Accessibility of non-verbal communication: Making spatial information accessible to people with disabilities: Introduction to the special thematic session

Abstract

Non-verbal communication (NVC) is challenging to people with disabilities. Depending on their impairment, they are either unable to perceive relational gestures within performed by sighted people, or they are unable to perform gestures by themselves in such an information space (in case of motoric impairments such as cerebral palsy). Also other 3D gestures such as sign language and other aspects of non-verbal communication could provide an accessibility problem during training, interaction, and communication. This summary paper gives an overview on new approaches, how computers could mitigate these various impairments. Based on this we discuss how the papers accepted for this session relate and contribute to this new and challenging domain.