In 1964, the Association for Computing Machinery started a Committee on Professional Activities for the Blind, which published a newsletter for four years and organized a conference in 1969. The purpose of the committee was to promote and support blind people as capable programmers.[2] The committee broadened its focus to include other people with disabilities and became the "Special Interest Group on Computers and the Physically Handicapped" (SIGCAPH) in 1971.[3]
In 2003, the SIG was renamed to SIGACCESS.[3]
Conferences
The ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) is the flagship annual conference. All conference contributions are peer-reviewed by an international program committee, and accepted papers, posters and demonstrations are archived in the ACM Digital Library.[4] All authors of accepted papers will be invited to submit extended versions of their papers to a special issue of the ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS).
SIGACCESS also sponsors other ACM workshops and conferences on a rotating basis.[5]
Journal
Transactions on Accessible Computing is a quarterly ACM journal that publishes refereed articles about accessible computing. The journal places emphasis on contributions with experimental results, but also accepts papers with new theoretical insights or positions.[6]
SIGACCESS also publishes the Accessibility and Computing newsletter.[7]
Awards
ASSETS Paper Impact Award
The ASSETS Paper Impact Award is given to authors whose papers have made a significant impact on the field. Papers must be at least ten years old to be considered.
2021 - Disability studies as a source of critical inquiry for the field of assistive technology; Author(s): Jennifer Mankoff, Gillian R. Hayes, and Devva Kasnitz. [8]
2019 - Slide rule: making mobile touch screens accessible to blind people using multi-touch interaction techniques; Author(s): Shaun K. Kane, Jeffrey P. Bigham, and Jacob O. Wobbrock. [9]
2017 - Providing access to graphical user interfaces—not graphical screens; Author(s): W. Keith Edwards, Elizabeth Mynatt and Kathryn Stockton [10]
2015 - Designing for Dynamic Diversity: Interfaces for Older People; Author(s): Peter Gregor, Alan Newell, and Mary Zajicek [11]
2013 - User Interface of a Home Page Reader; Author(s): Chieko Asakawa and Takashi Itoh [12]
Outstanding Contribution to Computing and Accessibility Award
The Outstanding Contribution award is given in even-numbered years and recipients give a keynote presentation at the following ASSETS conference.[13]
