Related papers: CodeA11y: Making AI Coding Assistants Useful for Accessible Web Development

CodeA11y: Making AI Coding Assistants Useful for Accessible Web Development

URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2502.10884v1
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2025 19:11:21 GMT
Title: CodeA11y: Making AI Coding Assistants Useful for Accessible Web Development
Authors: Peya Mowar, Yi-Hao Peng, Jason Wu, Aaron Steinfeld, Jeffrey P. Bigham,
Abstract summary: Despite specialized accessibility tools, novice developers often remain unaware of them, leading to 96% of web pages that contain accessibility violations. Our formative study with 16 developers revealed three key issues in AI-assisted coding: failure to prompt AI for accessibility, omitting crucial manual steps like replacing placeholder attributes, and the inability to verify compliance. To address these issues, we developed CodeA11y, a GitHub Copilot Extension, that suggests accessibility-compliant code and displays manual validation reminders.
Score: 22.395216419337768
License:
Abstract: A persistent challenge in accessible computing is ensuring developers produce web UI code that supports assistive technologies. Despite numerous specialized accessibility tools, novice developers often remain unaware of them, leading to ~96% of web pages that contain accessibility violations. AI coding assistants, such as GitHub Copilot, could offer potential by generating accessibility-compliant code, but their impact remains uncertain. Our formative study with 16 developers without accessibility training revealed three key issues in AI-assisted coding: failure to prompt AI for accessibility, omitting crucial manual steps like replacing placeholder attributes, and the inability to verify compliance. To address these issues, we developed CodeA11y, a GitHub Copilot Extension, that suggests accessibility-compliant code and displays manual validation reminders. We evaluated it through a controlled study with another 20 novice developers. Our findings demonstrate its effectiveness in guiding novice developers by reinforcing accessibility practices throughout interactions, representing a significant step towards integrating accessibility into AI coding assistants.

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