September 3, 2025
This summer, CREATE hosted three high school/undergraduate interns through a program that focuses on career preparation for young Washingtonians who are blind or visually disabled.
The Washington Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) program, called Youth Employment Solutions 2, provides experience, instruction, and paid 5-week summer internships. The students share a house, have job placements, and learn skills in using public transportation for travel to work sites. When ready, the students commute to their jobs independently.
Statistics indicate that more than 70% of blind adults are either unemployed or under-employed, in jobs unequal to their education. However, evidence also indicates that blind individuals who have work experience prior to entering the labor market are more likely to be successful at defining, achieving, and maintaining their vocational and career goals.
The YES2 interns helped with research projects led by CREATE Director Jennifer Mankoff, Human Centered Design & Engineering professor Julie Kientz, and CREATE and UW DUB postdoctoral researchers.
Mankoff was impressed with the interns’ technical training. “They are incredible — technically adept — and worked on amazing research projects. One project is to make CAD (computer-aided design) accessible to people who are Deaf-Blind; one is focused on a blocks-based physical design platform; and one is focused on accessible diagrams.”
Hear from three people – two interns and a mentor – who participated in the program at CREATE:
Susanna Haley, YES2 intern
Susanna Haley worked on a project to make flowcharts more accessible for individuals with low vision or blindness. Her goal was to extract and convert flowchart information — nodes such as rectangles for processes and diamonds for decisions and the arrows between nodes — into a list format that is more accessible. Susanna reviewed 32 PDF documents and extracted 342 images that looked like flowcharts.
“I began by having AI generate random flowcharts. Then, I developed a program where users could input the number of nodes and edges, as well as the topic of the flowchart,” she explained. “Next, I applied inclusion and exclusion criteria to narrow down the number of flowcharts that met the definition for the project,” she added.
In the process, Susanna gained several new skills, such as working with OpenAI’s APIs and learning more about the Python programming language. She also learned and used Mermaid to create flowcharts, Flask to build web apps, basic generative AI prompt engineering, and how to transfer output into an HTML file. She said she gained a deeper understanding of Monarch, a multi-line braille display device that creates tactile graphics integrated with braille.
Susanna said she enjoyed building a connection to the computer science community and seeing the technology research happening at CREATE and other labs.
“I saw a little better what research at an institution would look like if I decided to pursue that path.” In addition to her many successes in the 5-week internship, she experienced the disappointment of needing to become more exact about which images were actually flowcharts and having to go back and redo some work. “I learned that in research, accuracy matters most,” she noted.
Mohammed Al-jawadi, YES2 intern
Intern Mohammed Al-jawadi worked on an accessible CAD project with CREATE postdoctoral research scientist Carlos Tejada. The project involved creating a library of about sixty 3D models from the Thingiverse website. Al-jawadi collected models such as animals and household items, and then collaborated on building a large language model (LLM) to describe the models.
In the process, Al-jawadi also used the Monarch braille and tactile graphics tablet and found it very useful for a hands-on approach to learning.
“I would say the most valuable thing that I have learned at this internship is how to build and fine-tune an LLM because I am going to college in the fall studying computer science. Learning about LLMs gives me an understanding on how AI models work.”
Kaija Frierson, mentor and DUB undergraduate researcher
Kaija Frierson mentored the YES2 interns, assisting with tasks like building diagrams, running tests, learning the tools used in the lab, and showing them around the space. Frierson, a computer science major at the University of Arkansas, was a DUB undergraduate research intern this summer, advised by Mankoff. While at the UW, she worked on the Accessible Diagram Project, which focuses on finding ways to make computer science diagrams more accessible for experienced educators and learners.
Frierson remarked on the positivity of the interns: “They asked thoughtful questions, picked things up quickly, and were not only hardworking, but also really nice to be around.”
“I really appreciated how the YES2 program gives blind and visually disabled young people the chance to build skills, try things out, and think about their future careers. Being part of it made me realize how valuable programs like this are for preparing students and creating a more inclusive environment,” said Frierson.
DSB partnership with CREATE
The Department of Services for the Blind is a CREATE community partner.
DSB provides career support, independent living services, and youth and family services for Washingtonians who are experiencing vision loss or are Blind, Deaf-Blind, or Low Vision. They also support employers looking to create an inclusive workplace and are always expanding the list of employers who offer summer internships for YES2 students. Contact Janet George for details.
