March 6, 2026 A paper on mobile device accessibility and co-authored by CREATE leaders 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…
Category: Impact
How CREATE research has made real-world changes
Richard Ladner: SIGCSE Outstanding Contribution to CS Education Award
March 5, 2026 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.” Richard Ladner, CREATE founding Director for Education Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering Ladner’s work has had a profound impact on the accessibility of…
Jon E. Froehlich Honored with SIGCHI Societal Impact Award
March 3, 2026 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…
Blind and Low Vision Teens Join CREATE through YES2 Summer Internships
September 3, 2025 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…
Community Day 2025 Recap
June 5, 2025 Thank you to all who attended Community Day and to our community partners and panel members for lively, informative conversations! Learn about this year’s Community Day and Research Showcase events and subscribe to the CREATE mailing list for updates on accessibility research. 2025 panel discussions This year, our panel discussions focused on current legal challenges to access and rights and explore how accessible technology research makes it from the lab to the real world. The panels were followed by our…
Taskar project helps pedestrians find accessible routes all over Washington state
April 9, 2025 AccessMap was created in the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology (TCAT), which is led by CREATE associate director Anat Caspi. When it was launched in 2017, data was limited to parts of Seattle. Over the years, it has expanded to other cities near the Salish Sea, including Everett, Mount Vernon and Bellingham. “Not only are we including all sidewalks in Washington, which is huge, but we are engaging communities and planners in a massive effort to support data production and…
“Dude, what am I gonna do with a touchscreen? It’s crazy. I can’t feel anything.”
March 26, 2025 The iPhone 1 with a touchscreen — but no accessibility features for people who were blind — was released in September 2007. A few years later, Tim Paulding, who is blind, ran his fingers across the smooth glass screen of an iPod Touch for the first time. He was working as a counselor at a summer camp for blind kids outside Grand Rapids, Michigan, when a friend handed him the then top-of-the-line iPod. “I’m like, ‘Dude, what…