Web Science and Digital Libraries Research Group

  The  ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)  is the premier venue for research at the intersection of computing and accessibility. It brings together a diverse community of scholars, practitioners, and designers who are dedicated to advancing technologies that empower people with disabilities. This year, the  26th ASSETS Conference (ASSETS 2024)  was held in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, from October 27 to 30, 2024. In this blog post, I highlight our paper, “ Understanding Low Vision Graphical Perception of Bar Charts ”, which examines how individuals with low vision interpret bar charts using screen magnifiers. Our study found that low-vision users face frequent challenges when reading charts, including visual blur, difficulty tracking between elements, and confusion caused by distractor bars. Perception errors were higher when bars were unaligned, stacked, or closely spaced. In some cases, design choices that typica...

The ACM ASSETS Conference , formally known as the International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, is a leading forum for presenting research on the design, evaluation, and use of computing and information technologies to assist people with disabilities and older adults. ASSETS is dedicated to exploring how technology can support accessibility and inclusivity for individuals with special needs. The conference covers a wide range of topics related to accessible computing, including assistive technologies, user interfaces, and inclusive design practices. In this blog post, I write about the most recent work co-authored by Dr. Vikas Ashok , titled " Enabling Uniform Computer Interaction Experience for Blind Users through Large Language Models ," published in ASSETS '24 .  Motivation Blind individuals who rely on screen readers, such as JAWS , VoiceOver , and NVDA , face significant challenges when interacting with computer applications designed primaril...