Accessible CS Education workshop focuses on inclusive experiences

Amid a global pandemic, innovative thinkers have been hard at work developing plans to improve equity in modern learning environments. The Accessible Computer Science Education Fall Workshop was held November 17-19, 2020, and jointly sponsored by Microsoft, The Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities, and CREATE.

Each day of the event focused on strategies to improve classroom experiences for students and faculty with disabilities. You can watch recorded sessions where speakers provided a wide range of perspectives on computer science pedagogy and how to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in computing disciplines.

Two students work together in a lab on a computer screen using accessibility tools

Two students work together on a computer screen using accessibility tools.

The event provided an intimate environment to share work and establish new collaborations. The most visible result, for now, is five white papers and action plans taken from the break-out group reports (CREATE faculty contributors noted):

The program resulted in more than conversations; each group developed formal white papers and action plans that will guide future research and collaboration.

Throughout the workshop, participants focused on four areas:

Education for employment pathways
Making K-12 computing education accessible
Making higher education in computing accessible
Building accessible hardware and systems.

Conversations generated ideas about technologies that can boost employment and assist people with disabilities who experience barriers in various learning environments.

The committee behind the event successfully cultivated a productive and inclusive atmosphere that sponsors hope will translate to future projects. Members of the committee include Andrew Begel, Heather Dowty, Cecily Morrison, Teddy Seyed, and Roy Zimmerman from Microsoft; Anat Caspi and Richard Ladner from UW CREATE; and Clayton Lewis from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Research Workshop for Undergraduates with Disabilities

CREATE and UW AccessComputing co-sponsored a 3-day research-focused workshop for undergraduates in computing fields who have disabilities. The OurCS@AccessComputing+CREATE workshop was held virtually on January 13 – 15, 2021.

Forty-six undergraduate students from around the nation participated in the workshop along with 10 faculty mentors who work in various research areas. The keynote speakers were Dr. Elaine Short from Tufts University, Dr. Nicholas Giudice from the University of Maine, and Dr. Jeanine Cook from Sandia National Laboratory.

Participants also heard a panel of senior students and recently finished graduate students with disabilities talk about their own experiences in graduate school. Each of the mentors led a short course on research in their area of expertise and were available to network with students.

Two student participants at the 2019 OurCS workshop use virtual reality goggles and hand controllers — Participants use VR at the 2019 OurCS workshop.

Eddith Figueroa, a student at the University of Texas at Austin appreciated hearing about the panelists’ experiences. “I really enjoyed the panel of people who were in grad school. It gave me a lot of perspective into what it would be like to try and go to grad school with a disability,” Figueroa said. Cameron Cassidy from Texas A&M University highlighted the information about graduate school, saying, “Professors Milne and Ladner shared a lot of good information about graduate school, which made me more comfortable in my decision to pursue an advanced degree.”

And Nayha Auradkar of the University of Washington found the networking opportunities valuable. “I learned a lot through networking with research leaders and engaging in the interactive research workshops,” Auradkar said.

“I really enjoyed the panel of people who were in grad school. It gave me a lot of perspective into what it would be like to try and go to grad school with a disability,”

Eddith Figueroa, University of Texas at Austin student

Funding for this workshop was provided by Google Explore CSR with additional support from AccessComputing and the UW Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences (CREATE).

AccessComputing is a valued partner of CREATE, helping CREATE in its objective to help “create pathways for more individuals with disabilities to
pursue careers in technology innovation.”

CREATE Board Members Honored by SIGCHI

Two UW CREATE board members were honored by SIGCHI, the international society for professionals, academics and students who are interested in human-technology and human-computer interaction (HCI). The awards identify and honor leaders and shapers of the field of human-computer interaction within SIGCHI.

Juan E. Gilbert received 2021 Social Impact Award

Juan E. Gilbert received a 2021 SIGCHI Social Impact Award for research that “examines both HCI and AI through his examinations of Bias in AI, Advanced Learning Technologies, Culturally Aware Computing, and attention to people with a wide variety of disabilities and formative experiences.”

Dr. Gilbert’s work in Advanced Learning Technologies increases access to technology for those with limited educational opportunities, particularly by providing personalized and culturally relevant instruction for those in under-resourced schools. Dr. Gilbert is using his research in AI to understand how clustering algorithms might better process admissions applications in ways that actually serve to increase holistic diversity rather than select for majority dominant groups as traditional algorithmic approaches have done. In pilot studies with several universities, Dr. Gilbert’s patented AI algorithm for admissions called Applications Quest has resulted in greater diversity in a fraction of the time it takes the admissions committee while yielding the same academic achievement levels as the committee. In short, Dr. Gilbert’s research has made substantial impact in areas of educational technology and learning support not only in terms of basic HCI and AI research but also in applying this work for great impact to address the systemic barriers to high quality education.

Jonathan Lazar joins the CHI Academy

Jonathan Lazar, with a big smile and wearing a suit and multi-colored tie.

Jonathan Lazar was inducted into the CHI Academy, for his research on interface accessibility for users with disabilities. His work has provided an empirically based understanding of how people with disabilities interact with technologies, influencing researchers and developers, changing interface guidelines, and setting new standards for research methods involving people with disabilities.

For instance, his research has provided a foundation for understanding how Blind users interact with menu structures, security features, and frustrating situations, among others. Jonathan Lazar also performed the first HCI research focusing on users with Down syndrome. A hallmark of his research has been his ongoing partnership with disability advocacy groups, including the National Federation of the Blind, the National Down Syndrome Congress, and the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ICT) at the United Nations.

Both award descriptions were excerpted from the SIGCHI Awards pages. Read the full article.

Reimagining Mobility: Smart tech for mobility, health and agency

This UW CREATE event has passed. Sign up for future Reimagining Mobility Conversations.

Brothers Barry and Jered Dean set about to design and engineer an addition for the powered wheelchair experience for Barry’s daughter, Katherine. In the process they discovered tensions between what has been defined as smart technology and what users want to support their mobility, health, agency, and privacy. In our second Conversation Hub, they shared lessons learned and entertaining anecdotes in their journey from tinkerers to founders of LUCI, a powered wheelchair add-on accessory that supports greater independence and safe navigation with features like collision avoidance and tip/drop off warnings that can be tuned to the driver’s preferences.

Captioned video of our online event

Favorite quotes from our discussion

“We have to realize there’s a dignity in risk. It’s okay that somebody’s gonna do something that maybe I wouldn’t do, or the technology doesn’t agree with.”

Jered Dean

“I understand the logic of having a large sample size and sometimes that gives you great clarity, but sometimes it gives you great mediocrity or great generalization. In songwriting we’re taught as professionals, the more connected you want to be with your audience, the more specific you will need to be. So especially in country music, you use incredibly detailed things.”

Barry Dean

Event description

The CREATE Conversation Hub hosted a live discussion with LUCI co-founders and brothers, Barry & Jered Dean. LUCI was founded after the brothers began designing and engineering an addition for the motorized wheelchair used by Barry’s daughter, Katherine. The changes were meant to make it safer and “smart,” connecting it to the internet so she can interact with the same up-to-date technology a lot of people use.

Through this process they found tensions in what was defined as smart technology to support mobility, health, agency, and privacy. We read and discussed Judging Smart, a guide the Dean brothers developed that offers initial ideas and questions around the concept of smart technology in power mobility.

The cover of the PDF Judging Smart: A framework for assessing "smart" technology in power mobility today by Jered Dean. Features a person wearing a pair of stylish boots on a power wheelchair.

Jered Dean is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at LUCI, where he brings his decade-long experience in new product development to life, including acting as the former director of Capstone Design at the Colorado School of Mines. Jered founded LUCI in 2017 with his brother, Barry, in hopes of creating a technology that could improve life in a power wheelchair for his niece, Katherine.

Barry Dean is an award-winning songwriter turned wheelchair technology founder. As CEO of LUCI, Barry seeks to provide security, stability and connectivity for power wheelchairs. He founded the company with hopes of building a smarter solution for his daughter Katherine and all power wheelchair riders. He is a founding writer at Creative Nation Music, Recording Academy (GRAMMY) Nashville Chapter Governor, and has previously served two terms as a board member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Caspi to lead collaborative $11.45M Transportation Data Equity Initiative

Tools like Google Directions and OneBusAway give up-to-date travel and transit information to make regional transit easier for most. But mobility applications focus on efficiency and shortest paths, leaving out information critical to people with disabilities, older adults, and anybody needing more support.

The Taskar Center for Accessible Technology, led by CREATE Associate Director for Translation Anat Caspi, and the UW’s Washington State Transportation Center will work with Microsoft, Google, the Washington Department of Transportation and other public and private partners to develop transit mobility technology as part of the Transportation Data Equity Initiative.

A bright pink placard with a wheelchair user icon and the words Step Free Route planted in bright green grass

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the project $11.45 million in January as part of a program focused on promoting independent mobility for all.

Anat Caspi, CREATE Director for Translation and Affiliate Assistant Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering

“Transportation and mobility play key roles in the struggle for civil rights and equal opportunity. Affordable and reliable transportation allows people access to important opportunities in education, employment, health care, housing and community life,” said project lead Anat Caspi.

“Our goal is to translate the UW’s accessible technology research and data science products into real-world use, building technology foundations for good and avoiding repetition of exclusion patterns of the past or creation of new travel barriers to individuals.”

This article was excerpted from the UW News. Read the full article.

Reimagining Mobility: A Conversation with Sara Hendren

This UW CREATE event has passed. Continue for a summary and to watch the entire online session. Sign up for future Reimagining Mobility Conversations.

To launch the Reimagining Mobility Conversation Hub series we could think of no better guest speaker than Sara Hendren. Part of reimagining is examining the current state of the world, reframing our viewpoints, and having the courage to try new things. Sara’s work really epitomizes this process.

Sara Hendren shared her perspective on the future of mobility and lessons she learned through writing her new book, What Can A Body Do? How We Meet the Built World.

In our Conversation Hub session, Hendren examined what it takes to move through the world with a disability, accounting for the affordances (or lack thereof) of the built environment and creative design that simultaneously facilitates participation and challenges ableist assumptions about design. She shared examples of how we can think past the better known examples of high tech prosthetics and universal design to also consider low tech, highly individualized access solutions. She discussed the universal human experiences of interdependence and dependence (rather than independence) as we navigate our world.

Hendren is an artist, design researcher, writer, and professor at Olin College of Engineering. Her work spans collaborative public art and social design that engages the human body, technology, and the politics of disability — such as a lectern for short stature or a ramp for wheelchair dancing. She also co-founded the Accessible Icon Project.

Bright yellow image from a book cover with the title 'What Can a Body Do? How We Meet the Built World' and author 'Sara Hendren.' — Cover of Hendren’s book, What Can a Body Do? In the presentation, she explains the choice to have the text run past the boundary of the space.

Mankoff wins AccessComputing Capacity Building award

Jennifer Mankoff, CREATE Director and co-founder and Professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering

Congratulations to Jennifer Mankoff on receiving the AccessComputing Capacity Building Award! She was honored for her leadership in helping make all Special Interest Group on Computer–Human Interaction (SIGCHI) conferences accessible to attendees with disabilities.

Through her leadership, the SIGCHI Executive Committee now has adjunct chairs for accessibility, which institutionalizes accessibility as an important facet of SIGCHI activities. Jen holds monthly online meetings of the AccessSIGCHI leadership team to help set and execute its agenda.

Every year AccessComputing honors someone with the AccessComputing Capacity Building Award for their work and accomplishments that have changed the way the world views people with disabilities and their potential to succeed in challenging computing careers and activities.

Excerpted from an article by Richard Ladner on the AccessComputing website. Read the full article.

UW Disability Equity Project Seeks Focus Group Participants

UW students, staff, and faculty who have a disability, physical or mental health condition, a chronic illness, or are d/Deaf are invited to contribute to a research project on disability, equity, and inclusion. A research team from the Disability Studies Program, The D Center, and the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine will conduct online focus groups where participants will be asked to share their experiences of ableism or discrimination as well as allyship and community in academic and healthcare situations.

The details:

Learn more on the UW Disability Equity Project website
60-90-minute virtual focus group
Participants will be compensated with a $30 electronic gift card

Information from the focus groups will be used to develop a disability allyship training curriculum that is rooted in lived experiences and can be implemented in the education and training of healthcare professionals and others across UW to improve our inclusive campus culture. All research information will be de-identified.

For questions or to express interest in the study, please contact the research team at uwdisabilityequity@uw.edu.

This study is being funded by Center for Leadership and Innovation in Medical Education (CLIME).

Scholars who use screen readers sought for user study

The Semantic Scholar Research Team at the Allen Institute for AI is conducting an experiment to evaluate the screen reader accessibility of scientific papers. We are looking for participants who are age 18 or older, who identify as blind or low vision, and who have experience using screen readers to interact with scientific papers.

The details:

Complete the eligibility form to determine eligibility
Study is all online (Zoom)
Takes approximately 75 minutes
Participants receive a $150 Amazon gift card

Participation in this study is entirely voluntary. If you do decide to participate, your individual data will be kept strictly confidential and will be stored without personal identifiers. The study involves an informational interview to better understand screen reader needs around scientific papers. Each participant will also be asked to interact with papers on a web interface developed by the team.

Please contact Jonathan Bragg (jbragg@allenai.org) or Lucy Lu Wang (lucyw@allenai.org) if you have any questions or concerns about this study. Thank you in advance for your time! Please help us spread the word by forwarding as appropriate.

CREATE faculty and students awarded at ASSETS 2020

Congratulations to UW CREATE faculty on multiple awards at ASSETS 2020, the International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility!

“The University of Washington has been a leader in accessible technology research, design, engineering, and evaluation for years. This latest round of awards from ACM ASSETS is further testament to the great work being done at the UW. Now, with the recent launch of CREATE, our award-winning faculty and students are brought together like never before, and we are already seeing the great things that come of it. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners.”

— Prof. Jacob O. Wobbrock, Founding Co-Director, UW CREATE

Best student paper:
Living Disability Theory: Reflections on Access, Research, and Design
Megan Hofmann, Devva Kasnitz, Jennifer Mankoff, Cynthia L Bennett

Best paper:
Input Accessibility: A Large Dataset and Summary Analysis of Age, Motor Ability and Input Performance
Leah Findlater, Lotus Zhang
Links: gitub code repository

Best artifact:
SoundWatch, as described in the paper Exploring Smartwatch-based Deep Learning Approaches to Support Sound Awareness for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users
Dhruv Jain, Hung Ngo, Pratyush Patel, Steven Goodman, Leah Findlater, Jon Froehlich
Links: github code repository | presentation video

UW researchers honored for advancing accessibility research at ASSETS 2020 | Allen School News

SoundWatch smartwatch app alerts d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing users to sounds

October 28, 2020 | UW News

UW CREATE faculty members Jon Froehlich and Leah Findlater have helped develop a smartwatch app for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people who want to be aware of nearby sounds. The smartwatch will identify sounds the user is interested in — such as a siren, a water faucet left on, or a bird chirping — and send the user a friendly buzz along with information.

“This technology provides people with a way to experience sounds that require an action… [and] these devices can also enhance people’s experiences and help them feel more connected to the world,” said lead author Dhruv Jain, a UW doctoral student in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.

A wrist with a smartwatch on it. The smartwatch has an alert that says "Car honk, 98%, Loud, 101 dB" It also has options to snooze the alert for 10 minutes or open in an app on the user's phone. — The SoundWatch smartwatch app that identifies nearby sounds and alerts wearers. Jain et al./ASSETS 2020

The team presented their findings Oct. 28 at ACCESS, the ACM conference on computing and accessibility.

Learn more about SoundWatch, the full team and how the smartwarch app evolved from a collection of tablets scattered around a house.

Learn more

UW researchers honored for advancing accessibility research at ASSETS 2020 |Allen School News
CREATE Faculty and Students Awarded at ASSETS 2020 | CREATE news

Feldner team receives grant to study pediatric mobility technology

Heather Feldner, Rehabilitation Technology and Disability Studies

CREATE Associate Director Heather Feldner and her research team have been awarded a pilot research grant from the newly founded NIH Pediatric Rehabilitation Resource Center (C-PROGRESS) to study early mobility technology.

The team, one of only three selected across the country, includes Sam Logan, an associate professor at Oregon State University, and Lisa Kenyon, a professor at Grand Valley State University.

Study Details: The use of powered mobility devices for young children with cerebral palsy (CP) has been gaining traction. Evidence shows that the use of powered mobility at young ages complements (rather than detracts from) other interventions focused on more traditionally viewed mobility skills such as crawling and walking, as well as broadens accessible participation and experiences for children and families.

Collage of four young children riding on commercial and DIY powered mobility technologies, including the Permobil® Explorer Mini and modified Go Baby Go ride-on toy cars

Heather will lead the multi-site team of investigators in collecting preliminary data to investigate device use patterns, caregiver perceptions, and developmental outcomes of children with CP after introduction of two forms of early powered mobility technologies: commercial (the Permobil® Explorer Mini) and DIY (a Go Baby Go modified ride-on toy car). As FDA clearance for the Explorer Mini was just received in March of 2020, this is the first opportunity to provide key data on the integration and use of the device in the home and community, and it represents the first opportunity to compare the novel device with a modified ride-on car, which has also been customized to support early self-initiated mobility in a socially inviting way.

Why it matters: Research comparing these devices in natural environments can add critical data to the evidence supporting early powered mobility for children with CP as a part of a multimodal mobility approach to care across the lifespan. It also presents a unique opportunity to further engage in critical discussion of facilitators and barriers to mobility and access for disabled children and families.

Learn more:

C-PROGRESS award announcement

NIH Rehabilitation Research 2020

Dr. Kat M. Steele, an associate director of CREATE, presents at NIH’s Rehabilitation Research 2020: Envisioning a Functional Future conference on Friday, October 16, 2020. She will be presenting in the Mobility Across the Lifespan session with Bernadette Gillick, PhD, PT from the University of Minnesota and Levi Hargrove from the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. This meeting highlights rehabilitation research and informs the congressionally-mandated NIH Research Plan on Rehabilitation Research to inform priorities for the next four years.

Dr. Steele’s talk “Normalcy Fallacy: Reimagining Mobility for Scientific Discovery & Innovation” focuses on examining how our assumptions of “normal” movement can hinder scientific and translational research to support mobility across the lifespan.

The word normal in capital letters filled in with words from assumptions of normalcy in how we analyze human movement - metrics, walker, feet, fix, expectations, steps, measures, deviation, examination, assessments, etc. Created with wordart.com

Join us

Learn more about our Reimagining Mobility Se r ies.

View her presentation

Slides (pdf) | Transcript (pdf) | Video (YouTube)

Other recommended resources

UW CREATE leadership at ASSETS 2020

UW CREATE has a large and quality presence at ASSETS 2020, the premier annual conference for accessible computing research. Drawing from three departments, University of Washington authors contributed to six papers and two posters to be presented at this year’s online conference. Three of our papers were nominated for best paper! Seven members also served in conference roles: two on the organizing committee and five on the program committee.

The papers and posters span a variety of topics including input performance evaluation of people with limited mobility, media usage patterns of autistic adults, sound awareness for d/Deaf and hard of hearing people, and autoethnography reports of multiple people with disabilities. Congratulations to the authors and their collaborators!

We look forward to seeing you virtually at ASSETS 2020, which runs October 26 to 28.

A handcarved cane with a spiral design and painted green at the top — An autoethnograher’s daughter’s handcrafted cane, as presented in the paper, “Living disability theory: Reflections on access, research, and design.”

SoundWatch uses smartwatch-based deep learning approaches to support sound awareness for deaf and hard of hearing users.” — The SoundWatch, as described in the paper: “SoundWatch: Exploring smartwatch-based deep learning approaches to support sound awareness for deaf and hard of hearing users.”

Accepted papers

Input accessibility: A large dataset and summary analysis of age, motor ability and input performance

Leah Findlater, University of Washington
Lotus Zhang, University of Washington

The reliability of fitts’s law as a movement model for people with and without limited fine motor function

Ather Sharif, University of Washington
Victoria Pao, University of Washington
Katharina Reinecke, University of Washington
Jacob O. Wobbrock, University of Washington

Lessons learned in designing AI for autistic adults: Designing the video calling for autism prototype

Andrew Begel, Microsoft Research
John Tang, Microsoft Research
Sean Andrist, Microsoft Research
Michael Barnett, Microsoft Research
Tony Carbary, Microsoft Research
Piali Choudhury, Microsoft
Edward Cutrell, Microsoft Research
Alberto Fung, University of Houston
Sasa Junuzovic, Microsoft Research
Daniel McDuff, Microsoft Research
Kael Rowan, Microsoft
Shibashankar Sahoo, UmeŒ Institute Of Design
Jennifer Frances Waldern, Microsoft
Jessica Wolk, Microsoft Research
Hui Zheng, George Mason University
Annuska Zolyomi, University of Washington

SoundWatch: Exploring smartwatch-based deep learning approaches to support sound awareness for deaf and hard of hearing users

Dhruv Jain, University of Washington
Hung Ngo, University of Washington
Pratyush Patel, University of Washington
Steven Goodman, University of Washington
Leah Findlater, University of Washington
Jon E. Froehlich, University of Washington

Living disability theory: Reflections on access, research, and design

Megan Hofmann, Carnegie Mellon University
Devva Kasnitz, Society for Disability Studies
Jennifer Mankoff, University of Washington
Cynthia L Bennett, Carnegie Mellon University

Navigating graduate school with a disability

Dhruv Jain, University of Washington
Venkatesh Potluri, University of Washington
Ather Sharif, University of Washington

Accepted posters

HoloSound: Combining speech and sound identification for Deaf or hard of hearing users on a head-mounted display

Ru Guo, University of Washington
Yiru Yang, University of Washington
Johnson Kuang, University of Washington
Xue Bin, University of Washington
Dhruv Jain, University of Washington
Steven Goodman, University of Washington
Leah Findlater, University of Washington
Jon E. Froehlich, University of Washington

#ActuallyAutistic Sense-making on Twitter

Annuska Zolyomi, University of Washington
Ridley Jones, University of Washington
Tomer Kaftan, University of Washington

Organizing Committee roles

Dhruv Jain as Posters & Demonstrations Co-Chair
Cynthia Bennett as Accessibility Co-Chair

Program committee roles

Cynthia Bennett (recent alumni, now at Apple/CMU)
Leah Findlater
Jon Froehlich
Richard Ladner
Anne Ross

Black Disability Art History 101: From Back in the Day to Today

The Inclusion Project, a youth led project, with the Center for Disability Leadership is hosting this workshop led by Leroy F. Moore Jr., founder of Krip-Hop Nation.

Wed, October 21, 2020
3:30 – 5:00 p.m. PDT

Learn more and register to attend

Black disabled and Deaf artists have always existed. They were on the street corners down South singing the Blues, spray painting on New York subways, and bringing sign language to the big screen. Today, young Black disabled artists are finding their own way to the stage and studio, some with a paintbrush in hands and on the big screen like Kei’Arie “Cookie” Tatum, and some with a drumstick in their hands, like Vita E. Cleveland.

January 8, 2021: Sara Hendren – What Can a Body Do?

The CREATE Conversation Hub hosts a live Q&A with Sara Hendren on the future of mobility and lessons she learned through writing her new book, What Can A Body Do? How We Meet the Built World.

Sara Hendren: Future visions of mobility and lessons learned through writing What Can A Body Do? How We Meet the Built World

January 8, 2021 at 11 a.m. Pacific time (2 p.m. Eastern time)

Sign up for Reimagining Mobility Conversations

Sara Hendren is an artist, design researcher, writer, and professor at Olin College of Engineering. Her work spans collaborative public art and social design that engages the human body, technology, and the politics of disability — such as a lectern for short stature or a ramp for wheelchair dancing. She also co-founded the Accessible Icon Project.

Read more about Hendren’s book, What Can A Body Do? How We Meet the Built World? in the New Yorker Review and on https://sarahendren.com/.

Sara Hendren in a green jacket with brown hair pulled back, standing oustide in front of fence with ivy.

Cover of Sara Hendren's book, "What Can A Body Do? How We Meet the Built World" with a bright yellow background

New CREATE Conversation Hub: Reimagining Mobility

Mobility is a central part of accessibility and this new Conversation Hub, hosted by CREATE Associate Directors Kat Steele and Heather Feldner, provides a way to connect and learn from guests who are engaged in critical mobility work — ranging from researchers to small business owners to self-advocates.

We will dive deeply into conversations about mobility as a multifaceted concept, and explore how it intersects with other dimensions of access across contexts of research, education, and public policy.

Learn more & Sign-up

Upcoming conversations

Reimagining Mobility: CREATE Conversation Hub

The revised disabled symbol, a person with their arms back to go quickly in a manual wheelchair, in red shown on a parking sign over the old symbol.

What constitutes mobility and who gets to define it?

How do we move and explore the world?

What barriers and assumptions limit mobility?

How do we support all forms of mobility throughout the lifespan?

Mobility is about more than how we get from Point A to Point B. Regardless of form, mobility is a medium through which we interact and engage with the world. Yet, assumptions about “normal” or “acceptable” ways to move are literally cemented into our world.

Digital artist Francis Tsai, an asian man, sitting in his wheelchair in front of a computer screen, where he is using eye gaze tools to create art. His left leg is crossed over his right, and his arms are supported by his wheelchair and his palms are facing up. There are two windows with blinds drawn in the background.

Advancement of women with disabilities in STEM careers gets $1 million NSF award

The CREATE team applauds and congratulates AccessADVANCE, a new project that was recently awarded $1 million by the National Science Foundation. AccessADVANCE seeks to increase the participation and advancement of women with disabilities in academic science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers.

There are relatively few women who currently hold faculty positions in STEM fields and even fewer with disabilities. This effort has the potential to impact both — women in general, because any faculty member may at some point become disabled, permanently or temporarily and women with disabilities who are trying to advance into STEM careers.

“To effectively support female STEM faculty, attention to disability issues must be woven into the entire sociotechnical ecosystem of STEM departments,” said Cecilia Aragon, a professor in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering and AccessADVANCE co-principal investigator. “Many diversity efforts, even those that aim to take an intersectional approach with regard to race and gender, do not address disability.”

Aragon and co-principal investigator Dr. Sheryl Burgstahler, founder and director of CREATE partner organizations DO-IT Center and UW Access Technology Center, will develop and expand an online Knowledge Base and other resources to share Q&As, case studies, and promising practices regarding institutional practices.