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• Development of a Remote Therapy Tool for Childhood Apraxia of Speech

  Avinash Parnandi, Virendra Karappa, Tian Lan, Mostafa Shahin, Jacqueline McKechnie, Kirrie Ballard, Beena Ahmed, Ricardo Gutierrez-Osuna · 2015 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper presents a multitier client-server system for remote administration of speech therapy to children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), a motor speech disorder where the brain has difficulty coordinating the movements needed for speech production. CAS requires…

  speech disorder · speech therapy · childhood apraxia of speech · remote therapy · mobile health

• Audio-Based Feedback Techniques for Teaching Touchscreen Gestures

  Uran Oh, Stacy Branham, Leah Findlater, Shaun K. Kane · 2015 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper proposes and evaluates two complementary audio-based techniques for teaching touchscreen gestures to blind and low-vision users: gesture sonification (mapping finger position to pitch and stereo panning to create an audio representation of the gesture) and corrective…

  visual impairment · touchscreen · gesture learning · sonification · audio feedback

• Evaluating Intelligibility and Battery Drain of Mobile Sign Language Video Transmitted at Low Frame Rates and Bit Rates

  Jessica J. Tran, Eve A. Riskin, Richard E. Ladner, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2015 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper investigates the lower limits of intelligible sign language video on mobile devices, seeking to determine the minimum frame rate and bit rate that still allow deaf users to understand ASL video conversations. Mobile video communication is essential for deaf and…

  deaf and hard of hearing · sign language · video communication · mobile accessibility · bandwidth

• Designing Wheelchair-Based Movement Games

  Kathrin M. Gerling, Regan L. Mandryk, Matthew Miller, Michael R. Kalyn, Max Birk, Jan D. Smeddinck · 2015 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper presents KINECTWheels, a toolkit for integrating wheelchair movements into motion-based video games, along with two games built using the toolkit: Cupcake Heaven (designed for older adults in care facilities) and Wheelchair Revolution (a competitive dance game for…

  wheelchair · game accessibility · exergame · Kinect · motor impairment

• Experiences of Someone with a Neuromuscular Disease in Operating a PC (and Ways to Successfully Overcome Challenges)

  Torsten Felzer, Stephan Rinderknecht · 2015 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper describes the first-person experiences of the first author, who has Friedreich's Ataxia (FA) — a progressive neuromuscular disease causing ataxia of limbs, dysarthria, and muscle weakness — in finding a viable computer input method over 25 years. Diagnosed at age 15…

  motor impairment · text entry · alternative input device · neuromuscular disease · keyboard replacement

• Improving Public Transit Accessibility for Blind Riders by Crowdsourcing Bus Stop Landmark Locations with Google Street View: An Extended Analysis

  Kotaro Hara, Shiri Azenkot, Megan Campbell, Cynthia L. Bennett, Vicki Le, Sean Pannella, Robert Moore, Kelly Minckler, Rochelle H. Ng, Jon E. Froehlich · 2015 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper tackles a fundamental challenge in public transit accessibility: helping blind and low-vision riders locate bus stops, which often lack nonvisual markers or consistent landmark placement. The researchers developed Bus Stop CSI (Crowdsourcing Streetview Inspections), a…

  public transit · blind and low vision · crowdsourcing · wayfinding · landmarks

• Creating accessible PDFs for conference proceedings

  Erin Brady, Yu Zhong, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates the accessibility of PDF research papers published at major ACM conferences related to accessibility and human-computer interaction. The authors conducted a two-part analysis: first, an automated accessibility check of 1,811 papers from four years of CHI,…

  PDF accessibility · document accessibility · tagged PDF · PDF/UA · screen readers

• A mean for communication between deaf and hearing pairs in inclusive educational settings: the Sessai app

  Soraia Silva Prietch, Emanuel José dos Santos, Lucia Vilela Leite Filgueiras · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This extended abstract presents Sessai, an Android application designed to facilitate communication between Deaf or Hard of Hearing (D/HH) students and their hearing peers and teachers in inclusive classroom settings in Brazil. The app uses a WhatsApp-inspired chat interface…

  deaf and hard of hearing · sign language · inclusive education · mobile application · assistive technology

• A plug-in to aid online reading in Spanish

  Luz Rello, Roberto Carlini, Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents CASSA, a free Chrome browser plug-in designed to help people read Spanish text on the web by providing simpler synonyms and definitions on demand for complex words. The tool builds on the CASSA (Context Aware Synonym Simplification Algorithm) resource, which…

  text simplification · lexical simplification · dyslexia · cognitive accessibility · readability

• Dyslexia and web accessibility: synergies and challenges

  Luz Rello · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This position paper reviews the key challenges of studying dyslexia in the context of web accessibility, drawing on Rello's extensive body of research including her doctoral work on the DysWebxia text accessibility model. The paper addresses three interconnected problems:…

  dyslexia · cognitive accessibility · readability · typography · web accessibility guidelines

• Towards a unified definition of web accessibility

  Helen Petrie, Andreas Savva, Christopher Power · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper conducts a systematic conceptual analysis of 50 definitions of web accessibility drawn from books, academic papers, standards documents, guidelines, and online sources spanning 1996 to 2014, authored by researchers and practitioners from 21 countries across all…

  web accessibility · accessibility definitions · usability · assistive technology · older users

• Complementing standards by demonstrating commitment and progress

  Sarah Horton, David Sloan, Henny Swan · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  Written by consultants at The Paciello Group, this position paper argues that treating digital accessibility solely as a standards compliance activity is insufficient for organizations with large, complex digital estates. The authors draw a parallel between physical…

  accessibility standards · organizational accessibility · WCAG compliance · accessibility policy · barrier removal

• DOM block clustering for enhanced sampling and evaluation

  Simon Harper, Anwar Ahmad Moon, Markel Vigo, Giorgio Brajnik, Yeliz Yesilada · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper addresses a fundamental challenge in web accessibility evaluation: large websites with thousands or tens of thousands of pages are practically impossible to fully evaluate, yet current sampling methods (random, best-guess, or convenience samples) cannot be trusted…

  accessibility evaluation · automated testing · web crawling · sampling methodology · DOM analysis

• Detecting Readers with Dyslexia Using Machine Learning with Eye Tracking Measures

  Luz Rello, Miguel Ballesteros · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents the first machine learning model to automatically detect readers with dyslexia using eye tracking data. The authors trained a Support Vector Machine (SVM) binary classifier on a dataset of 1,135 readings from 97 Spanish-speaking participants aged 11 to 54 —…

  dyslexia · eye tracking · machine learning · detection · support vector machine

• "Old Habits Die Hard!": Eyetracking Based Experiential Transcoding: A Study with Mobile Users

  Elgin Akpınar, Yeliz Yeşilada · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents an eyetracking-based approach to experiential transcoding — the practice of reformatting web pages into more accessible forms based on understanding how users actually experience and navigate content. The authors built on their earlier eMine project, which…

  transcoding · eyetracking · mobile web · situational impairment · user experience

• Complexities of Practical Web Automation

  Yury Puzis, Yevgen Borodin, I. V. Ramakrishnan · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper systematizes and analyzes the complexities involved in building practical, usable, and accessible web automation systems, drawing on published literature and the authors' years of experience developing automation tools for visually impaired web users. Web automation —…

  web automation · screen readers · visual impairment · non-visual browsing · assistive technology

• CAN: Composable Accessibility Infrastructure via Data-Driven Crowdsourcing

  Yun Huang, Brian Dobreski, Bijay Bhaskar Deo, Jiahang Xin, Natã Miccael Barbosa, Yang Wang, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents CAN (Composable Accessibility Infrastructure), a crowdsourcing platform that collects web accessibility issues from real websites and their open-source fixes, dynamically composes solutions on-the-fly, and delivers the crowdsourced content as both immediate…

  crowdsourcing · web accessibility · accessibility education · automated testing · screen readers

• HoliBraille: Multipoint Vibrotactile Feedback on Mobile Devices

  Hugo Nicolau, Kyle Montague, Tiago Guerreiro, André Rodrigues, Vicki L. Hanson · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper introduces HoliBraille, a hardware prototype that enables both Braille input and output on standard mobile touchscreen devices using vibrotactile motors. The system attaches six small vibration motors to a 3D-printed case that fits over a smartphone, with each motor…

  braille · blind and low vision · haptic technology · mobile accessibility · vibrotactile feedback

• Reconciling User and Designer Preferences in Adapting Web Pages for People with Low Vision

  Yoann Bonavero, Marianne Huchard, Michel Meynard · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper addresses the challenge of adapting web pages for people with low vision while preserving the original design intent. Unlike simple approaches that override all colors or apply uniform changes, the authors frame web page adaptation as a multi-objective optimization…

  low vision · web page personalization · color contrast · evolutionary algorithms · content adaptation

• Browser-Independent Accessible Math

  Neil Soiffer · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper describes the re-architecture of MathPlayer (version 4) from Design Science, transforming it from an Internet Explorer-only plugin into a standalone library that any assistive technology can use to make mathematical notation accessible in any browser or application.…

  MathML · STEM accessibility · screen readers · speech generation · braille

• End-to-End Solution for Accessible Chemical Diagrams

  Volker Sorge, Mark Lee, Sandy Wilkinson · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents a complete pipeline for making chemical diagrams — typically distributed as inaccessible bitmap images — fully accessible on the web. The system takes bitmap images of molecular diagrams as input and produces interactive, explorable SVG diagrams with semantic…

  STEM accessibility · image accessibility · visual impairment · screen readers · SVG

• Measuring Text Simplification with the Crowd

  Walter S. Lasecki, Luz Rello, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates whether non-expert crowd workers can reliably evaluate the simplicity of English text, addressing a key gap in text simplification research. Text simplification — reducing the lexical and syntactic complexity of sentences while preserving meaning — is…

  text simplification · crowdsourcing · natural language processing · readability · cognitive accessibility

• Semiotics Contributions to Accessible Interface Design

  María Inés Laitano · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This extended abstract argues that semiotic theory — the study of signs and meaning-making — can complement WCAG-based approaches to produce more meaningfully accessible interfaces. Laitano contrasts the WAI model, which centres on content (information plus markup) accessed…

  semiotics · interface design · WCAG · alt text · communication strategy

• W4A Camp Report 2014 Edition

  Giorgio Brajnik · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This report summarizes the discussions from the 2014 W4A Camp, an unconference session held at the end of the W4A conference where accessibility researchers informally debated topics they considered important for the field. Chaired by Giorgio Brajnik, the session involved 17…

  web accessibility · accessibility definitions · older adults · emotional barriers · EPUB

• Acrolinx: A Controlled-Language Checker Turned into an Accessibility Evaluation Tool for Image Text Alternatives

  Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez, Sabine Lehmann · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents a novel application of controlled-language checking technology to a persistent accessibility problem: evaluating the quality of image text alternatives, not just their presence. The authors observe that while most web accessibility evaluation tools can detect…

  alt text · image accessibility · automated testing · controlled language · natural language processing