In May we announced that Xu Liu from the University of Maryland was one of the three winners in this year’s ACM / Microsoft Student Research Competition (SRC) for his paper on “Mobile Currency Reader for People with Visual Impairments”.

At the ACM Awards banquet this past Saturday, it was announced that he won First Place in the graduate student division. Congratulations Xu!

This is the second time in the past few years that a student from the ASSETS Conference SRC has won 1st place. This reflects very well on the quality of entries we get at the conference. We look forward to seeing more outstanding entries at ASSETS’09 in October.

For information about how students can enter the SRC at the upcoming ASSETS conference, see:
http://www.sigaccess.org/assets09/information/student-research-competition.php

Labels: Student Research Competition, Winner, Xu Liu

We are pleased to announce that the results of the SIGACCESS Election for the coming term, July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2012, are:

Chair:

Andrew Sears

Vice Chair:

Enrico Pontelli

Secretary/Treasurer:

Shari Trewin

We thank all of you who participated in the election and we know that the new officers will serve SIGACCESS well.

Labels: Election, SIGACCESS

Volume 2, Issue 2 of ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing is now available. This edition is a Special Issue from the ASSETS 2008 Conference and can be accessed in the ACM Digital Library.

Table of Contents

1. Guest Editorial
   Armando Barreto and Torsten Felzer
2. A3: HCI Coding Guideline for Research Using Video Annotation to Assess Behavior of Nonverbal Subjects with Computer-Based Intervention
   Joshua Hailpern, Karrie Karahalios, James Halle, Laura Dethorne and Mary-Kelsey Coletto
3. A Linguistically Motivated Model for Speed and Pausing in Animations of American Sign Language
   Matt Huenerfauth
4. The Development and Evaluation of Performance-Based Functional Assessment: A Methodology for the Measurement of Physical Capabilities
   Kathleen J. Price and Andrew Sears
5. Exploring Visual and Motor Accessibility in Navigating a Virtual World
   Shari Trewin, Mark Laff, Vicki Hanson and Anna Cavender

Labels: ASSETS, Special Issue, TACCESS

Eleventh International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, October 26-28, 2009, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Call for Posters and Demonstrations

The ASSETS conference explores the potential of Computer and Information Technologies to support and include individuals with disabilities, and those around them. ASSETS is the premier forum for presenting innovative research on the design and use of both mainstream and specialized assistive technologies. This includes the use of technology by and in support of:

• Individuals with hearing, sight and other sensory impairments,
• Individuals with motor impairments,
• Individuals with memory, learning and cognitive impairments,
• Individuals with multiple impairments,
• Older adults

Poster and Demonstration Submission Procedures

The Poster and Demonstrations submission system is now open: https://www.softconf.com/s08/assets09-pd.

Submitting a poster or a demo is an ideal platform for researchers and practitioners to present their work and receive valuable feedback. Participants are invited to submit high-quality posters and demonstrations presenting novel ideas, designs, techniques, systems, tools, evaluations, scientific investigations, methodologies, social issues or policy issues relating to any topics that may be of interest to the accessibility community.

A poster is a great way to test new ideas, generate interest in a research area, or describe useful or interesting work that is not substantial enough for a full paper presentation. A demonstration is a great way to communicate inventive accessible computing and IT technologies in action.

Posters and demonstration proposals should be submitted using the ACM conference format (http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html), and they are limited in length to 2 pages. Proposals will be reviewed, and accepted proposals will be included in the conference proceedings. Submissions (in PDF format) should be submitted electronically via the conference web site no later than July 6, 2009.

Note: These are NOT double blind submissions; the authors’ names should be on the paper.

Labels: ASSETS, Conferences, Posters and Demonstrations

Volume 2, Issue 1 of ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing is now available. This edition is a Special Issue on Aging and Information Technology and can be accessed in the ACM Digital Library.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to the Special Issue on Aging and Information Technology
   Sara J. Czaja, Peter Gregor and Vicki L. Hanson
2. Being Old Doesn’t Mean Acting Old: How Older Users Interact with Spoken Dialog Systems
   Maria Wolters, Kallirroi Georgila, Johanna D. Moore and Sarah E. MacPherson
3. Exploring Methods to Improve Pen-Based Menu Selection for Younger and Older Adults
   Karyn Moffatt and Joanna McGrenere
4. Video Modeling for Training Older Adults to Use New Technologies
   Doreen Struve and Hartmut Wandke
5. Disability, Age, and Informational Privacy Attitudes in Quality of Life Technology Applications: Results from a National Web Survey
   Scott Beach, Richard Schulz, Julie Downs, Judith Matthews, Bruce Barron and Katherine Seelman

Labels: Aging and Information Technology, Special Issue, TACCESS