Related papers: Context-Aware Image Descriptions for Web Accessibi…

Few images on the Web receive alt-text descriptions that would make them accessible to blind and low vision (BLV) users. Image-based NLG systems have progressed to the point where they can begin to address this persistent societal problem,…

For individuals with blindness or low vision (BLV), navigating complex environments can pose serious risks. Large Vision-Language Models (LVLMs) show promise for generating scene descriptions, but their effectiveness for BLV users remains…

While audio description (AD) is the standard approach for making videos accessible to blind and low vision (BLV) people, existing AD guidelines do not consider BLV users' varied preferences across viewing scenarios. These scenarios range…

Multimodal large language models (MLLMs) have been integrated into visual interpretation applications to support Blind and Low Vision (BLV) users because of their accuracy and ability to provide rich, human-like interpretations. However,…

Large Vision-Language Models (VLMs) excel at understanding and generating video descriptions but their high memory, computation, and deployment demands hinder practical use particularly for blind and low-vision (BLV) users who depend on…

Visual question answering (VQA) has the potential to make the Internet more accessible in an interactive way, allowing people who cannot see images to ask questions about them. However, multiple studies have shown that people who are blind…

"Scene description" applications that describe visual content in a photo are useful daily tools for blind and low vision (BLV) people. Researchers have studied their use, but they have only explored those that leverage remote sighted…

Current scene perception tools for Blind and Low Vision (BLV) individuals rely on spoken descriptions but lack engaging representations of visually pleasing distant environmental landscapes (Vista spaces). Our proposed Scene2Audio framework…

Many blind and low vision (BLV) people are excluded from professional roles that may involve visual tasks due to access barriers and persisting stigmas. Advancing generative AI systems can support BLV people through providing contextual and…

Blind and low vision (BLV) users often rely on alt text to understand what a digital image is showing. However, recent research has investigated how touch-based image exploration on touchscreens can supplement alt text. Touchscreen-based…

Many real-world tasks require an agent to reason jointly over text and visual objects, (e.g., navigating in public spaces), which we refer to as context-sensitive text-rich visual reasoning. Specifically, these tasks require an…

Vision-Language Models (VLMs) have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in understanding multimodal inputs and have been widely integrated into Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) based conversational systems. While current VLM-powered…

This paper investigates the potential of vision-language models (VLMs) to assist people with blindness and low vision (pBLV) in navigation tasks. We evaluate state-of-the-art closed-source models, including GPT-4V, GPT-4o, Gemini-1.5-Pro,…

Navigating unfamiliar environments presents significant challenges for blind and low-vision (BLV) individuals. In this work, we construct a dataset of images and goals across different scenarios such as searching through kitchens or…

Despite widespread use, charts remain largely inaccessible for Low-Vision Individuals (LVI). Reading charts requires viewing data points within a global context, which is difficult for LVI who may rely on magnification or experience a…

Despite recent progress in vision-language models (VLMs), existing approaches often fail to generate personalized responses based on the user's specific experiences, as they lack the ability to associate visual inputs with a user's…

Vision-Language Models (VLMs) are increasingly used by blind and low-vision (BLV) people to identify and understand products in their everyday lives, such as food, personal care items, and household goods. Despite their prevalence, we lack…

Effective visual accessibility in Virtual Reality (VR) is crucial for Blind and Low Vision (BLV) users. However, designing visual accessibility systems is challenging due to the complexity of 3D VR environments and the need for techniques…

Several services for people with visual disabilities have emerged recently due to achievements in Assistive Technologies and Artificial Intelligence areas. Despite the growth in assistive systems availability, there is a lack of services…

The ability to integrate context, including perceptual and temporal cues, plays a pivotal role in grounding the meaning of a linguistic utterance. In order to measure to what extent current vision-and-language models master this ability, we…