Shape the Future: Research and Development Questions in Digital Accessibility
Online Research Symposium, 10 November 2021
Invitation
The Web Accessibility Initiative - Communities of Practice (WAI-CooP) Project and the W3C Accessible Platform Architectures (APA) Working Group invite researchers, practitioners, and users with disabilities to participate in an international online symposium exploring research challenges and opportunities in digital accessibility.
- Symposium date: 10 November 2021
- Paper submission date: 6 October 2021
Accepted contributions will be available on the symposium page and will be open to discussion before the symposium through the WAI-CooP open forum. Authors of accepted contributions will be invited to participate as panelists in the symposium. Anyone may attend the symposium.
Introduction
This online symposium brings together researchers, academics, industry, government, and people with disabilities, to explore the current state-of-the-art in accessibility research, development, and practice to uncover pressing topics for future research and development.
Another goal of this symposium is to explore potential gaps between the topics discussed by researchers and practitioners. By increasing awareness to the challenges faced by all communities, collaborations could emerge and improve the current state of accessibility research and practice.
We invite position papers discussing these topics using real-life settings and raising current issues and needs for discussion. After the symposium, the WAI-CooP project will publish a report, consolidating the discussions and findings.
Scope
We welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Assistive Technology
- Data Visualization
- Education and training
- Emerging technologies
- Evaluation, metrics and scoring
- Immersive Environments (XR)
- Machine Learning (ML)
- Multimodal Interfaces
- Natural Language Interfaces
- Personalization
- Pronunciation
- Remote Participation
- User requirements
Important Dates
- 6 October 2021: Deadline for submissions
- 27 October 2021: Author notifications
- 7 November 2021: Deadline for registration
- 10 November 2021: Online symposium event
Symposium Transcript
The transcript of the symposium is now available.
Agenda
The following times are in CET (UTC+1). Check your time zone.
- 14:00 Start of meeting
- 14:00 - 14:15 Welcome session
- 14:15 Session 1: Scope of Accessibility Guidelines (moderator: Joshue O’Connor, W3C)
- 14:15 - 14:25 The Transparency of Automatic Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools
- 14:25 - 14:35 Are Best Practices Best? Making Technical PDFs More Accessible
- 14:35 - 15:00 Discussion
- 15:00 Session 2: Education (moderator: Jade Matos Carew, Open University)
- 15:00 - 15:10 IMPACT project: Training in inclusion and digital accessibility, a social need and a human right
- 15:10 - 15:25 Discussion
- 15:25 - 15:40 Coffee Break
- 15:40 Session 3: AI/ML contributions and limitations (moderator: Jason White, ETS)
- 15:40 - 15:50 Unreasonable Accommodation - Web Experiences as a Blind Person
- 15:50 - 16:00 Making Media Accessible to All
- 16:00 - 16:10 Preliminary Insights from a Chatbot Accessibility Playbook and Wizard-of-Oz Study
- 16:10 - 16:40 Discussion
- 16:40 - 16:55 Future Research in Digital Accessibility (moderators: Carlos Duarte and Letícia Seixas Pereira, Universidade de Lisboa)
- 16:55 - 17:00 Closing session
- 17:00 End of meeting
Logistics and Accessibility
This meeting will take place on the Zoom teleconference system with real-time captioning, and International Sign Language. Connection details will be sent by email to registered participants.
Registration
Registration is now closed.
Paper Submissions
We invite the submission of position papers of no more than 1500 words. We encourage concise contributions clearly explaining the:
- Problem addressed
- Relevant background
- Challenges
- Outcomes
- Future perspectives
Position papers must be submitted in the template provided, be valid HTML, and meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
Submit papers through the symposium submission management system by 6 October 2021.
Review Process
Contributions will be reviewed by the Review Committee. Each paper will get at least two independent reviews for criteria including clarity, soundness, and relevance to the symposium. Papers will be accepted based on these criteria and space availability.
Organizing Committee
Symposium Chairs
- Carlos Duarte (LASIGE, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon)
- Letícia Seixas Pereira (LASIGE, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon)
Scientific Committee
- Becky Gibson (Ultimate Kronos Group)
- Carlos Duarte (LASIGE, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon)
- Janina Sajka (Sajka Associates)
- Jason White (Educational Testing Service)
- Joshue O’Connor (W3C/WAI)
- Letícia Seixas Pereira (LASIGE, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon)
- Scott Hollier (University of South Australia)
Review Committee
- Amy Hurst, New York University
- Clayton Lewis, University of Colorado Boulder
- David Sloan, TPGi
- Eric Velleman, Han University of Applied Sciences
- Estella Oncins, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
- Fabio Paternò, CNR-IST, HIIS Laboratory
- Faustina Hwang, University of Reading
- Klaus Hoeckner, HGB
- Klaus Miesenberger, Johannes Kepler University Linz
- Madeleine Rothberg, WGBH National Center for Accessible Media
- Michael Paciello, WebABLE
- Mohamed Jemni, ALECSO
- Raja Kushalnagar, Gallaudet University
- Reinaldo Ferraz, Ceweb.br/Nic.br
- Sarah Lewthwaite, University of Southampton
- Sheng Zhou, Zhejiang University
- Simon Harper, University of Manchester
- Stein Erik Skotkjerra, Inklusio
- Ted Drake, Intuit
- Wilco Fiers, Deque Europe
- Yeliz Yesilada, METU NCC
Acknowledgements
This research symposium is organized by the WAI-CooP Project, an European Commission co-funded project, and the W3C Accessible Platform Architectures (APA) Working Group. The conference management system is donated by OpenConf.
