“I just thought it was me”: How Smartphones Fail Users with Mild-to-Moderate Dexterity Differences
Open accessAbstract
Accessibility solutions often focus on the experiences of people with more severe disabilities, such as those who are unable to perform certain tasks unassisted. However, disability exists on a spectrum, and people with moderate disabilities may be overlooked when studying or sampling for differences. As a result, these individuals and their needs are excluded from relevant research. In this study, we interviewed 12 adults with mild-to-moderate dexterity impairments about their experiences using smartphones and other mobile devices. While our participants frequently experienced accessibility challenges, they struggled to know where to find help, in part because of discomfort with traditional labels of disability and accessibility. We found four key themes: (1) There were large gaps in available and usable accessibility tools for this population, (2) Users were unlikely to seek out accessibility features due to complex disability identity, (3) Contextual concerns impacted mobile device use, and (4) Users relied on self-created adaptations and modifications to improve usability. We suggest that individuals with mild-to-moderate dexterity challenges are a unique cohort that would benefit from further consideration from the accessibility community and accessibility features that support their needs.
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Barriers to formal diagnosis include high financial cost and the stigma of identifying as disabled.
“Barriers to formal diagnosis have been well-documented in the literature, including high financial cost and the stigma of identifying as disabled [7, 44].”
From Infrastructuring as Collective Resistance: How Disabled Students Negotiate Access Through Technology in Universities (2026) · cites this paper as [7]
Section 5.2 describes self-stigma and fear of judgment around disability identity, but relates these to seeking accessibility support, not formal diagnosis. Section 3.1 notes that all participants had a related medical diagnosis. The paper does not identify financial cost or stigma as barriers to obtaining one. (LLM, conf=0.77)
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- Authors
- Bowman, M., Robinson, J., Buehler, E., & Kane, S.
- Affiliations
- Google (United States) (US)
- Venue
- The 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2023-10-22
- Pages
- 1-12
- OpenAlex
- W4387793563
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4
- FWCI
- 3.77
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Human Factors and Ergonomics › Digital Accessibility for Disabilities
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Assistive Technology in Communication and Mobility
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Disability Rights and Representation
- Keywords
- smartphone accessibility, accessibility tools, disability identity, assistive technology
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