Investigating the Intersection of Cultural Design Preferences and Web Accessibility Guidelines with Designers from the Global SouthCultural background influences aesthetic web design preferences, and aesthetic design impacts accessible design. However, limited research has focused on this intersection of cultural background and accessible web design. With the majority of HCI and design resources originating from the Global North, we investigated the conflicts experienced due to the cultural background of digital designers from the Global South and current web accessibility guidelines. We conducted a design activity and interview study with 10 designers from five countries in the Global South to identify how current web accessibility guidelines conflict with our participants' cultural design preferences. We found there are specific cultural challenges encountered in accessible web design, both at the design level (e.g., typography and color scheme) and within broader societal contexts (e.g., designer-client interactions). Our paper also offers suggestions from our participants to make the accessible design process more culturally inclusive by improving the web accessibility resources to become culturally customized and engaging more cultural perspectives in accessibility research and education.2025LNLaleh Nourian et al.Rochester Institute of Technology, Department of Computing and Information SciencesCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)Universal & Inclusive DesignInclusive DesignCHI
Mapping Accessibility Assignments into Core Computer Science Topics: An Empirical Study with Interviews and Surveys of Instructors and StudentsIncorporating accessibility education into undergraduate computer science (CS) programs is essential for preparing future technology professionals to create inclusive technology. However, many CS programs lack accessibility coverage, often confining it to human-computer interaction (HCI) courses. To address this gap, we developed accessibility assignments seamlessly integrated into core CS courses. We collaborated closely with ten instructors to select and customize these assignments to suit their needs. To evaluate the impact of these assignments, we conducted interviews with instructors and administered surveys and interviews with their students. Our findings indicate significant improvement in students' familiarity with accessibility concepts and confidence in implementation following completion of the assignments. However, their mindset and future interest in accessibility remained the same. Instructors found it straightforward to incorporate these assignments without compromising core computing concepts. In sum, we validated a foundation for effectively resourcing instructors with accessibility teaching materials and increasing their capacity in accessibility knowledge.2024EKEmily Kuang et al.Rochester Institute of TechnologyCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)Universal & Inclusive DesignSpecial Education TechnologyCHI
Enhancing UX Evaluation Through Collaboration with Conversational AI Assistants: Effects of Proactive Dialogue and TimingUsability testing is vital for enhancing the user experience (UX) of interactive systems. However, analyzing test videos is complex and resource-intensive. Recent AI advancements have spurred exploration into human-AI collaboration for UX analysis, particularly through natural language. Unlike user-initiated dialogue, our study investigated the potential of proactive conversational assistants to aid UX evaluators through automatic suggestions at three distinct times: before, in sync with, and after potential usability problems. We conducted a hybrid Wizard-of-Oz study involving 24 UX evaluators, using ChatGPT to generate automatic problem suggestions and a human actor to respond to impromptu questions. While timing did not significantly impact analytic performance, suggestions appearing after potential problems were preferred, enhancing trust and efficiency. Participants found the automatic suggestions useful, but they collectively identified more than twice as many problems, underscoring the irreplaceable role of human expertise. Our findings also offer insights into future human-AI collaborative tools for UX evaluation.2024EKEmily Kuang et al.Rochester Institute of TechnologyHuman-LLM CollaborationPrototyping & User TestingComputational Methods in HCICHI
Understanding Visual Arts Experiences of Blind PeopleVisual arts play an important role in cultural life and provide access to social heritage and self-enrichment, but most visual arts are inaccessible to blind people. Researchers have explored different ways to enhance blind people's access to visual arts (e.g., audio descriptions, tactile graphics). However, how blind people adopt these methods remains unknown. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 blind visual arts patrons to understand how they engage with visual artwork and the factors that influence their adoption of visual arts access methods. We further examined interview insights in a follow-up survey (N=220). We present: 1) current practices and challenges of accessing visual artwork in-person and online (e.g., Zoom tour), 2) motivation and cognition of perceiving visual arts (e.g., imagination), and 3) implications for designing visual arts access methods. Overall, our findings provide a roadmap for technology-based support for blind people's visual arts experiences.2023FLFranklin Mingzhe Li et al.Carnegie Mellon UniversityVisual Impairment Technologies (Screen Readers, Tactile Graphics, Braille)Museum & Cultural Heritage DigitizationCHI
Collaboration with Conversational AI Assistants for UX Evaluation: Questions and How to Ask them (Voice vs. Text)AI is promising in assisting UX evaluators with analyzing usability tests, but its judgments are typically presented as non-interactive visualizations. Evaluators may have questions about test recordings, but have no way of asking them. Interactive conversational assistants provide a Q&A dynamic that may improve analysis efficiency and evaluator autonomy. To understand the full range of analysis-related questions, we conducted a Wizard-of-Oz design probe study with 20 participants who interacted with simulated AI assistants via text or voice. We found that participants asked for five categories of information: user actions, user mental model, help from the AI assistant, product and task information, and user demographics. Those who used the text assistant asked more questions, but the question lengths were similar. The text assistant was perceived as significantly more efficient, but both were rated equally in satisfaction and trust. We also provide design considerations for future conversational AI assistants for UX evaluation.2023EKEmily Kuang et al.Rochester Institute of TechnologyConversational ChatbotsHuman-LLM CollaborationAI-Assisted Decision-Making & AutomationCHI
Understanding Discussions Around Culture Within Courses Covering Topics on Accessibility and Disability at U.S. UniversitiesTeaching accessibility is essential in training technologists and designers. However, the topics of accessibility and disability are vast and intersect with culture (social constructions). Since cultural background is an influential factor in design decisions, which could have implications for accessible design, we wanted to understand whether and how courses at U.S. institutions address the importance of cultural influences when teaching accessibility and disability topics. We surveyed 72 students from U.S. institutions and ran 14 follow-up interviews with students who took technical and non-technical courses. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we found similarities and differences in how technical and non-technical courses approach accessibility teaching. We found a lack of cultural focus in accessibility teaching in the technical courses, which can be improved by adopting teaching approaches from non-technical courses. We also make recommendations to improve course design, such as including people from different cultures and disabilities to help develop courses.2023LNLaleh Nourian et al.Rochester Institute of TechnologyUniversal & Inclusive DesignSpecial Education TechnologyInclusive DesignCHI
Usability, Accessibility and Social Entanglements in Advanced Tool Use by Vision Impaired Graduate StudentsDespite increasing work investigating the accessibility of research tools, most accessibility research has traditionally focused on popular, mainstream, or web technologies. We investigated barriers and workarounds blind and low vision doctoral students in computing-intensive disciplines experienced and engaged, respectively, when using advanced technical tools for research tasks. We conducted an observation and interview study with eight current and former Ph.D. students, closely analyzing the accessibility of specific tasks. Our findings contextualize how inaccessible tools complicate research tasks, adding time and effort, and exacerbating social entanglements in collaborative relationships. This work contributes empirical data that extricates how in/accessibility of advanced technical tools used in research influence productivity and collegial efforts.2022KSKristen Shinohara et al.Visual Impairments; Visual ImpairmentsCSCW
"It Feels Like Taking a Gamble": Exploring Perceptions, Practices, and Challenges of Using Makeup and Cosmetics for People with Visual ImpairmentsMakeup and cosmetics offer the potential for self-expression and the reshaping of social roles for visually impaired people. However, there exist barriers to conducting a beauty regime because of the reliance on visual information and color variances in makeup. We present a content analysis of 145 YouTube videos to demonstrate visually impaired individuals' unique practices before, during, and after doing makeup. Based on the makeup practices, we then conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 visually impaired people to discuss their perceptions of and challenges with the makeup process in more depth. Overall, through our findings and discussion, we present novel perceptions of makeup from visually impaired individuals (e.g., broader representations of blindness and beauty). The existing challenges provide opportunities for future research to address learning barriers, insufficient feedback, and physical and environmental barriers, making the experience of doing makeup more accessible to people with visual impairments.2022FLFranklin Mingzhe Li et al.Carnegie Mellon UniversityVisual Impairment Technologies (Screen Readers, Tactile Graphics, Braille)Universal & Inclusive DesignCHI
Remotely Co-Designing Features for Communication Applications using Automatic Captioning with Deaf and Hearing PairsDeaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) users face accessibility challenges during in-person and remote meetings. While emerging use of applications incorporating automatic speech recognition (ASR) is promising, more user-interface and user-experience research is needed. While co-design methods could elucidate designs for such applications, COVID-19 has interrupted in-person research. This study describes a novel methodology for conducting online co-design workshops with 18 DHH and hearing participant pairs to investigate ASR-supported mobile and videoconferencing technologies along two design dimensions: Correcting errors in ASR output and implementing notification systems for influencing speaker behaviors. Our methodological findings include an analysis of communication modalities and strategies participants used, use of an online collaborative whiteboarding tool, and how participants reconciled differences in ideas. Finally, we present guidelines for researchers interested in online DHH co-design methodologies, enabling greater geographically diversity among study participants even beyond the current pandemic.2022MSMatthew Seita et al.Rochester Institute of TechnologyDeaf & Hard-of-Hearing Support (Captions, Sign Language, Vibration)Prototyping & User TestingCHI
The Burden of Survival: How Doctoral Students in Computing Bridge the Chasm of InaccessibilityDespite efforts to support students with disabilities in higher education, few continue to pursue doctoral degrees in computing. We conducted an interview study with 12 blind and low vision, and 7 deaf and hard of hearing current and former doctoral students in computing to understand how graduate students adjust to inaccessibility and ineffective accommodations. We asked participants how they worked around inaccessibility, managed ineffective accommodations, and advocated for tools and services. Employing a lens of ableism in our analysis, we found that participants' extra effort to address accessibility gaps gave rise to a burden of survival, which they sustained to meet expectations of graduate-level productivity. We recommend equitable solutions that acknowledge taken-for-granted workarounds and that actively address inaccessibility in the graduate school context.2021KSKristen Shinohara et al.Rochester Institute of TechnologyCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)Aging-Friendly Technology DesignUniversal & Inclusive DesignCHI
Accessibility of High-Fidelity Prototyping ToolsHigh-fidelity prototyping tools are used by software designers and developers to iron out interface details without full implementation. However, the lack of visual accessibility in these tools creates a barrier for designers who may use screen readers, such as those who are vision impaired. We assessed conformance of four prototyping tools (Sketch, Adobe XD, Balsamiq, UXPin) with accessibility guidelines, using two screen readers (Narrator and VoiceOver), focusing our analysis on GUI element accessibility and critical workflows used to create prototypes. We found few tools were fully accessible, with 45.9% of GUI elements meeting accessibility criteria (34.2% partially supported accessibility, 19.9% not supporting accessibility). Accessibility issues stymied efforts to create prototypes using screen readers. Though no screen reader-tool pairs were completely accessible, the most accessible pairs were VoiceOver-Sketch, VoiceOver-Balsamiq, and Narrator-Balsamiq. We recommend prioritizing improved accessibility for input and control instruction, alternative text, focus order, canvas element properties, and keyboard operations.2021JLJunchen Li et al.Rochester Institute of TechnologyVisual Impairment Technologies (Screen Readers, Tactile Graphics, Braille)Universal & Inclusive DesignCHI