Ability-Based Design: Concept, Principles and Examples

Current approaches to accessible computing share a common goal of making technology accessible to users with disabilities. Perhaps because of this goal, they may also share a tendency to centralize disability rather than ability. We present a refinement to these approaches called ability-based design that consists of focusing on ability throughout the design process in an effort to create systems that leverage the full range of human potential. Just as user-centered design shifted the focus of interactive system design from systems to users, ability-based design attempts to shift the focus of accessible design from disability to ability. Although prior approaches to accessible computing may consider users’ abilities to some extent, ability-based design makes ability its central focus. We offer seven ability-based design principles and describe the projects that inspired their formulation. We also present a research agenda for ability-based design.Engineering and Applied Science

Examination of Ableist Educational Systems and Structures that Limit Access to Engineering Education through Narratives

The purpose of this paper is to examine how higher education systems limit access to engineering education for disabled and neurodivergent engineering students. Throughout this paper we will discuss ableism in higher education systems. Particularly, U.S. institutions and education are designed for non-disabled and neurotypical people rather than with accessibility for all despite legal efforts to improve access to education. We also provide two narratives from the authors that describe their experiences with having a disability and being neurodivergent in engineering education. Finally, we suggest other paradigms and methodologies engineering education researchers can utilize when conducting research on disability and neurodivergence in engineering

Speech generating devices for children : a guide for parents and caregivers

Children with severe communication deficits often need alternative methods to supplement existing speech or replace speech that is not functional. Research indicates that augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods can improve communicative function in low or nonverbal children. A prevalent form of AAC is the Speech-Generating Device (SGD), which produces synthesized or recorded speech. Numerous SGDs, downloadable applications, and accessories are on the market alongside a vast array of published literature. As a result, it is difficult for parents to educate themselves when considering an SGD for their child. This paper will serve as a guide to help parents understand SGDs and the ways in which they may benefit their child.Communication Sciences and Disorder

An Exploration of Partnerships Between Disability Service Units and Academic Libraries

The University of Saskatchewan’s University Library has been partnering with its institution’s Disability Services unit for almost twenty-five years to provide space and equipment for students with disabilities in some of its library locations. This partnership has grown from piloting a Kurzweil reader, to the development of multiple assistive technology and exam writing rooms, to the recent creation of a multi-purpose room. These library spaces complement spaces Disability Services has within its own office suite and reflect the growth in the number of students registered with them, a widening spectrum of disabilities, and a collaborative desire to make disability services and resources more accessible. A literature scan revealed a small number of articles about partnerships, many of which were in response to legislation. A survey directed at North American post-secondary institutions’ Disability Services employees surfaced further information about partnerships, but did not reveal any common best practices. With the increase in the number of students with disabilities attending academic institutions and a changing landscape of what is defined as a disability, how and how well academic libraries and Disability Services units are partnering to respond to these changes appears to require further exploration and assessment

Open source and accessibility: advantages and limitations

In this paper we discuss the open source process as it relates to accessibility software. Open source is a development model that has shown considerable benefits in a number of application areas. However the nature of accessibility tools and the intended users of such software products raise issues that must be addressed by the developer before users encounter the tools in real world contexts. In this paper we discuss the nature of the open source process, how it functions, and the motivations with regards to participation that developers self-report. We then explain the impact of these elements of the open source process as they relate to adaptive accessibility software. We use some specific examples of issues raised from the adoption of open source via a discussion of the ACCESS Framework, an accessibility engine designed to provide cross-platform accessibility support through plug-ins

DR BACA: dynamic role based access control for Android

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston UniversityAndroid, as an open platform, dominates the booming mobile market. However, its permission mechanism is inflexible and often results in over-privileged applications. This in turn creates severe security issues. Aiming to support the Principle of Least Privilege, we propose a Dynamic Role Based Access Control for Android (DR BACA) model and implement the DR BACA system to address these problems. Our system offers multi-user management on Android mobile devices, comparable to traditional workstations, and provides fine-grained Role Based Access Control (RBAC) to en- hance Android security at both the application and permission level. Moreover, by leveraging context-aware capabilities of mobile devices and Near Field communication (NFC) technology, our solution supports dynamic RBAC that provides more flexible access control while still being able to mitigate some of the most serious security risks on mobile devices. The DR BACA system is highly scalable, suitable for both end- users and large business environments. It simplifies configuration and management of Android devices and can help enterprises to deal with security issues by implementing a uniform security policy. We show that our DR BACA system can be deployed and used with eet:se. With a proper security policy, our evaluation shows that DR BACA can effectively mitigate the security risks posed by both malicious and vulnerable non-malicious applications while incurring only a small overall system overhead

Preventing Capability Abuse through Systematic Analysis of Exposed Interface

Connectivity and interoperability are becoming more and more critical in today’s software and cyber-physical systems. Different components of the system can better collaborate, enabling new innovation opportunities. However, to support connectivity and interoperability, systems and applications have to expose certain capabilities, which inevitably expands their attack surfaces and increases the risk of being abused. Due to the complexity of software systems and the heterogeneity of cyber-physical systems, it is challenging to secure their exposed interfaces and completely prevent abuses. To address the problems in a proactive manner, in this dissertation, we demonstrate that systematic studies of exposed interfaces and their usage in the real world, leveraging techniques such as program analysis, can reveal design-level, implementation-level, as well as configuration-level security issues, which can help with the development of defense solutions that effectively prevent capability abuse. This dissertation solves four problems in this space. First, we detect inconsistent security policy enforcement, a common implementation flaw. Focusing on the Android framework, we design and build a tool that compares permissions enforced on different code paths and identifies the paths enforcing weaker permissions. Second, we propose the Application Lifecycle Graph (ALG), a novel modeling approach to describing system-wide app lifecycle, to assist the detection of diehard behaviors that abuse lifecycle interfaces. We develop a lightweight runtime framework that utilizes ALG to realize fine-grained app lifecycle control. Third, we study real-world programmable logic controller programs for identifying insecure configurations that can be abused by adversaries to cause safety violations. Lastly, we conduct the first systematic security study on the usage of Unix domain sockets on Android, which reveals both implementation flaws and configuration weaknesses.PHDComputer Science & EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149960/1/yurushao_1.pd

FINE-GRAINED ACCESS CONTROL ON ANDROID COMPONENT

The pervasiveness of Android devices in today’s interconnected world emphasizes the importance of mobile security in protecting user privacy and digital assets. Android’s current security model primarily enforces application-level mechanisms, which fail to address component-level (e.g., Activity, Service, and Content Provider) security concerns. Consequently, third-party code may exploit an application’s permissions, and security features like MDM or BYOD face limitations in their implementation. To address these concerns, we propose a novel Android component context-aware access control mechanism that enforces layered security at multiple Exception Levels (ELs), including EL0, EL1, and EL3. This approach effectively restricts component privileges and controls resource access as needed. Our solution comprises Flasa at EL0, extending SELinux policies for inter-component interactions and SQLite content control; Compac, spanning EL0 and EL1, which enforces component-level permission controls through Android runtime and kernel modifications; and TzNfc, leveraging TrustZone technologies to secure third-party services and limit system privileges via Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). Our evaluations demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed solution in containing component privileges, controlling inter-component interactions and protecting component level resource access. This enhanced solution, complementing Android’s existing security architecture, provides a more comprehensive approach to Android security, benefiting users, developers, and the broader mobile ecosystem