The Scope of TACCESS

Computer and information technologies have re-designed the way modern society operates. Their widespread use poses both opportunities and challenges for people who experience various disabilities including age-related disabilities. That is, while there are new avenues to assist individuals with disabilities and provide tools and resources to alleviate the traditional barriers encountered by these individuals, in many cases the technology itself presents barriers to use.

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS) is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal that publishes refereed articles focusing on issues of computing that seek to address barriers to access, either by creating new solutions or by providing solutions for more inclusive design of technology to provide access for individuals with diverse abilities. The journal provides a technical forum for disseminating innovative research that covers either applications of computing and information technologies to provide assistive systems or inclusive technologies for individuals with disabilities. Some examples are web accessibility for those with visual impairments and blindness as well as web search explorations for those with limited cognitive abilities, technologies to address stroke rehabilitation or dementia care, language support systems deaf signers or those with limited language abilities, and input systems for individuals with limited ability to control traditional mouse and keyboard systems.

The journal is of particular interest to SIGACCESS members and delegates to its affiliated conference (i.e., ASSETS) as well as other international accessibility conferences. It serves as a forum for discussions and information exchange between researchers, clinicians, and educators; including rehabilitation personnel who administer assistive technologies; and policy makers concerned with equitable access to information technologies.

Emphasis is placed on submissions with experimental results, but strong papers presenting new theoretical insights or positions will also be given consideration. Topics should focus on (but are not necessarily limited to) the design, development, evaluation and scientific investigation of technologies to support individuals with disabilities. The focus is defined as, but not limited to, issues of assistive technologies and inclusive design in relation to the needs of older adults as well as people with disabilities related to one or more of the following capabilities:

    Vision, hearing, or other senses
    Motor skills
    Memory, learning, or cognition
    Speech, language, or reading

Papers may include but are not limited to the following topics:

    User evaluation, experience, and studies
    System papers for assistive devices and technologies
    Social issues
    Web / interface accessibility
    Access to technology
    Access to the real and built environment (pervasive and ubiquitous systems)
    Multi-modal interaction
    Universal design

TACCESS strives to publish research that carefully addresses the issues involved when individuals with disabilities interact with information technologies. In general, this means that empirical studies should include participants that are representative of the intended users of the system being studied. This does not mean that all participants must be representative of the intended users, but it does mean that some individuals fitting this description should be included in an appropriate way in the data collection process. In some cases, articles may be accepted for publication if representative users are not included in studies, but only if a sufficiently compelling argument is presented as to why it is appropriate or necessary to use non-representative users and any implications of this decision are adequately addressed.

Additional details:

    TACCESS will consider short papers (4-5 pages), but these papers will be subject to a comprehensive review and will be expected to represent a significant contribution to the field.

    Position papers may be distributed to members of the community before publication to solicit responses or opinions which would be published along with the original paper.

    If a data set is presented as a key piece of the contribution for a manuscript, the data set must be included with the submission in the ACM Digital Library.