Traversing large open spaces is a challenging task for blind cane users, as such spaces are often devoid of tactile features that can be followed. Consequently, in such spaces cane users may veer from their intended paths. Wearable devices have great ...

In his editorial on Computing for Humans, Vardi [1] discusses computing as being an "instrument of the human mind," having the primary goal to enhance what we as humans are able to do. Nowhere is such a computing goal more evident than in the field of ...

This work proposes progresses on the use of a breathing based text input software for mobile as an alternative interaction technology for people with motor disabilities. It attempts to explore the processing of the audio from the microphone in mobile ...

Phoneme-based text entry provides an alternative typing method for nonspeaking individuals who often experience difficulties in orthographic spelling. In this paper, we investigate the application of rate enhancement strategies to improve the user ...

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems are used by many different types of people. While almost all AAC users have speech impairments that preclude the use of verbal communication, they may also have varying levels of vision or motor ...

This paper outlines the development of the AccessBraille framework, an iOS framework designed to provide a Braille keyboard to an iOS application. The proof-of-concept app developed with this framework is presented as an example of how the framework can ...

Speech Dasher is a novel text entry interface in which users first speak their desired text and then use the zooming interface Dasher to confirm and correct the recognition result. After several hours of practice, users wrote using Speech Dasher at 40 (...

This demo is about OSDS, a very powerful tool allowing computer users who cannot use a standard keyboard to replace that with a compact number-pad-like device, the so-called DualPad. The idea is to offer efficient text entry despite the smaller number ...

This demo actually showcases not one but four different text entry methods for persons with very severe physical disabilities. All four rely on the same kind of input signals: tiny contractions of the brow muscle which are captured using ...

Evaluating the results of user accessibility testing on the web can take a significant amount of time, training, and effort. Some of this work can be offloaded to others through coding video data from user tests to systematically extract meaning from ...

"A picture says a thousand words" is a fitting phrase to express the difficulty in communicating visual information to a sighted individual. But what happens when the person the art work is being described to doesn't have any vision? What features of ...

Although our sense of hearing, smell, and vision allow us to perceive things at a distance, the detection of many day-to-day events relies exclusively on our hearing. For example, finding a ringing phone lost in a sofa, hearing a child cry in another ...

In this paper we have developed a toolset that will allow people with severe spastic cerebral palsy (CP) and highly restricted motor movement skills to access popular social-networking and communication mediums like, Facebook and E-mails. To understand ...

One of the common problems faced by visually impaired people is of independent path-based mobility in an unfamiliar indoor environment. Existing systems do not provide active guidance or are bulky, expensive and hence are not socially apt. Consequently, ...

Motor coordination problems are common in different developmental disorders including autism and dyspraxia. Gross and fine motor coordination skills are critical to the appropriate motor coordination development that is relevant to support individuals' ...

A novel mobile health (mHealth) system to support self-care and adherence to self-care regimens for patients with chronic disease, called iMHere (interactive mobile health and rehabilitation), has been developed at the University of Pittsburgh. However, ...

Crowd work web sites such as Amazon Mechanical Turk enable individuals to work from home, which may be useful for people with disabilities. However, the web sites for finding and performing crowd work tasks must be accessible if people with disabilities ...

Head-mounted displays such as Google Glass offer potential advantages for persons with motor impairments (MI). For example, they are always available and offer relatively hands-free interaction compared to a mobile phone. Despite this potential, there ...

Mid-air hand-gestural interaction generally causes a fatigue due to implementations that require the user to hold their arm out during this interaction. Recent research has discovered a new approach to reduce fatigue related to gestural interaction, by ...

We present design and development of a web browser that allow easy dissemination of information through World Wide Web for people with cerebral palsy in India. Our focus user group comprises people with severe form of spastic cerebral palsy and highly ...