ASSETS 2005 The Seventh International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility October 9-12, 2005 Baltimore, MD, USA CALL FOR PAPERS Computer and Information Technologies have redesigned the way modern society operates. In particular, they have identified new avenues to assist individuals with special needs and provided tools and resources to alleviate the traditional barriers encountered by persons with disabilities. For example, speech generation systems have assisted persons with visual disabilities, voice recognition has helped people with motor impairments,multi-modal presentations have been shown to be effective in helping people with learning disabilities understand information. The ASSETS series of conferences is aimed at providing a technical forum for presenting and disseminating innovative research results that cover either (1) applications of computing and information technologies to provide assistive systems to persons with disabilities, or (2) investigation of computing technologies and their use by persons with disabilities. The ASSETS meetings are developed with the specific focus of facilitating sharing of information, exchange of ideas, through formal paper sessions, demonstrations, posters, and informal/social events. To this purpose, ASSETS is a single track conference to encourage group participation and interactions. The Seventh ASSETS conference will follow the successful tradition established by the previous events --- held in Marina del Rey (1994), Vancouver (1996), Marina del Rey (1998), Washington DC (2000), Edinburgh (2002), and Atlanta (2004). ASSETS is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the SIGACCESS Special Interest Group on Accessible Computing. TOPICS The conference solicits submissions dealing with (but not limited to)computing/information technology and: - individuals with hearing, sight, and other sensory impairments - individuals with motor impairments - individuals with memory, learning, and cognitive disabilities Topics should focus on the design, development, evaluation and scientific investigation of technologies to support these individuals as well as practicing professionals including: - clinicians and teachers charged with assessing disabilities - rehabilitation personnel who administer assistive technologies - policymakers concerned with equitable access to information technologies for people with disabilities The conference is seeking contributions presenting research accomplishments, new systems and technologies, and formal and empirical evaluation of systems. SUBMISSION PROCEDURES Technical Papers ---------------- We solicit submissions of technical papers presenting relevant contributions to research, development, and practice in all areas of assistive technologies and universal accessibility. All technical papers will be peer-reviewed and only submissions presenting significant scientific advances will be accepted. All technical papers will be presented at the ASSETS 2005 conference and will appear in the formal Conference Proceedings. Arrangements are in progress to forward a selected set of the best papers presented at the conference for publication in a special issue of a journal. Papers should be prepared according to the SIGCHI conference format (http://www.sigchi.org/chipubform/) and are limited in length to 8 pages. Submissions (in PDF format) should be sent via email to Assets2005@cs.nmsu.edu no later than April 15, 2005. All electronic submissions will be acknowledged within 24 hours. If electronic submission is not feasible, please send hardcopy submissions (6 copies) to: Enrico Pontelli Department of Computer Science New Mexico State University Stewart Street, New Science Hall, Room #123 Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA Voice: 505/646-6239 Important Dates: - Paper submission: April 15, 2005 - Notification of acceptance: May 15, 2005 - Camera-ready materials due: June 15, 2005 Posters and Demonstrations -------------------------- The Conference will offer a session dedicated to poster presentations and demonstration of research products and tools. Posters and demonstration proposals should be submitted using the SIGCHI conference format (http://www.sigchi.org/chipubform/), and they are limited in length to 2 pages. Proposals will be reviewed, and accepted proposals will be included in the conference proceedings. Submissions (in PDF format) should be sent via email to Assets2005@cs.nmsu.edu no later than May 21, 2005 (Notification of acceptance: June 5, 2005; Camera ready materials due: June 15, 2005). All electronic submissions will be acknowledged within 24 hours. If electronic submission is not feasible, please send hardcopy submissions (6 copies) to: Enrico Pontelli Department of Computer Science New Mexico State University Stewart Street, New Science Hall, Room #123 Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA Voice: 505/646-6239 Doctoral Consortium ------------------- The ASSETS 2005 Doctoral Consortium provides an opportunity for doctoral students to explore their research interests in an interdisciplinary workshop, under the guidance of a panel of distinguished experts in the field. The Doctoral Consortium will also offer invited speakers and discussion groups. Additional material regarding the ASSETS 2005 Doctoral Consortium will be available shortly. Best Paper Awards ----------------- The following awards will be made at ASSETS 2005: - Best technical paper (chosen from the technical program) - Best student paper (chosen from the technical program) The selection process for Best Technical Paper Award and Best Student Paper Award will be carried out by members of the program committee based on the technical paper review process. Papers to be considered for the Best Student Paper Award, must have the name of the student as first author and the submission cover letter should verify that the first author is a student. ASSETS 2005 COMMITTEE General Chair: Andrew Sears (UMBC) Program Chair: Enrico Pontelli (NMSU) Associate Chair for Posters and Demos: Laura Leventhal (Bowling Green State U.) Doctoral Consortium Chair: Julie A. Jacko (Georgia Tech) Registration Chair/Treasurer: John Black (Arizona State University) Publicity: Harriet Fell (Northeastern University) Chris Law (UMBC) Web Development: Klent Harkness (Wichita State University) Technical Program Committee: Chieko Asakawa, IBM Japan Armando Barreto, Florida International University Torsten Felzer, Darmstadt University of Technology Joan Francioni, Winona State University John Gardner, Oregon State University Peter Gregor, University of Dundee Vicki L. Hanson, IBM Watson vlh@us.ibm.com Julie Jacko, Georgia Tech University Robert Jacob, Tufts University Arthur Karshmer, University of South Florida Simeon Keates, IBM Watson Laura Leventhal, Bowling Green State University Edmund LoPresti, AT Sciences Jennifer Mankoff, Carnegie Mellon University Kathleen McCoy, University of Delaware Klaus Miesenberger, University of Linz Sethuraman Pancanathan, Arizona State University Jaime Sanchez, University of Chile Andrew Sears, UMBC Neil Soiffer, Design Science Inc. Constantine Stephanidis, ICS Forth Marilyn Tremaine, New Jersey Institute of Technology Mary Zajicek, Oxford Brookes