🤖 AI Summary
This work addresses the limitations of traditional static accessibility standards in handling dynamic challenges posed by user-generated content—such as blurry images, missing descriptions, and disorganized layouts—which often hinder accessibility for people with visual impairments, low vision, or age-related needs. To bridge this gap, the authors propose a “generative user interface” approach that dynamically restructures interfaces at runtime to accommodate diverse user requirements. The method employs three key interventions: real-time HTML regeneration, conversational guidance, and audio-assisted photography. By shifting the designer’s role from layout implementation to strategy formulation, this approach effectively mitigates coverage gaps in existing accessibility standards. Evaluated on a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce platform, the framework significantly enhances accessibility for heterogeneous user groups and expands the application frontier of generative UI within human-computer interaction.
📝 Abstract
Web accessibility rests on static standards and developer compliance. That model frays in platforms where content is user-generated: photos arrive blurry or off-frame, descriptions skip size and condition, and page structure shifts from listing to listing. Drawing on six studies conducted between 2022 and 2025 with blind, low-vision, and older adult users of customer-to-customer (C2C) marketplaces, I argue that generative UI can produce adapted interfaces at the point of use, addressing barriers that static design cannot anticipate. Three interventions from this program -- HTML regeneration for screen readers, conversational guidance for older sellers, and audio-guided photo framing for blind sellers -- demonstrate how runtime generation can bridge gaps that standards leave open. I outline what these findings imply for HCI practice: generative UI extends beyond the screen, complements rather than replaces ability-based design, and shifts the designer's role from specifying layouts to specifying policies. This is an expanded arXiv version of a position paper accepted at the CHI 2026 workshop "What does Generative UI mean for HCI Practice?"