ASSETS

We are happy to welcome you to the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2017). The ASSETS conference is the premier computing research conference exploring the design, evaluation, and use of computing and information technologies to benefit people with disabilities and older adults. In our 19th year, the ASSETS conference will continue its tradition of presenting innovative research on mainstream and specialized assistive technologies, accessible computing, and assistive applications of computer, network, and information technologies

We are excited about this year's technical papers program, which features 33 papers. The technical papers track was quite competitive; we received 126 submissions, which means our acceptance rate this year was 26.2%. The 33 papers span a variety of topic areas relevant to computers and accessibility. This include technology by and in support of individuals with diverse motor, cognitive, and sensory abilities.

This year, we introduced a new track within technical papers, short papers, which are for more succinct research contributions. 5 of the 33 papers this year are from the short papers category. Additionally, we encouraged authors of papers introducing novel systems or interaction techniques to submit video figures illustrating these systems; these video figures will be hosted with the papers in the ACM Digital Library. We also introduced an optional HTML-based authoring application, which is one of many approaches the SIGACCESS Steering Committee is considering to increase the accessibility of our proceedings; we appreciate the efforts and feedback of those who helped pilot-test this effort.

In addition to the technical papers program, ASSETS 2017 features many other exciting presentation venues. This year papers that appeared in the journal TACCESS as well as Experience Reports will be presented in a novel format that combines a short talk with a poster presentation. There will also be work-in-progress poster sessions, a demo session, a doctoral symposium, and presentations from the ACM student research competition.

The ASSETS 2017 program is organized as follows: On Monday (Day 1), the program starts with a keynote presentation by Karen Peltz Strauss on Disability Access and the Federal Communications Commission. Karen is the Deputy Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at the Federal Communications Committee (FCC). Following the keynote, we will have a series of technical paper sessions organized around Interaction Techniques and Frameworks, Technology for Neurodiverse Users, The Future of Work and the Web for People with Vision Impairments. The poster sessions during the day will feature poster and demo papers, along with Student Research Competition and SIGACCESS Travel Scholarship recipients. The day will end with a Reception at the conference hotel.

On Tuesday (Day 2), the program will continue with sessions on Memory and Motor Impairments, Sign Language and Captioning, Tactile, Haptic and Augmented Reality Interfaces for Vision Loss. We will also hear short talks from the finalists in the ACM Student Research Competition. The poster sessions on this day will include the poster and demo papers, along with posters from our Doctoral Consortium participants. The day will conclude with a reception at the National Federation of the Blind.

On Wednesday (Day 3), the program will conclude with a morning of short talks and a poster session dedicated to technical sessions summarizing recent publications in the TACCESS journal and Experience Reports. This will be followed by a technical session on Supporting Communication, followed by a technical session on Navigation and Safety. We will close the program by introducing next year's chairs to talk about ASSETS 2018.