🤖 AI Summary
This study addresses the limitations of existing accessibility symbols—such as low public recognition, contextual rigidity, and susceptibility to misinterpretation—in facilitating voluntary identity disclosure by disabled individuals. Through 23 remote participatory design workshops and semi-structured interviews, complemented by user-generated sketches and future-scenario storyboards, the research investigates how disabled users perceive, engage with, and navigate barriers related to symbol-based disclosure. The work proposes reconceptualizing accessibility symbols as a dynamic disclosure system that integrates symbolic representation, technological carriers (e.g., wearable devices and mobile interfaces), and situational context. Emphasizing customizability and context sensitivity, this approach empowers users with granular control over visibility and interpretive pathways, thereby enhancing autonomy, inclusivity, and agency while minimizing misinterpretation. The proposed framework advances accessibility symbols toward an on-demand, explainable, and technologically integrated paradigm.
📝 Abstract
Our study investigates the relationship between accessibility symbols and emerging technologies in supporting disability disclosure. We conducted twenty three remote design creation sessions with semi structured interviews to examine participants awareness of existing symbols, how they use symbols across online and offline contexts, and barriers to adoption and interpretation. Through participant sketching and future oriented storyboard probes, participants proposed ways to integrate symbols into wearable devices, mobile interfaces, and portable tools, emphasizing customizable and context sensitive disclosure. Our findings suggest symbols are most effective when paired with technologies that provide user control over visibility and optional pathways for explanation, helping reduce misinterpretation while supporting agency in disclosure moments. By reimagining symbol based assistance as part of a broader disclosure system where meaning depends on the symbol, its carrier, and context, this work informs more inclusive accessibility supports across diverse settings.