Congratulations to CREATE Advisory Board member Rory Cooper on receiving the 2022 IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award! For more than 25 years, Cooper has been developing technology to improve the lives of people with disabilities and his inventions have helped countless wheelchair users get around with more ease and comfort. Cooper’s first innovations in mobility were a modification to the back brace he wore after a spinal cord injury left him paralyzed from the waist down, then a better wheelchair, then an electric-powered version that…
Category: Announcements
Carl James Dunlap Memorial Scholarship
University of Washington student Carl James Dunlap had a powerful impact on the UW community with his vibrant personality and persistent advocacy for students with disabilities. To honor his legacy, the Dunlap family established the Carl James Dunlap Memorial Endowment. The Dunlap Memorial Endowment seeks to support students with disabilities encountering unique challenges when attending and completing higher education. The D Center is grateful to further Carl’s legacy by awarding two $2,000 Carl James Dunlap Memorial Scholarships to UW students…
UnlockedMaps provides real-time accessibility info for rail transit users
Congratulations to CREATE Ph.D. student Ather Sharif, Orson (Xuhai) Xu, and team for this great project on transit access! Together they developed UnlockedMaps, a web-based map that allows users to see in real time how accessible rail transit stations are in six metro areas including Seattle, Philadelphia (where the project was first conceived by Sharif and a friend at a hackathon), Chicago, Toronto, New York, and the California Bay Area. Shown here is a screenshot of UnlockedMaps in New York. Stations that are…
CREATE Contributes to RFP on Healthcare Accessibility
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) requested public comment about comprehensive, longitudinal, person-centered care planning for people with Multiple Chronic Conditions (MCC). CREATE contributed to a disability justice-focused response that highlights nine recommendations: Read the full response (PDF).
Accessible teaching strategies
CREATE faculty member Stephanie Kerschbaum has contributed to a set of guidelines to help UW faculty plan, design, and adapt their teaching around students’ needs. “Accessibility is about recognizing that access is a complex, relational configuration as people move and share space together. Accessible teaching requires us to be in conversation with and responsive to our students.” – Stephanie Kerschbaum, UW professor and disability studies scholar The guidelines include general strategies such as anticipating students’ needs and using technology that supports…
Jen Mankoff receives SIGCHI Social Impact Award
Congratulations to CREATE Co-Director Jennifer Mankoff! She has been awarded a 2022 Social Impact Award by SIGCHI, the special interest group of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for professionals, academics and students interested in human-technology and human-computer interaction (HCI). Mankoff was cited for research focused on accessibility to give people the voice, tools and agency to advocate for themselves. “She strives to make change at both structural and individual levels. For example, her recent work on fabrication of accessible…
CREATE Submits RFI on Disability Bias in Biometrics
CREATE’s response to the Science and Technology Policy Office’s request for “Information on Public and Private Sector Uses of Biometric Technologies”
CREATE Co-Director Jacob O. Wobbrock Named ACM Fellow
We congratulate CREATE Co-Director Jacob O. Wobbrock on being named an ACM Fellow by the Association for Computing Machinery for his contributions to human-computer interaction and accessible computing! Wobbrock’s research seeks to understand and improve people’s interactions with computers and information, especially for people with disabilities. He is the primary creator of ability-based design, which scrutinizes the ability assumptions embedded in technologies in an effort to create systems better matched to what people can do. CREATE profile Faculty page For this…
Year 1 Impact Report
A whirlwind year of accessible technology research, education, collaboration, fundraising and recognition is highlighted in CREATE’s Year 1 Impact Report.
Go Baby Go Car Adaptation Workshop
UW Go Baby Go, co-directed by CREATE Associate Director Heather Feldner, is excited to announce its fall workshop where we will build ten Go Baby Go cars for local children with disabilities and their families! UW and CREATE students, postdocs, and faculty (especially from engineering, computer science, and rehab programs), local clinicians, and parents/caregivers are all encouraged to attend. Saturday, November 6, 2021 * Workshop: 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. * Family car fittings and pickup: 2-4 p.m. UW Rehab Medicine, BB tower…
Help make the WSDOT website more accessible
Anthro-Tech is looking for people who use screen readers and other assistive technology to participate in a usability study on the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) website redesign. During a study session, the facilitator will show the participant the new website and ask them to use it to complete a few tasks. Sessions will take place on Zoom for 60-90 minutes and participants receive a $100 check as a thank you. Learn more and sign up at WSDOT Website Study: Call for participants.
Recruiting for Tactile Map Participants
UW researchers are seeking participants for a paid study. Who: People who are blind or low vision who use a screen reader and are 18 years or older.What: Participants will be asked to test 3D-printed tactile maps. Sessions are 60 minutes. For details, see the signup survey.Where: UW Seattle campus.When: August.Compensation: $40 and a travel stipend.How: Contact Kelly Mack at kmack3@cs.washington.edu or fill out the signup survey.
CREATE Research Showcase – Spring 2021
Schedule of events for the 2021 CREATE Research Showcase. Open to the public, CREATE faculty and students share research in accessibility.
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…
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.
CREATE Board Members Honored by SIGCHI
Two UW CREATE board members were honored by SIGCHI for their research in human-technology and human-computer interaction (HCI) that advances technology for people with disabilities.
Data Science for Social Good summer program
February 4, 2021 Students and researchers are invited to apply to participate in a collaborative program with data science professionals and students to make better use of research data. The Data Science for Social Good summer program at the University of Washington eScience Institute brings together data scientists and domain researchers to work on focused, collaborative projects for societal benefit. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 program will be conducted remotely. The program supports compelling, timely, publicly-relevant projects that are poised…
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…
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…
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, 20203:30 – 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…