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

