 1954, models the relationship between the time to complete a pointing movement and the difficulty of…

  motor accessibility · input methods · research methods · pointing devices · assistive technology

• "I just went into it assuming that I wouldn't be able to have the full experience": Understanding the Accessibility of Virtual Reality for People with Limited Mobility

  Martez Mott, John Tang, Shaun Kane, Edward Cutrell, Meredith Ringel Morris · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This paper presents the first in-depth investigation of VR accessibility for people with limited mobility, a population largely overlooked in VR research that has focused primarily on rehabilitation applications rather than mainstream consumer VR use. Through semi-structured…

  virtual reality · motor accessibility · physical disability · ability assumptions · inclusive design

• Designing and Evaluating Head-based Pointing on Smartphones for People with Motor Impairments

  Muratcan Cicek, Ankit Dave, Wenxin Feng, Michael Xuelin Huang, Julia Katherine Haines, Jeffry Nichols · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '20)

  This paper presents a calibration-free head-based pointing (HBP) system for Android smartphones that uses the standard front-facing camera to enable people with motor impairments to control an on-screen cursor through head movements. The system was designed by a team including…

  motor accessibility · head tracking · alternative input · mobile accessibility · Fitts law

• Predictive Link Following Plug-In For Web Browsers

  Lyle Pierson Stachecki, John Magee · 2017 · Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demonstration paper presents the first public release of a target-aware pointing assistance plug-in for web browsers that uses Predictive Link Following to help people with motor impairments select links on web pages. Web browsing is challenging for users of mouse…

  motor accessibility · web accessibility · mouse replacement interface · eye tracking · assistive technology

• A Usability Evaluation of Two Virtual Aids to Enhance Cursor Accessibility for People with Motor Impairments

  J. Eduardo Pérez, Xabier Valencia, Myriam Arrue, Julio Abascal · 2016 · Proceedings of the 13th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from the University of the Basque Country presents and evaluates two virtual cursor enhancements designed to help people with motor impairments perform pointing and clicking tasks during web browsing. The "circular cursor" creates a translucent circular active area…

  motor accessibility · assistive technology · input devices · pointing devices · web accessibility

• Understanding Design Considerations for Adaptive User Interfaces for Accessible Pointing with Older and Younger Adults

  Aqueasha Martin-Hammond, Abdullah Ali, Catherine Hornback, Amy K. Hurst · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper explores user preferences for adaptive user interfaces (AUIs) that detect and accommodate pointing difficulties when using a mouse, touchpad, or touchscreen to interact with the web. The researchers conducted participatory design sessions with 38 participants — 8…

  adaptive user interfaces · pointing performance · motor accessibility · older adults · aging

• Exploratory study of web navigation strategies for users with physical disabilities

  J. Eduardo Pérez, Myriam Arrue, Xabier Valencia, Lourdes Moreno · 2014 · Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This exploratory study examined the web navigation strategies of 11 users with upper-body physical impairments, revealing substantial heterogeneity in how people with similar disability types interact with websites. Participants used a wide range of assistive input devices…

  motor accessibility · physical disability · assistive technology · web navigation · input devices

• JustSpeak: enabling universal voice control on Android

  Yu Zhong, T. V. Raman, Casey Burkhardt, Fadi Biadsy, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2014 · Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper introduces JustSpeak, a universal voice control system for Android that works across all applications without requiring any developer intervention. Unlike Google Now or Siri, which only support pre-defined commands for specific apps, JustSpeak dynamically constructs…

  voice interface · mobile accessibility · blindness · motor accessibility · Android

• KeyGlasses: Semi-transparent Keys on Soft Keyboard

  Mathieu Raynal · 2014 · Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents KeyGlass, a text entry system designed to reduce pointer travel distance on soft (on-screen) keyboards by dynamically adding predicted character keys near the most recently typed character. Standard soft keyboards use QWERTY or AZERTY layouts familiar from…

  text entry · soft keyboard · character prediction · motor accessibility · input methods

• User Individuality Management in Websites Based on WAI-ARIA Annotations and Ontologies

  Xabier Valencia, Myriam Arrue, J. Eduardo Pérez, Julio Abascal · 2013 · Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents a comprehensive system for automatically adapting websites to individual users' accessibility needs using WAI-ARIA-based annotations and an ontology that models users, adaptation techniques, and their relationships. Unlike previous transcoding systems that…

  WAI-ARIA · personalization · web accessibility · adaptive interfaces · ontology

• How Cloud Computing Can Support On-Demand Assistive Services

  Davide Mulfari, Antonio Celesti, Antonio Puliafito, Massimo Villari · 2013 · Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from the University of Messina investigates how cloud computing and virtualisation can provide on-demand assistive technology services for people with disabilities who need to use shared or public computers. The core problem is that when a disabled person uses a…

  cloud computing · assistive technology · virtual desktop · screen reader · screen magnifier

• GenURC: Generation Platform for Personal and Context-Driven User Interfaces

  Gottfried Zimmermann, J. Bern Jordan, Parikshit Thakur, Yuvarajsinh Gohil · 2013 · Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents GenURC, a component within the Universal Remote Console (URC) framework that automatically generates user interfaces adapted to individual users' preferences, device characteristics, and situational context. The URC framework (standardized as ISO/IEC 24752)…

  adaptive user interfaces · personalization · universal design · smart home accessibility · user preferences

• Elderly Text-Entry Performance on Touchscreens

  Hugo Nicolau, Joaquim Jorge · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '12)

  This paper presents an empirical study of how elderly users perform text-entry tasks on touchscreen devices, examining both mobile phones and tablets. Fifteen participants aged 67 to 89 (mean 79) were asked to copy sentences on an HTC Desire smartphone and an ASUS Transformer…

  touchscreen accessibility · text entry · aging · motor accessibility · tremor

• Developing Accessible TV Applications

  José Coelho, Carlos Duarte, Pradipta Biswas, Patrick Langdon · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper describes the GUIDE (Gentle User Interfaces for Elderly People) framework for developing accessible TV applications through multimodal interaction, user interface adaptation, and impairment simulation. The research combines a survey of 46 elderly participants (ages…

  aging · multimedia accessibility · multimodal interaction · adaptive systems · 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 Visual and Motor Accessibility in Navigating a Virtual World

  Shari Trewin, Mark Laff, Vicki Hanson, Anna Cavender · 2009 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper explores accessibility requirements for 3D virtual worlds, using PowerUp—an educational multiplayer game teaching middle schoolers about renewable energy—as a testbed. Virtual worlds present unique accessibility challenges: they rely on visual realism and dynamic…

  virtual reality · game accessibility · visual impairment · cerebral palsy · motor accessibility

• Hover or Tap? Supporting Pen-based Menu Navigation for Older Adults

  Karyn Moffatt, Sandra Yuen, Joanna McGrenere · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper investigates "drifting" — an error specific to pen-based (Tablet PC) interaction where users accidentally hover over an adjacent menu head, causing their intended menu to close and the wrong one to open. This occurs because inductive pen technology tracks the pen…

  aging · input methods · touchscreen accessibility · inclusive design · user interface design

• Increasing the Accessibility of Pen-Based Technology: An Investigation of Age-Related Target Acquisition Difficulties

  Karyn Moffatt · 2007 · SIGACCESS Accessibility and Computing

  This paper describes dissertation research on improving the accessibility of pen-based devices (PDAs, Tablet PCs) for older adults by identifying and addressing the root causes of target acquisition difficulty. The author argues that previous research on target acquisition…

  aging · motor accessibility · input device · interaction design · target acquisition

• VoiceDraw: a hands-free voice-driven drawing application for people with motor impairments

  Susumu Harada, Jacob O. Wobbrock, James A. Landay · 2007 · Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  Harada, Wobbrock, and Landay's Assets '07 paper introduces VoiceDraw, a hands-free digital painting application for people with severe motor impairments that uses *non-speech* vocalisations — continuously-held vowel sounds and short consonant clicks — rather than discrete speech…

  motor accessibility · voice interface · non-speech vocalisation · speech recognition · vocal joystick