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.
Clayton Lewis · 2023 · ACM Computing Surveys
A comprehensive review of research on digital accessibility for people with cognitive, learning, and neurological disabilities. Examines the gap between current standards (which focus primarily on sensory and motor disabilities) and the needs of this broader population.
cognitive accessibility · inclusive design · research review
Xiang Deng · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This extended abstract proposes building a general natural language interface (NLI) for the Web that would allow users to express their needs in plain language and have the system automatically carry out the required actions on any website. The approach aims to reduce the…
natural language processing · web accessibility · web automation · semantic parsing · large language models
Abigale Stangl, Emma Sadjo, Pardis Emami-Naeini, Yang Wang, Danna Gurari, Leah Findlater · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper investigates the visual privacy expectations of 16 totally blind individuals who use visual assistance technologies (VATs) such as Aira, Be My Eyes, Seeing AI, and Envision AI. VATs provide blind users access to visual information by connecting them to remote human…
visual privacy · blind users · visual assistance technology · privacy expectations · data protection
Varsha Koushik, Shaun Kane · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper investigates the factors that influence people with cognitive disabilities in regularly practicing daily activities, focusing on the interplay between ability and motivation. The researchers conducted 90-minute remote participatory design interviews with 13…
cognitive accessibility · cognitive disabilities · daily living activities · prompting systems · smart home
Merlin Knaeble, Gabriel Sailer, Zihan Chen, Thorsten Schwarz, Kailun Yang, Mario Nadj, Rainer Stiefelhagen, Alexander Maedche · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper presents AutoChemplete, an interactive labeling tool that makes chemical structural formulas accessible to blind and low-vision (BLV) students. Chemical structural formulas — visual diagrams showing atoms, bonds, and molecular geometry — are fundamental to studying…
STEM accessibility · blind and low vision · chemistry · machine learning · interactive labeling
Greg Gay, Matthew Ralston · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This extended abstract presents Amaze3D (The Accessibility Maze 3D), a proof-of-concept demonstrating that Unity-based 3D game worlds can be made independently navigable by blind players. Built as a WebGL-based 3D adaptation of an earlier 2D JavaScript Accessibility Maze, the…
game accessibility · blind users · Unity · 3D worlds · educational games
Silvia Dini, Luca Andrea Ludovico, Sergio Mascetti, Maria Joaquina Valero Gisbert · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This extended abstract proposes using sonification — the technique of translating data into sound — to make the chromatic elements of contemporary artworks accessible to people with visual impairments or blindness (VIB). The research addresses a fundamental challenge in museum…
sonification · museum accessibility · visual impairment · sensory substitution · art accessibility
David Austin, Volker Sorge · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This extended abstract presents an XML-based authoring language for creating web-accessible mathematical diagrams, designed to integrate with PreTeXt, a tool for producing accessible scholarly documents. While text and mathematical formulas in LaTeX can be made web-accessible…
STEM accessibility · mathematical diagrams · SVG accessibility · screen readers · sonification
Akhter Al Amin, Saad Hassan, Matt Huenerfauth, Cecilia O. Alm · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper investigates how to model word importance in conversational transcripts to improve live captioning quality for Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) viewers. Live captions generated by automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems inevitably contain errors, but not all errors…
live captioning · deaf and hard of hearing · automatic speech recognition · word importance · natural language processing
Merlin Knaeble, Gabriel Sailer, Zihan Chen, Thorsten Schwarz, Kailun Yang, Mario Nadj, Rainer Stiefelhagen, Alexander Maedche · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This extended abstract presents AutoChemplete, an interactive labeling tool designed to make chemical structural formulas accessible to blind and low vision (BLV) students. The paper highlights a stark gap in STEM education: while 69% of US BLV students express interest in STEM…
STEM accessibility · chemistry accessibility · blind and low vision · interactive labeling · machine learning
Ather Sharif, Aneesha Ramesh, Qianqian Yu, Trung-Anh H. Nguyen, Xuhai Xu · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper presents UnlockedMaps, an open-data web-based map that visualizes the real-time accessibility status of urban rail transit stations across six North American cities. The system addresses a critical gap: commuters who depend on functioning station elevators — including…
transit accessibility · mobility disabilities · open data · web-based maps · urban accessibility
David Austin, Volker Sorge · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This short paper presents a novel XML-based language for authoring accessible mathematical diagrams, targeting both visually impaired (VI) and sighted authors. Mathematical diagrams are essential for STEM subjects yet remain overwhelmingly inaccessible in electronic documents —…
STEM accessibility · mathematical diagrams · SVG accessibility · blind and low vision · sonification
Wajdi Aljedaani, Mohammed Alkahtani, Stephanie Ludi, Mohamed Wiem Mkaouer, Marcelo M. Eler, Marouane Kessentini, Ali Ouni · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This paper investigates the accessibility of the Blackboard mobile app, one of the most widely used Learning Management Systems (LMS) in higher education, through a two-pronged methodology. First, the authors conducted a large-scale survey with 1,308 hearing students and 65 deaf…
mobile accessibility · learning management systems · deaf and hard of hearing · education accessibility · user reviews
Akhter Al Amin, Saad Hassan, Sooyeon Lee, Matt Huenerfauth · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)
This study investigates how Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) viewers distribute their visual attention across different information regions on screen while watching captioned live television news. More than 360 million people worldwide are DHH, and many rely on captions to access…
deaf and hard of hearing · captioning · eye tracking · television accessibility · caption placement
Akihiro Miyata, Kazuki Okugawa, Yusaku Murayama, Akihiro Furuta, Keihiro Ochiai, Yuko Murayama · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)
This study introduces and evaluates a crowdsourcing platform designed to collect real-world accessibility information for constructing accessibility maps that support people with mobility disabilities. Accessibility maps are critical for safe navigation by wheelchair users and…
crowdsourcing · gamification · accessible maps · physical accessibility · pedestrian infrastructure
Ather Sharif, Andrew M. Zhang, Katharina Reinecke, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)
This extended abstract presents enhancements to VoxLens, an open-source JavaScript plug-in that improves the accessibility of online data visualizations for screen-reader users (SRUs) through a multimodal approach. Over 7.6 million people in the United States use screen readers,…
screen readers · data visualization accessibility · alternative text · sonification · blind and low vision
Gabriele Galimberti · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)
This doctoral consortium extended abstract outlines a research project investigating the factors that enable or hinder independent mobility for people with blindness or visual impairments (BVI), with a particular focus on the link between mobility autonomy and environmental…
visual impairment · blind and low vision · independent living · public transportation · navigation
Akhter Al Amin, Joseph Mendis, Raja Kushalnagar, Christian Vogler, Matt Huenerfauth · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)
This study systematically investigates how the number of speakers onscreen in live television programs affects Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) viewers' preferences for different in-text speaker identification methods in captions. Live TV news and interviews often feature multiple…
deaf and hard of hearing · captioning · live captioning · television accessibility · caption quality
Pegah Karimi, Erin Brady, Aqueasha Martin-Hammond, Davide Bolchini · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)
This study investigates the under-explored practice of texting by people who are blind and visually impaired (BVI) while navigating outdoors — what the authors term "nomadic contexts." While previous research has examined accessible text entry methods (screen readers, speech…
blind and low vision · text entry · mobile accessibility · navigation · assistive technology
Jonathan Robert Pool · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)
This short paper presents a systematic empirical comparison of nine automated web accessibility testing tools that are amenable to integration into multi-tool testing regimes (free or nearly free, controllable via APIs or NPM packages, and comprehensive in scope). The nine tools…
automated accessibility testing · web accessibility · accessibility testing · accessibility evaluation · WCAG compliance
Alexander Hambley, Yeliz Yesilada, Markel Vigo, Simon Harper · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)
This extended abstract presents OPTIMAL-EM, a prototypical tool and framework designed to optimise the web accessibility evaluation process by systematically selecting representative pages from a website for auditing. Currently, accessibility evaluations supported by…
automated accessibility testing · web accessibility · accessibility evaluation · web crawling · machine learning
Hao-Yun Chi, Jingzhen Sha, Yang Zhang · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)
This study presents the first user research with people with limited mobility on using virtual tours — 3D digital replicas of physical environments captured with 360-degree cameras and depth sensors — to remotely assess the accessibility of indoor spaces. People with mobility…
physical accessibility · wheelchair users · virtual reality · accessible housing · mobility impairments
Alexander Hambley · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)
This doctoral consortium extended abstract presents a PhD project proposing a novel framework and prototypical tool for optimising web accessibility evaluation through statistically representative page sampling. The work is the single-author companion to the multi-author…
automated accessibility testing · web accessibility · accessibility evaluation · web crawling · machine learning
Jiamin Dai, John Miedema, Sebastian Hernandez, Alexandra Sutton-Lalani, Karyn Moffatt · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)
This literature review examines 30 scholarly publications (2012-2022) to characterize the cognitive accessibility challenges and design strategies for digital payments, focusing on the experiences of older adults and people with neurodiverse needs including dementia,…
cognitive accessibility · financial technology · digital payments · banking accessibility · older adults
Ather Sharif, Olivia H. Wang, Alida T. Muongchan, Katharina Reinecke, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A)
This full research paper presents a comprehensive investigation into how screen-reader users (SRUs) extract drilled-down information from online data visualizations, and how the VoxLens tool can be improved to support this process. While prior work on VoxLens focused on holistic…
screen readers · data visualization · voice interface · information extraction · natural language processing