How Inclusive Is Conceptual Modeling? A Systematic Review of Literature and Tools for Disability-Aware Conceptual Modeling

Abstract

The reports on Disability by the World Health Organization show that the number of people with disabilities is increasing. Consequently, accessibility should play an essential role in information systems engineering research. While software and web engineering research acknowledge this need by providing, e.g., web accessibility guidelines and testing frameworks, we show in this paper, based on a systematic review of the literature and current modeling tools, that accessibility is, so far, a blind spot in conceptual modeling research. With the paper at hand, we aim to identify current research gaps and delineate a vision toward more inclusive, i.e., disability-aware conceptual modeling. One key finding relates to a gap in research and tool support concerning physical disabilities. Based on these results, we further present the first modeling tool that can be used keyboard-only, thereby including users with physical disabilities to engage in conceptual modeling.