Second Call for Papers - Web4All 2022

Second Call for Papers

The 19th International Web for All Conference
April 25 & 26, 2022
(Online)

W4A<https://www.w4a.info/2022/> is the premier venue for web accessibility research and it is co-located with The ACM Web Conference<https://www2022.thewebconf.org/> (TheWebConf’22), 31st of the International World Wide Web Conference series.

The conference focuses on all aspects of web accessibility. Areas of general interest include, but are not limited to: age, cognition, culture, education, emotions, dexterity, disability, diversity, health, hearing, income, infrastructure, language, learning, literacy, mobility, situation, society, and vision.

News and Updates

  *   Due to persisting difficulties with international travel and health concerns regarding in-person conferences, W4A’22<https://www.w4a.info/2022/?page_id=139> will be held as a fully virtual event. Please follow the W4A’22 website for updates on the format and conference platform.
  *   We are proud to announce our keynote speakers! We will hear talks from leading experts in academia, industry, and policy making:
  *   Luz Rello<https://www.luzrello.org/> (Change Dyslexia; IE University)
  *   Robin Christopherson<https://abilitynet.org.uk/robin-christopherson-mbe-head-digital-inclusion> (AbilityNet)
  *   Julio Abascal<https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LE9yijwAAAAJ&hl=th> (University of the Basque Country)

Accessibility in a Hybrid World

The global Covid-19 pandemic drastically changed the world, marking a shift towards remote, web-based services and communication. This shift introduced a new way of doing things where physical presence is no longer a requirement for collaboration – millions of people successfully worked and studied from home, telehealth appointments became a common part of medicine, research conferences involving thousands of participants were held online, and many businesses adapted to offering their services in a remote mode. Some of these changes are here to stay, with many workplaces, education programs, conferences, and businesses offering a hybrid format going forward, where part of the interaction happens in the physical world and another part happens virtually. Yet, there is very little research on the implications that this hybrid format has for accessibility and inclusivity. What are the needs of people with disabilities in a hybrid workforce? How can we ensure that hybrid education is inclusive? What are the accessibility requirements for hybrid healthcare? Can advances in accessibility research be harnessed to improve hybrid collaboration for everyone?

We particularly welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  *   Accessibility requirements for hybrid communication and collaboration
  *   Accessibility solutions for hybrid communication and collaboration
  *   Evaluating the accessibility and inclusivity of hybrid communication and collaboration systems
  *   Inclusive hybrid workplaces, classrooms, health services, and conferencing tools
  *   Implications of the shift towards hybrid interaction for the development of inclusive urban environments
  *   Implications of hybrid interaction for the mental health of people with disabilities
  *   Adjustments for older adults
  *   Implications of hybrid interaction for eliminating or perpetuating bias and inequality
  *   Barriers and benefits of hybrid communication and collaboration
  *   Education and training for inclusive hybrid communication and collaboration

Like every year, don’t be deterred by the theme; all topics related to web accessibility are welcome as are papers dealing with wider aspects of digital accessibility and universal access.

Submissions

We welcome high-quality original submissions including:

  *   Technical Papers: 10-pages (without references) or Communication papers: 4-pages (without references) (https://www.w4a.info/2022/?page_id=83)
  *   Scientific contributions and engineering solutions related to accessibility and assistive technologies. In the interest of reproducibility, authors are encouraged to share their code and data as supplementary material accompanying their submission.
  *
  *   Web Accessibility Challenge: 2-pages (without references) (https://www.w4a.info/2022/?page_id=87)
  *   Showcase working accessibility systems and assistive technology prototypes. Demos are evaluated both by the conference delegates and an independent panel of judges to identify the most significant advances in accessibility research that year.
  *
  *   Doctoral Consortium: 2-pages (without references) (https://www.w4a.info/2022/?page_id=90).
  *   Special session with industry and research experts during which PhD students can showcase their work and get constructive feedback on their dissertation research and presentation skills.

Manuscripts must comply with the official ACM conference templates – interim template for Word documents and acmart template for LaTeX documents (https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template).
The manuscripts can be submitted through OpenConf (https://www.openconf.org/w4a2022).
Further instructions will be available on the conference website (https://www.w4a.info/2022/?page_id=80).
All accepted submissions will be published in the ACM Digital Library.

AUTHORS TAKE NOTE: The official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. This date may be up to two weeks prior to the first day of your conference. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work.

New! Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit extended versions of their papers to a special issue of the ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS): https://dl.acm.org/journal/taccess

Important dates

  *   Abstract submission deadline – January 15, 2022
  *   Paper submission deadline (Technical Papers, Communication Papers, Doctoral Consortium): January 17, 2022
  *   Accessibility Challenge submission deadline: January 27, 2022
  *   Final Decisions: February 19, 2022
  *   Camera Ready: February 24, 2022
  *   Conference: April 25 & 26, 2022