Scholarship

Similar to the presentation on hypermedia controls, this presentation on link granularity and the idea of being able to fine-tune links to focus on specific elements of a page down to points on an image is very interesting. Things we take for granted, like the granularity of a link, aren’t set in stone, and it’s exciting to see research presented that, if taken forward into practical theory, could totally recontextualise the way we interact with hypertext systems.

Since this presentation focuses so much on the web, it can be easy to see it as a “web presentation at the hypertext conference”, feeding into some of the existential fear displayed over ACM Hypertext losing its identity as a hypertext conference. Despite that, the idea of link granularity is very relevant in contexts like developing new hypertext tooling. We will probably never get mass adoption of fine-grain link controls on the web, but new hypertext authoring software could bake it in from the design stage.

You Shall Know a Forum by the Words they Keep

Important work with interesting implications not just on accessibility-minded research and design but also general aspects of forum use and differences in how disabled users approach forums online. I felt the presentation was well thought out and comprehensively approached its subject with sufficient background, information, methodologies, and future research aims. I would have liked to see more accessibility presentations at the conference over all, to be honest!