November 18, 2024 This month, CREATE’s ARRT postdocs postdocs and HuskyADAPT students partnered with our partners King County Library Systems (KCLS) and Washington Assistive Technology Act Program (WATAP) to put on an impressive and successful hackfest. The goal was to design adaptations to everyday challenges for people with disabilities. All six teams came up with innovative solutions. No prizes were given out, but the best “prize” is that there is a plan to further develop the most feasible solutions and give…
Category: Partners-community
Gatzert Child Welfare Fellowship for Reham Abuatiq
June 13, 2024 Advised by CREATE associate director Heather Feldner, Abuatiq’s dissertation work explores the Healthcare Transition of Middle Eastern Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and their Families. Using both qualitative and participatory methods, her research goals are to: Abuatiq is currently working with one of CREATE’s community partners, Open Doors for Multicultural Families (ODMF), which provides grassroots community-based services and supports for immigrants and refugees in the WA area living with disabilities. ODMF plans to host a photo exhibition in…
CREATE AI+Accessibility Hackfest – Winter ’24
March 6, 2024 – post-event update In March 2024, CREATE gathered with industry and community partners for a hackfest to explore and invent the future of AI and Accessibility. The event featured invited speakers Heather Nolis, Ian Stenseng, and Shaun Kane and exciting workshops on building custom GPT and creating accessible Jupyter notebooks. See the full lineup of brainstorming, hacking, and presentation sessions. The 3-day hackfest attendees included those with no experience in coding or hacking, others with advanced experience in…
Community Partner Spotlight: PAVE
November 8, 2023 CREATE is pleased to work with PAVE (Partnerships for Action | Voices for Empowerment) to help guide our efforts and shape solutions around the needs and limitations of accessible technology. They’ve supported our grant applications, shared opportunities for participation in CREATE research projects with their community, and published CREATE research on the importance of self-initiated mobility for children, particularly children with disabilities. PAVE’s mission is to provide support, training, information, and resources to empower and give voice…
User-informed, robot-assisted social dining for people with motor impairments
June 1, 2023 A team of Allen School robotics researchers has published a paper on the finer aspects of robot-assisted dining with friends. “A meal should be memorable, and not for a potential faux pas from the machine,” notes co-author Patrícia Alves-Oliveira. Supported by a CREATE Student minigrant and in the spirit of “nothing about us without us,” they are working with the Tyler Schrenk Foundation to address the design of robot-assisted feeding systems that facilitate meaningful social dining experiences. The team is led by Ph.D. student Amal Nanavati, postdoc Patrícia Alves-Oliveira and includes CREATE…
Accessible eSports Showcase 2023: Event Recap
In April 2023, CREATE hosted its first ever Accessible eSports Showcase event, bringing together members of the CREATE community, local community organizations, tech and games Corporate Partners, and folks from all over the Seattle area looking to learn about and celebrate ongoing strides being made in making video games more inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities. Zillow Commons in the Bill & Melinda Gates Center was transformed into a gamer’s playground with big-screen projections of racing and party games,…
The Here And Now Project – A Community Partner Profile
The mission of The Here and Now Project (H&NP) is to connect and empower the paralysis community in the Pacific Northwest. They provide care baskets, adaptive water bottles, and peer support to the newly paralyzed and host a rotating calendar of monthly gatherings and other seasonal events and activities throughout Western Washington. H&NP Co-founder and President Kenny Salvini shared the project’s inspiration, recent successes, and foremost goals. “I’ve learned that everyone I meet has a story and a voice that…
Community Day & Research Showcase 2022
CREATE’s 2nd Annual Community Day was well attended with 100 registered participants and presenters. We’re pleased with the show of strong community, the return to in-person (and also virtual) panel discussions, and a research showcase of 14 project teams. This year’s panels addressed the disproportionate impact of access to assistive technology on children with disabilities in BIPOC and immigrant communities as well as the issues that arise with the intersection of accessibility and biometric technologies. We were honored to host…
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 Community Day & Research Showcase 2021
CREATE Community Day 2021 was a rich program that included an important discussion of the concerns and approaches to just, sustainable accessibility research that puts the needs of community members with disabilities front and center.
CREATE members highlighted what their labs are doing, with time to hear about a variety of individual projects. Read on for a sample of the presentations.
The Future of Assistive Technology: A Panel Discussion
Anat Caspi participated in a panel discussion on the future of assistive technology and how recent innovations are likely to affect the lives of people with disabilities.
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…
Participants Needed for Usability Study
Individuals with mobility impairments who use a wheelchair as their primary mobility device may qualify to participate in a paid usability study. Participants will test new technology that can improve workplace accessibility in an e-commerce fulfillment environment. The study will be conducted by Fieldwork, a national market research firm, on behalf of Amazon. Participants must be able to independently transfer to another surface, have good upper extremity function, be able to perform moderate levels of activity, and be able to…