Accessibility-Driven Information Transformations in Mixed-Visual Ability Work Teams

Paper Title

Accessibility-Driven Information Transformations in Mixed-Visual Ability Work Teams

Publication Info

• Topic area: Accessibility and collaboration in mixed-visual ability professional teams
• Keywords: Accessibility, mixed-visual ability teams, representational transformation, collaborative work, information accessibility, blind and low-vision, teamwork, knowledge work, coordination, invisible labour

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Shared information representations (e.g., PDFs, diagrams) in mixed-visual ability teams are often inaccessible to blind and low-vision (BLV) employees, requiring representational transformations that are labor-intensive, ad hoc, and inequitable.
• Significance: These accessibility barriers hinder BLV employees’ ability to contribute effectively, create additional workload, and exacerbate inequities in team dynamics.
• Motivation and related work: Prior research has explored individual accessibility tools and accommodations but has not sufficiently addressed the collaborative processes of representational transformations in mixed-visual ability teams. This paper aims to fill that gap by examining how these transformations occur and their implications for teamwork.

Solution

• Proposed approach: A qualitative study analyzing accessibility-driven representational transformations in mixed-visual ability teams, focusing on triggers, actions, and consequences.
• Novelty:
  1. A structured framework for analyzing accessibility-driven transformations based on triggers, actions, and consequences.
  2. Identification of four recurring patterns of transformation and coordination in teams.
  3. Opportunities for designing collaborative systems that better support mixed-visual ability teams.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Conducted a five-day diary study and follow-up interviews with 23 participants from five teams.
  • Held two focus groups with seven additional participants.
  • Analyzed 404 diary entries, 209 representation examples, and 31+ hours of recordings using open and thematic coding to identify patterns and themes.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Transformations simplify or enhance representations, with simplifications being more common but often reducing functionality.
  • Four patterns of transformation and coordination were identified: disposable fixes, transformed becomes the standard, parallel representations, and assembly.
  • Transformations are triggered reactively (unexpected incompatibilities) or proactively (anticipated needs), with proactive triggers leading to more efficient and equitable outcomes.
• Advantage over baselines: The study extends prior work by focusing on the collaborative and representational aspects of accessibility, rather than individual tools or accommodations.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Data collected from diary entries, interviews, and focus groups across seven teams in legal, non-profit, consulting, and academic sectors.
  • Analysis included 42 transformation cases, categorized by triggers, actions, and consequences.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Limited generalizability due to sample composition (e.g., non-profit teams may have higher accessibility awareness).
  • Focused on processes rather than outcomes or subjective satisfaction.
  • Future work should explore co-design with mixed-visual teams, the impact of generative AI, and quality of transformation outcomes.

Summary

This study investigates how mixed-visual ability teams address accessibility barriers through representational transformations. It identifies four patterns of transformation and coordination, highlights the trade-offs between simplification and enhancement, and distinguishes between reactive and proactive triggers. The findings reveal the social and logistical complexities of accessibility work, offering design opportunities for systems that enable proactive accessibility, flexible multi-modal representations, and trust-building collaboration. By analyzing the invisible labor of accessibility, this work contributes to understanding and improving teamwork in mixed-visual ability professional environments.