March 10, 2026 CREATE faculty member Annuska Zolyomi co-led a collaborative exploration of how technology could help autistic individuals and their families. Celebrating Neurodiversity: Ichi-go Ichi-e Symposium, held in Tokyo in 2023, brought together thought leaders in HCI research and autism communities from Japan, North America, and Europe to explore neurodiversity in the Japanese context. Zolyomi, an assistant professor in Computing & Software Systems at UW Bothell, is the lead writer on a paper about the symposium and outcomes from…
Category: People
OpenThePaths: Connecting people & places through ethical AI
March 9, 2026 If you drive, you’ve probably used route-finding apps with reasonable success. But these tools do not take into consideration people with mobility challenges who need information about sidewalks, not roads. Washington State’s first map of pedestrian infrastructure, OS-CONNECT, was a main topic at the recent OpenThePaths Conference. Organized by CREATE associate director Anat Caspi, the conference was attended by policymakers, city planners, disability advocates, and technology professionals. Caspi is an affiliate assistant professor in electrical and computer…
Hackfest project for children with cerebral palsy goes on to win design awards
January 29, 2026 In 2024, students Lige Yang and Richard Li teamed up at the CREATE AI+Accessibility Hackfest to explore the concept of an AI tool that could monitor a person’s seated position, identify when they are in a posture that could cause injury or worsen an existing condition, and alert a caretaker with accurate, recommended corrections. Yang has continued developing the design. From hackfest idea submitted by a parent… The project idea was submitted by Max Smoot, the parent…
Ed Summers joins CREATE’s advisory board
March 2, 2026 The Head of Accessibility at GitHub, Ed Summers also serves on disability-related government and not-for-profit boards. As a blind software engineer and leader of accessibility programs within large technology companies, Summers’ personal mission is to enable people with disabilities to realize their full potential in the classroom and the 21st century knowledge economy. “Accessibility is a team sport. It requires contributions from industry, academia, government, and advocacy organizations, just to name a few. Each sector has a…
CREATE Researchers Honored, 2025-26
March 3, 2026 In the 2025-26 academic year, CREATE researchers have received prestigious awards for their work in accessibility. Congratulations to these leaders in accessibility innovation! 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…
Adaptive Solutions Mini-Hackathon: 2026 Recap
February 26, 2026 In January, CREATE and HuskyADAPT teamed up with the King County Library System (KCLS) to host a mini-hackathon to brainstorm and prototype solutions to accessibility problems. After an introduction to five real-world requests submitted by the disability community, participants self-selected their projects and got to work building their prototypes. These diverse teams of makers, researchers, disability professionals, and volunteers were assisted by community co-designers and design leads. They worked in KCLS’s Bellevue Makerspace using moldable thermoplastic, cardboard,…
Hala Annabi to lead new UW Institute for Neurodiversity and Employment
October 21, 2025 The institute will bring together an interdisciplinary team of leading scholars, practitioners, and employers. Together they will work to build the capacity of the UW, Washington state, and the nation to create neuroinclusive employment opportunities and advance the career possibilities for neurodivergent people. Annabi is a leading scholar on neurodiversity and employment and is an associate professor in the Information School. Her work in this space includes the publication of a series of Neurodiversity @ Work Playbooks…
Mark Harniss, Director for Education
CREATE Associate Director, Dr. Mark Harniss’ research focuses on knowledge translation, assistive technology, and accessible design. He teaches in both the Disability Studies Program and the Rehabilitation Medicine doctoral program with an emphasis on knowledge translation and disability policy. Harniss leads projects focused on developing decision aids to support people with disabilities to request reasonable accommodations and on developing an accommodation expert support system for people who are aging.
James Fogarty, Associate Director
CREATE Associate Director, Dr. James Fogarty’s broad research interests are in Human-Computer Interaction, User Interface Software and Technology, and Ubiquitous Computing. His focus is on developing, deploying, and evaluating new approaches to the human obstacles surrounding widespread everyday adoption of ubiquitous sensing and intelligent computing technologies.
Jacob O. Wobbrock, Associate Director
CREATE Associate Director, Dr. Jacob O. Wobbrock’s research seeks to scientifically understand people’s experiences of computers and information, and to improve those experiences through design and engineering, especially for people with disabilities. His specific research topics include input & interaction techniques, human performance measurement & modeling, HCI research & design methods, mobile computing, and accessible computing.
Richard Ladner
Emeritus Ladner web page ladner@cs.uw.edu Caspi Google Scholar Reseach interests I am interested in accessibility technology research, especially technology for deaf, deaf-blind, hard-of-hearing, and blind people. Active in promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities in computing fields, I am the Principal Investigator for the National Science Foundation funded AccessComputing and AccessCSforAll. Affiliations Professor Emeritus, Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering Principal Investigator, AccessComputing Founding PI and ongoing advisor, AccessCSforAll Research highlights ASL-STEM Forum ASL-STEM Forum is a website for scientists who know…