CREATE Researchers Honored, 2025-26

Jon E. Froehlich: SIGCHI Societal Impact Award

CREATE associate director Jon E. Froehlich will be honored with a Societal Impact Award at the 2026 SIGCHI Conference in Barcelona this spring.

As fellow CREATE associate director Jacob O. Wobbrock noted, “His research in urban accessibility has achieved what few HCI researchers ever accomplish: direct, measurable change on a global scale. Specifically, Froehlich’s work has affected how cities invest in pedestrian infrastructure, how communities and governments in 40+ cities plan for accessibility, and how federal agencies define walkability and accessibility data standards. Froehlich’s societal impact has been measurable and huge!” 

Froehlich’s work on accessible maps (CHI 2019 Best Paper award, UIST 2025) included the first-ever screen reader for Google Street View and real-time sound recognition for deaf and hard-of-hearing users (CHI 2020, CHI 2022, CACM 2022); it has directly impacted product teams at Google and Microsoft. This combination of civic impact, policy influence, and industry translation is rare in HCI; that Froehlich has sustained it across a decade of work is exceptional. 

Jon E. Froehlich, CREATE Associate Director

• Professor, Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering
• Director, Makeability Lab
• Associate Director of Tech Transfer and Outreach of PacTrans
• Co-founder of Project Sidewalk
• Core Faculty, Urban Design and Planning Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program

Richard Ladner: SIGCSE Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education Award

Richard Ladner received the 2026 Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education Award at the ACM SIGCSE Conference. The award cited Ladner’s contributions to accessible computer science education at the K-12, college, and graduate levels and was given “in recognition of long-lasting efforts to develop new technologies and activities to engage people, particularly children, in creative learning experiences based on computational literacy for discovery and expression.”

Ladner’s work has had a profound impact on the accessibility of CS education, the inclusion of accessibility in the computing curriculum, and the inclusion of disability in broadening participation activities. 

Richard Ladner, CREATE founding Director for Education Emeritus

• Principal Investigator and Founder, AccessComputing
• Founding PI and ongoing advisor, AccessCSforAll
• Professor Emeritus, Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering

A paper on mobile device accessibility was honored with the 10-year Lasting Impact Award at the International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS ’25). The 2009 ACM ASSETS paper, Freedom to roam: A study of mobile device adoption and accessibility for people with visual and motor disabilities, found that people with disabilities had to find ways to adapt to inaccessible technology. The team developed guidelines for more accessible and empowering design.