Announcements
November 27, 2023
UW News: How an assistive-feeding robot went from picking up fruit salads to whole meals
Training a robot to feed people presents an array of challenges for researchers. Foods come in a nearly endless variety of shapes and states (liquid, solid, gelatinous), and each person has a unique set of needs and preferences. A team led by CREATE Ph.D. students Ethan K. Gordon and Amal Nanavati created a set of…
November 2, 2023
UW News: Can AI help boost accessibility? CREATE researchers tested it for themselves
November 2, 2023 | UW News Generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, an AI-powered language tool, and Midjourney, an AI-powered image generator, can potentially assist people with various disabilities. They could summarize content, compose messages, or describe images. Yet they also regularly spout inaccuracies and fail at basic reasoning, perpetuating ableist biases. This year, seven CREATE researchers conducted…
October 11, 2023
CREATE’s Response to Proposed Update to Section 504 for Medical, Health
Updated November 30, 2023 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights published a proposed update to the HHS regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits disability discrimination by recipients of federal funding. This is the first comprehensive update to the regulations since they were…
October 2, 2023
Virtual Traffic Stop App Aims to Ease Tensions, Aid Communication
October 2, 2023 The designers of the Virtual Traffic Stop app aim to ease tensions and prevent misunderstandings between drivers and law enforcement during traffic stops. For Hard-of-Hearing or Deaf drivers, the app can be used to communicate with law enforcement via chat during the video. Users can add family members and invite them to…
September 29, 2023
People with Disabilities are a Population with Health Disparities
September 29, 2023 In September 2023, the Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities announced the designation of people with disabilities as a population with health disparities. The designation is one of several steps National Institutes of Health (NIH) is taking to address health disparities faced by people with disabilities and…
August 31, 2023
Quarterly Seminar on Accessibility Research
The CREATE Accessibility Seminar, CSE 590w – Accessibility Research, brings students and faculty together to explore a variety of topics relating to accessibility and technology. In the Fall, we usually read a book together. Spring seminars are usually short research presentations, followed by discussion and critical evaluations. Course information Past topics
August 11, 2023
Your Review & Comments Wanted: Proposed Federal Accessibility Standards
August 11, 2023 A proposal for new digital accessibility guidelines for entities receiving federal funds was released for review by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on August 4, 2023. Anyone affected by these guidelines has 60 days — through Tuesday, October 3, 2023 — to comment. The DOJ is still trying to decide exactly…
July 7, 2023
CREATE Open Source Projects Awarded at Web4All
July 6, 2023 CREATE researchers shone this spring at the 2023 Web4All 2023 conference that, in part, seeks to “make the internet more accessible to the more than one billion people who struggle to interact with digital content each day due to neurodivergence, disability or other impairments.” Two CREATE-funded open source projects won accolades. Best…
June 13, 2023
Welcome Mark Harniss, CREATE’s New Director for Education
June 13, 2023 CREATE is thrilled to have Mark Harniss as our new Director for Education. Harniss is an associate professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and director of the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) and the Center for Technology and Disability. Until recently, he was the director of the Disability…
Deep Gratitude to Wobbrock, Ladner & Caspi
June 13, 2023 The CREATE community thanks three of our founding leaders for their energy and service in launching the center as we embark upon some transitions. “CREATE would not be where it is today without the vision, passion, and commitment that Jake, Richard, and Anat brought to their work leading the center,” says CREATE…
Codesigning Videoconferencing Tools for Small Groups with Mixed Hearing Status
June 12, 2023 CREATE students and faculty have published a new paper at CHI 2023, ‘Easier or Harder, Depending on Who the Hearing Person Is’: Codesigning Videoconferencing Tools for Small Groups with Mixed Hearing Status”. Led by Human Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) Ph.D. candidate Emma McDonnell and supported by CREATE, this work investigates how…
June 11, 2023
Grant Opportunity: Disability Inclusion
June 11, 2023 The U.S. Department of Labor has made available $2 million for the first year of a cooperative agreement for an employer-focused, disability policy development and technical assistance center. From the EARN announcement website: The purpose of this program is to identify and promote adoption of innovative and equitable evidence-based policy and practice solutions…
June 9, 2023
CREATE’s Newest Ph.D Graduates
June 9, 2023 We’re proud to see these talented, passionate students receive their Ph.D.s and excited to see how they continue their work in accessibility. Alyssa Spomer, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering Current: Clinical Scientist at Gillette Children’s Hospital, leading research in the Gillette Rehabilitation Department to improve healthcare outcomes for children with complex movement conditions. Elijah…
June 6, 2023
CREATE Ph.D. Student Emma McDonnell Wins Dennis Lang Award
June 6, 2023 Congratulations to Emma McDonnell on receiving a Dennis Lang Award from the UW Disability Studies program! McDonnell, a fourth year Ph.D. candidate in Human Centered Design & Engineering, is advised by CREATE associate director Leah Findlater. McDonnell’s research focuses on accessible communication technologies and explores how these tools could be designed to…
May 25, 2023
Grant Opportunity for Disability Policy, Assistance
May 25, 2023 The U.S. Department of Labor has made available $2 million for the first year of a cooperative agreement for an employer-focused, disability policy development and technical assistance center. The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) helps employers, human resources professionals, and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility staff find the…
April 25, 2023
A11yBoard Seeks to Make Digital Artboards Accessible to Blind and Low-Vision Users
Just about everybody in business, education, and artistic settings needs to use presentation software like Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Adobe Illustrator. These tools use artboards to hold objects such as text, shapes, images, and diagrams. But for blind and low vision (BLV) people, using such software adds a new level of challenge beyond keeping…
April 11, 2023
Postdoc Research Spotlight: Making Biosignal Interfaces Accessible
The machines and devices we use every day – for example, touch screens, gas pedals, and computer track pads – interpret our actions and intentions via sensors. But these sensors are designed based on assumptions about our height, strength, dexterity, and abilities. When they aim for the average person (who does not actually exist), they…
April 10, 2023
Accessible eSports Showcase 2023: Event Recap
In April 2023, CREATE hosted its first ever Accessible eSports Showcase event, bringing together members of the CREATE community, local community organizations, tech and games Corporate Partners, and folks from all over the Seattle area looking to learn about and celebrate ongoing strides being made in making video games more inclusive and accessible to people…
April 8, 2023
International Disability Rights: Past, Present, & Future – A Must-See Public Lecture with Senator Floyd Morris
International Disability Rights: Past, Present, & FuturePublic Lecture with Senator Floyd Morris Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 2:30 p.m. HUB 340Free and open to the public Floyd Morris, Ph.D., is the Director of the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of the West Indies, a current Member and Past President of the Senate of Jamaica…
March 14, 2023
Advisory Board: Welcome ChrisTiana ObeySumner
CREATE welcomes our newest Advisory Board member, ChrisTiana ObeySumner. ObeySumner (they/them) is the CEO and principal consultant of Epiphanies of Equity LLC (https://www.christianaobeysumner.com/), a social equity consulting firm specializing in change management, social and organizational psychology, intersectional equity and liberation, and disability justice. For two decades, they’ve dedicated their life and career to exploring and…
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