Freedom to roam: a study of mobile device adoption and accessibility for people with visual and motor disabilities
Abstract
Mobile devices provide people with disabilities new opportunities to act independently in the world. However, these empowering devices have their own accessibility challenges. We present a formative study that examines how people with visual and motor disabilities select, adapt, and use mobile devices in their daily lives. We interviewed 20 participants with visual and motor disabilities and asked about their current use of mobile devices, including how they select them, how they use them while away from home, and how they adapt to accessibility challenges when on the go. Following the interviews, 19 participants completed a diary study in which they recorded their experiences using mobile devices for one week. Our results show that people with visual and motor disabilities use a variety of strategies to adapt inaccessible mobile devices and successfully use them to perform everyday tasks and navigate independently. We provide guidelines for more accessible and empowering mobile device design.
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Some blind users prefer to buy cheaper options despite awareness of more accessible devices.
“despite the awareness of more accessible devices, some blind users prefer to buy cheaper options [7].”
From Designing a text entry multimodal keypad for blind users of touchscreen mobile phones (2014) · cites this paper as [7]
Voice interaction on mobile devices is not always accurate, is difficult in noisy environments, and can be undesirable due to privacy or etiquette concerns.
“Still, voice interaction has its complications: it is not always accurate, it is difficult to use in noisy environments [10], and can be undesirable due to privacy or etiquette concerns [7].”
From Designing a text entry multimodal keypad for blind users of touchscreen mobile phones (2014) · cites this paper as [7]
Users with motor impairments still express enthusiasm about touchscreen devices' potential to empower them with more independence in daily life.
“Despite those challenges, users with motor impairments still express enthusiasm about touchscreen de vices' potential to empower them with more independence in daily life [2,15,33].”
From Enhancing Android accessibility for users with hand tremor by reducing fine pointing and steady tapping (2015) · cites this paper as [15]
Research suggests difficulties continue to be experienced when using mobile devices despite assistive technologies translating visual content into a non-visual format.
“While these assistive technologies provide a vital role translating visual content into a non-visual format, research suggests difficulties continue to be experienced when using mobile devices [8,19].”
From Determining the Accessibility of Mobile Screen Readers for Blind Users (2012) · cites this paper as [8]
AT, though designed to enhance accessibility, can unintentionally create social barriers and stigma if they visibly mark users as 'other', leading students to avoid otherwise beneficial devices.
“previous HCI research has shown that AT, though designed to enhance accessibility, can unintentionally create social barriers and stigma if they visibly mark users as 'other' [84], leading students to avoid otherwise beneficial devices [45, 84].”
From Rethinking “Empowering Technology” in Higher Education Accessibility: A Case Study of Disabled Students’ Experiences at a German University (2026) · cites this paper as [45]
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BackgroundInfluentialUnderstanding Trust, Transportation, and Accessibility through Ridesharing
Brewer, R. N., & Kameswaran, V. (2019) · International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3290605.3300425 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“Relatively few studies of accessibility and transportation for people with vision impairments have investigated forms of transportation beyond public transportation and walking [4, 20, 29, 31, 35, 48].”
BackgroundUnderstanding the Power of Control in Autonomous Vehicles for People with Vision Impairment
Brewer, R. N., & Kameswaran, V. (2018) · Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility · doi:10.1145/3234695.3236347 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Exploring Accessible Smartwatch Interactions for People with Upper Body Motor Impairments
Malu, M., Chundury, P., & Findlater, L. (2018) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3173574.3174062 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Disability and mobilities: evening up social futures
Goggin, G. M. (2016) · Mobilities · doi:10.1080/17450101.2016.1211821 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
“In addition, the location technology ecologies in which the smartphones and tablets are embedded, and the ways that their users domesticate and adapt them (Kane et al. 2009), provide new possibilities for wayfinding, navigation, movement and interaction (Farman 2013) – creating new affordances (Mata, Jaramillo, and Cl…”
BackgroundKhan, A., & Khusro, S. (2019) · Multimedia Tools and Applications · doi:10.1007/s11042-018-7094-y · Cited by 63 · see citing works
“The inclusion of accessibility-inclusiveness in daily task through different applications and systems are highlighted in [10, 12, 26, 35, 44, 55].”
BackgroundInteraction Proxies for Runtime Repair and Enhancement of Mobile Application Accessibility
Zhang, X., Ross, A. S., Caspi, A., Fogarty, J., & Wobbrock, J. O. (2017) · Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3025453.3025846 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
“Prior research examines how people adapt to accessibility barriers in mobile devices and how devices can enhance access in the physical world [35].”
BackgroundSelf-citationAbdolrahmani, A., Easley, W., Williams, M., Branham, S. M., & Hurst, A. K. (2017) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3025453.3025528 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
“Kane et al. [14] explored how individuals with visual and motor impairments select, adapt to, and use mobile technology and noted that AT use can also mean reduced privacy for the user.”
BackgroundProfita, H. P., Stangl, A. J., Matuszewska, L., Sky, S., Kushalnagar, R., & Kane, S. K. (2018) · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing · doi:10.1145/3214382 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
“Prior work has shown that assistive technology users are often self-conscious about how bystanders might perceive them and may sometimes prefer to remain inconspicuous [29, 44].”
BackgroundSelf-citationPersonalized, Wearable Control of a Head-mounted Display for Users with Upper Body Motor Impairments
Malu, M., & Findlater, L. (2015) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2702123.2702188 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
“Accessible Mobile Computing Mobile devices can provide a sense of independence for users with motor impairments [15,26], while presenting accessibility challenges [1,15].”
BackgroundChallenges of situational impairments during interaction with mobile devices
Sarsenbayeva, Z., van Berkel, N., Luo, C., Kostakos, V., & Gonçalves, J. (2017) · Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (OzCHI) · doi:10.1145/3152771.3156161 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
“Mobile interfaces that adapt to contextual changes can therefore benefit all users [11].”
BackgroundInfluentialAccessibility in Action: Co-Located Collaboration among Deaf and Hearing Professionals
Wang, E. Q., & Piper, A. M. (2018) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3274449 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Livingstone, K. M., Abbott, G., Bowe, S. J., Ward, J., Milte, C. M., & McNaughton, S. A. (2021) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045362 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Herskovitz, J., Xu, A., Alharbi, R., & Guo, A. (2023) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3544548.3581249 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Rector, K., Milne, L. R., Ladner, R. E., Friedman, B., & Kientz, J. A. (2015) · International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) · doi:10.1145/2700648.2809846 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
“The authors uncovered possible stakeholder values that include but are not limited to independence [2, 16, 22, 39], safety [22, 40], being mainstream [39, 40], and confidence [2, 16] (see Table 3 for a complete list).”
BackgroundSelf-citationOpen Challenges of Blind People Using Smartphones
Rodrigues, A., Nicolau, H., Montague, K., Guerreiro, J., & Guerreiro, T. (2020) · International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2020.1768672 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“Therehave been several research projects aiming to support nonvisual navigation through lists of items (F. F. Ahmed et al., 2010; S. K. Kane et al., 2009; McGookin et al., 2008), which have been adopted by mainstream screen readers.”
BackgroundInfluential"Is Someone There? Do They Have a Gun"
Branham, S. M., Abdolrahmani, A., Easley, W., Scheuerman, M. K., Ronquillo, E., & Hurst, A. K. (2017) · International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) · doi:10.1145/3132525.3132534 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“This suggests that device adoption and abandonment, well-established research topics [1,21,29], may be significantly impacted by concerns about interpersonal safety.”
BackgroundThe Social Network: How People with Visual Impairment use Mobile Phones in Kibera, Kenya
Barbareschi, G., Holloway, C., Arnold, K. L., Magomere, G. N., Wetende, W. A., Ngare, G., & Olenja, J. M. (2020) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3313831.3376658 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Improving Gesture Recognition Accuracy on Touch Screens for Users with Low Vision
Vatavu, R.-D. (2017) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3025453.3025941 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
“Today’s touch screen devices are little accessible to people with visual impairments, who need to employ workaround strategies to be able to use them effectively and independently [17,18,42].”
BackgroundTechnology learning and use among older adults with late-life vision impairments
Piper, A. M., Brewer, R., & Cornejo, R. (2017) · Universal Access in the Information Society · doi:10.1007/s10209-016-0500-1 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“Prior work notes that cost is an important reason why younger people with vision impairments do not adopt smart mobile devices [23, 39], and we find this is also the case for older adults.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialCash, Digital Payments and Accessibility
Kameswaran, V., & Muralidhar, S. H. (2019) · Proc. ACM Hum. Comput. Interact. · doi:10.1145/3359199 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
“This mechanism would eliminate the need to wait for OTPs and the issues with listening and typing them carefully i.e. ‘situational impairments’ [39, 77, 78].”
Reyes-Cruz, G., Fischer, J. E., & Reeves, S. (2020) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3313831.3376767 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
“Some studies focused on specific apps [3,11,62], websites [34,59], or devices [1,13,30,42], asked participants to carry out pre-defined tasks, and ultimately found and/or confirmed continuing accessibility challenges.”
BackgroundInfluentialWang, R., Yu, C., Yang, X.-D., He, W., & Shi, Y. (2019) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3290605.3300254 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
“Privacy is another big concern in public scenarios, which may restrict the use of smart-phones [1, 2, 23, 35, 50].”
BackgroundInfluentialFager, S. K., & Burnfield, J. M. (2013) · Disability and Rehabilitation Assistive Technology · doi:10.3109/17483107.2013.787124 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
“functional daily use; however, it is not clear to what extent these barriers exist and are being addressed during inpatient rehabilitation [13,15].”
BackgroundBlindSense: An Accessibility-inclusive Universal User Interface for Blind People
Khan, A., Khusro, S., & Alam, I. (2018) · Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research · doi:10.48084/etasr.1895 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
“The usability of the proposed UI design and the individual components of the architecture were evaluated using already established methods, metrics, and usability parameters related to HCI.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialFindlater, L., Moffatt, K., Froehlich, J. E., Malu, M., & Zhang, J. (2017) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3025453.3025603 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
“Mobile devices can increase independence and provide a sense of empowerment for people with motor impairments [1,7,11].”
BackgroundDuval, J., Bertran, F. A., Chen, S., Chu, M., Subramonian, D., Wang, A., Xiang, G., Kurniawan, S., & Isbister, K. (2021) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3411764.3445303 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
“Negative socio-cultural stigma continues to dissuade people from using their assistive technology [67], isolate themselves, and worry about unwanted attention [24, 47, 49, 64].”
Background“I Choose Assistive Devices That Save My Face”
Li, F. M., Chen, D. L., Fan, M., & Truong, K. N. (2021) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3411764.3445321 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
‘If the phone were broken, I’d be screwed’: media use of people with disabilities in the digital era
Baumgartner, A., Rohrbach, T., & Schönhagen, P. (2021) · Disability & Society · doi:10.1080/09687599.2021.1916884 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Recreational demand for farm commonage in Ireland: A contingent valuation assessment
Buckley, C., van Rensburg, T. M., & Hynes, S. (2008) · Land Use Policy · doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2008.10.013 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Stroke-Gesture Input for People with Motor Impairments
Vatavu, R.-D., & Ungurean, O.-C. (2019) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3290605.3300445 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Zhong, Y., Weber, A., Burkhardt, C., Weaver, P., & Bigham, J. P. (2015) · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference · doi:10.1145/2745555.2747277 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
“Despite those challenges, users with motor impairments still express enthusiasm about touchscreen de vices’ potential to empower them with more independence in daily life [2, 15, 33].”
BackgroundGamage, B., Do, T.-T., Price, N. S. C., Lowery, A., & Marriott, K. (2023) · The 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility · doi:10.1145/3597638.3608955 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
“This issue has also been identifed in previous studies where the majority of participants expressed concerns about privacy in speech-based smart devices [53, 99].”
ResultNtakolia, C., Dimas, G., & Iakovidis, D. K. (2020) · Universal Access in the Information Society · doi:10.1007/s10209-020-00764-1 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Smartphone Usage by Expert Blind Users
Jain, M., Diwakar, N., & Swaminathan, M. (2021) · Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3411764.3445074 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Tigwell, G. W., Flatla, D. R., & Menzies, R. (2018) · Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3240167.3240207 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“…how mobile interaction changes in cold environments [42], proposed mechanisms that adapt interaction according to context for improved accessibility and user experience [22, 23, 28], and research has investigated improving typing on touchscreen devices and interaction while walking [18, 24].”
Background"That's the Way Sighted People Do It"
Storer, K. M., & Branham, S. M. (2019) · Designing Interactive Systems Conference · doi:10.1145/3322276.3322374 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“For example, our finding that accessible children’s book subscription services are available only to blind children mirrors similar trends in design research, which has either designing for blind children (e.g., [46,52,88]) or blind adults outside the presence of children (e.g., [7,41,53]).”
BackgroundDesign of and subjective response to on-body input for people with visual impairments
Oh, U., & Findlater, L. (2014) · International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) · doi:10.1145/2661334.2661376 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
“Mobile devices can make people with disabilities feel safer and make it easier to access information on the go [10].”
BackgroundVatavu, R.-D. (2017) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2017.1279827 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
“Consequently, people with visual impairments still need to adopt workaround strategies to be able to use touchscreen devices effectively and independently (Kane et al., 2008a, 2009; Shino-hara and Tenenberg, 2007), for which better assistive technology has yet to be presented.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialAn Accessibility Infrastructure for the Global South
Pal, J., Chandra, P., O'Neill, T. W., Youngman, M., Jones, J., Song, J. H., Strayer, W., & Ferrari, L. (2016) · International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) · doi:10.1145/2909609.2909666 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“for themselves, which in turn can create vulnerabilities and dependencies [5, 15].”
BackgroundSingleTapBraille: Developing a Text Entry Method Based on Braille Patterns Using a Single Tap
Alnfiai, M. M., & Sampalli, S. (2016) · Procedia Computer Science · doi:10.1016/j.procs.2016.08.038 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Situational impairments to mobile interaction in cold environments
Sarsenbayeva, Z., Gonçalves, J., Garcia, J. C., Klakegg, S., Rissanen, S., Rintamäki, H., Hannu, J., & Kostakos, V. (2016) · ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp) · doi:10.1145/2971648.2971734 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Teenagers with visual impairment and new media: A world without barriers
Líbera, B. D., & Jurberg, C. (2017) · British Journal of Visual Impairment · doi:10.1177/0264619617711732 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Zhao, Y., Szpiro, S., Shi, L., & Azenkot, S. (2019) · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing · doi:10.1145/3361866 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“In 2009, Kane et al. [ 49 ] conducted a diary study with people with vision and motor impairments, four of whom had low vision, to discover patterns and challenges of technology used on-the-go.”
BackgroundKane, S. K., Guo, A., & Morris, M. R. (2020) · International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) · doi:10.1145/3373625.3416990 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“touching, and slippage while touching or gesturing [35, 41, 55].”
BackgroundSelf-citationShaik, A. S., Hossain, G., & Yeasin, M. (2010) · ACM International Conference on Design of Communication (SIGDOC) · doi:10.1145/1878450.1878478 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Panëels, S., Olmos, A., Blum, J. R., & Cooperstock, J. R. (2013) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2470654.2481290 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Mott, M. E., & Wobbrock, J. O. (2019) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3290605.3300257 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“In these investigations, researchers found that mobile touch-enabled devices can provide a sense of freedom and empowerment to users with motor impairments [31,42].”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationSituationally-Induced Impairments and Disabilities
Wobbrock, J. O. (2019) · Human-computer interaction series · doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-7440-0_5 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Self-citationBarry, L. E., van Rensburg, T. M., & Hynes, S. (2011) · Marine Policy · doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2011.01.009 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kane, S. K., Jayant, C., Wobbrock, J. O., & Ladner, R. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Washington (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 11th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2009-10-25
- Pages
- 115-122
- OpenAlex
- W2168842329
- Cited by
- 383
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 43 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 43 · 2015: 37 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 16.24
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Human Factors and Ergonomics › Digital Accessibility for Disabilities
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Assistive Technology in Communication and Mobility
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Keywords
- visual impairment, motor impairment, assistive technology, independent navigation, people with disabilities
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