arXiv subjects

Frank Elavsky

Publications and source records attributed to Frank Elavsky.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Skeleton: Visual Authoring of Non-visual Data Experiences

When sighted practitioners author accessible data visualizations, they build navigation structures (the nodes, edges, and input bindings that govern how assistive technologies traverse an interface) entirely in code, with no visual representation. Without a representation to react to, practitioners cannot develop judgment about what makes navigation good or bad, and the quality ceiling of non-visual experiences is set by the absence of a feedback loop. We address this problem through longitudinal co-design with practitioners across cartography, design systems, and open-source visualization, and make three contributions. First, we introduce an Inspector that renders navigation graphs as interactive node-link diagrams, and a Dimensions API that expresses navigation in terms of data dimensions rather than explicit graph construction. Second we present Skeleton, a direct-manipulation authoring environment in which the properties of an accessible navigation structure are translated into visual representations authors can observe and manipulate. Key techniques include a dual-view editor that simultaneously shows the system's navigation model and the end user's spatial experience, a scaffolding engine that automates spatial node placement by repurposing a visualization rendering pipeline, a live label-template editor with real-time screen-reader-output preview, and a testing mode that makes traversal sequence visually trackable. Third, we evaluate Skeleton through an in-situ study with 8 practitioners across visualization design, engineering, and research. Making navigation structure visible changed how practitioners engaged with accessible design: they reconsidered the architecture of their own visualizations, attended to a broader range of input modalities, and shifted from treating accessibility as a compliance task to treating it as a design problem. (abstract shortened for arxiv)

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

Playing telephone with generative models: "verification disability," "compelled reliance," and accessibility in data visualization

This paper is a collaborative piece between two worlds of expertise in the field of data visualization: accessibility and bias. In particular, the rise of generative models playing a role in accessibility is a worrying trend for data visualization. These models are increasingly used to help author visualizations as well as generate descriptions of existing visualizations for people who are blind, low vision, or use assistive technologies such as screen readers. Sighted human-to-human bias has already been established as an area of concern for theory, research, and design in data visualization. But what happens when someone is unable to verify the model output or adequately interrogate algorithmic bias, such as a context where a blind person asks a model to describe a chart for them? In such scenarios, trust from the user is not earned, rather reliance is compelled by the model-to-human relationship. In this work, we explored the dangers of AI-generated descriptions for accessibility, playing a game of telephone between models, observing bias production in model interpretation, and re-interpretation of a data visualization. We unpack ways that model failure in visualization is especially problematic for users with visual impairments, and suggest directions forward for three distinct readers of this piece: technologists who build model-assisted interfaces for end users, users with disabilities leveraging models for their own purposes, and researchers concerned with bias, accessibility, or visualization.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

Towards softerware: Enabling personalization of interactive data representations for users with disabilities

Accessible design for some may still produce barriers for others. This tension, called access friction, creates challenges for both designers and end-users with disabilities. To address this, we present the concept of softerware, a system design approach that provides end users with agency to meaningfully customize and adapt interfaces to their needs. To apply softerware to visualization, we assembled 195 data visualization customization options centered on the barriers we expect users with disabilities will experience. We built a prototype that applies a subset of these options and interviewed practitioners for feedback. Lastly, we conducted a design probe study with blind and low vision accessibility professionals to learn more about their challenges and visions for softerware. We observed access frictions between our participant's designs and they expressed that for softerware's success, current and future systems must be designed with accessible defaults, interoperability, persistence, and respect for a user's perceived effort-to-outcome ratio.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

Counterpoint: Orchestrating Large-Scale Custom Animated Visualizations

Custom animated visualizations of large, complex datasets are helpful across many domains, but they are hard to develop. Much of the difficulty arises from maintaining visualization state across many animated graphical elements that may change in number over time. We contribute Counterpoint, a framework for state management designed to help implement such visualizations in JavaScript. Using Counterpoint, developers can manipulate large collections of marks with reactive attributes that are easy to render in scalable APIs such as Canvas and WebGL. Counterpoint also helps orchestrate the entry and exit of graphical elements using the concept of a rendering "stage." Through a performance evaluation, we show that Counterpoint adds minimal overhead over current high-performance rendering techniques while simplifying implementation. We provide two examples of visualizations created using Counterpoint that illustrate its flexibility and compatibility with other visualization toolkits as well as considerations for users with disabilities. Counterpoint is open-source and available at https://github.com/cmudig/counterpoint.

cs.GR↗

arXiv2023

Data Navigator: An accessibility-centered data navigation toolkit

Making data visualizations accessible for people with disabilities remains a significant challenge in current practitioner efforts. Existing visualizations often lack an underlying navigable structure, fail to engage necessary input modalities, and rely heavily on visual-only rendering practices. These limitations exclude people with disabilities, especially users of assistive technologies. To address these challenges, we present Data Navigator: a system built on a dynamic graph structure, enabling developers to construct navigable lists, trees, graphs, and flows as well as spatial, diagrammatic, and geographic relations. Data Navigator supports a wide range of input modalities: screen reader, keyboard, speech, gesture detection, and even fabricated assistive devices. We present 3 case examples with Data Navigator, demonstrating we can provide accessible navigation structures on top of raster images, integrate with existing toolkits at scale, and rapidly develop novel prototypes. Data Navigator is a step towards making accessible data visualizations easier to design and implement.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2023

Option-Driven Design: Context, Tradeoffs, and Considerations for Accessibility

In Option-Driven Design, users must interact with options and settings for systems to adapt to their needs. This approach places the burden on both the user and the system to make the interaction between user and system fit. The user must know and find which options they need and then adjust them. In addition, the system must be capable of robust change, similar to system change in ability-based design. In this micro-paper I outline the context for option-driven design, followed by several design negotiations, tradeoffs, and suggestions worth considering with this approach.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2023

The Micro-Paper: Towards cheaper, citable research ideas and conversations

Academic, peer-reviewed short papers are a common way to present a late-breaking work to the academic community that outlines preliminary findings, research ideas, and novel conversations. By comparison, blogging or writing posts on social media are an unstructured and open way to discuss ideas and start new conversations. Both have limitations in the proliferation of research ideas. The short paper format relies on the conference and journal submission process while blogging does not operate within a structured format or set of expectations at all. However, at times the demand exists for late-breaking ideas and conversations to arise in a raw form or with urgency but should still be archived and recorded in a way that promotes citational honesty and integrity. To address this, I present: The Micro-Paper, as a micro-paper itself. The Micro-Paper is a small, cheap, accessible, digital document that is self-published and archived, akin to a pre-print of a short paper. This meta micro-paper discusses the context, goals, and considerations of micro-paper authoring.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2022

Increasing Data Equity Through Accessibility

This position statement is a response to the Office of Science and Technology Policy's Request for Information on "Equitable Data Engagement and Accountability." This response considers data equity specifically for people with disabilities. The RFI asks "how Federal agencies can better support collaboration with other levels of government, civil society, and the research community around the production and use of equitable data." We argue that one critically underserved community in the context of data equity is people with disabilities. Today's tools make it extremely difficult for disabled people to (1) interact with data and data visualizations and (2) take jobs that involve working with and visualizing data. Yet access to such data is increasingly critical, and integral, to engaging with government and civil society. We must change the standards and expectations around data practices to include disabled people and support the research necessary to achieve those goals.

cs.HC↗