Emerging Topics in Assistive Reading Technology: From Presentation to Content Accessibility

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advancements in assistive reading technologies, focusing on presentation and content accessibility, including reformatting and text simplification, supported by a real-world case study.

Contribution

It introduces new assistive tools for document reformatting and text simplification, demonstrating their application through a practical case study.

Findings

Enhanced document accessibility for low-vision users

Improved comprehension for individuals with intellectual disabilities

Practical validation through a real-world case study

Abstract

With the recent focus in the accessibility field, researchers from academia and industry have been very active in developing innovative techniques and tools for assistive technology. Especially with handheld devices getting ever powerful and being able to recognize the user's voice, screen magnification for individuals with low-vision, and eye tracking devices used in studies with individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities, the science field is quickly adapting and creating conclusions as well as products to help. In this paper, we will focus on new technology and tools to help make reading easier--including reformatting document presentation (for people with physical vision impairments) and text simplification to make information itself easier to interpret (for people with intellectual disabilities). A real-world case study is reported based on our experience to make documents more accessible.