arxivcs.HCcs.AI2026-07-20
Querying Multimodal Scientific Papers with AI: Practices and Preferences Across Blind, Low-Vision, and Sighted Scientists
Arnavi Chheda-Kothary, Lucy Lu Wang, Joseph Chee Chang, Jonathan Bragg
Visual diagrams, figures, and tables are central to scientific papers, and convey information beyond what is captured in text. While blind or low-vision (BLV) scientists have traditionally relied on static alternative text to access figures in papers, the rise of artificial intel…