Our translation efforts center on moving CREATE research — including new knowledge, methods, software, data, and apps — into community, industry, and policy settings, and to enhance CREATE research through community and industry input.
Translation at CREATE ranges from releasing open source products to leveraging our partnerships to sustainably translate products and ideas into the community.
Tools you can use
CREATE researchers have introduced research-based projects into the community.
For researchers and data scientists: A dataset that preserves privacy
CREATE associate director Leah Findlater and coauthors (including a CREATE Ph.D. student) published a dataset challenge for the VizWiz Grand Challenge Workshop 2025. The challenge drew on their published work about creating a dataset for blind and low vision people that preserves their privacy during image identification processes.
For DIYers: A kit to build accessible switches
SwitchKit is a customizable kit that opens up unlimited accessibility possibilities. SwitchKit works with both commercial and homemade switches and connects to a tablet or computer so that it can be used with apps or websites. While the team developed games for SwitchKit using Scratch, a kid-friendly programming platform, it also works with other games or apps that utilize arrow keys or the space bar for input.
For DIYers and the open-source community: Accessibility project hub in progress
CREATE is developing a central hub for information about open-source assistive technologies. Through this site, disabled makers and developers, as well as their allies and communities, will be able to find, use, and contribute to a variety of open-source accessibility projects. Updates are coming soon! For now, check out a tutorial on accessible switches.
Translation events
CREATE Community Day
At our annual Community Day, CREATE hosts experts from academia, industry, and nonprofits to discuss relevant topics on accessibility research. In 2025, we were joined by Kirk Adams, Michael Bervell, Mary Goldberg, Wilson Ng, and Michelle Williams to talk about how to bring research into the world.
HuskyADAPT
CREATE’s affiliated student group, HuskyAdapt, works to improve accessibility and inclusivity for individuals with disabilities. Through three branches — Toy Adaptation, Design Teams, and Go Baby Go! — they train the next generation of inclusively-minded engineers, clinicians, and educators to help make the world more equitable.
In academic year 2024-25, the Toy Adaptation program organized 15 adapting events, certified 18 Lead Toy Adapters (for a total of 47), and adapted a record 141 toys. A holiday hackathon provided 40 switch-adapted toys through a local community partner. HuskyADAPT co-hosted events with King County Library Systems and adapted books for local schools and families. They also expanded their switch-building workshops to include a local Girl Scouts troop and the Microsoft Inclusive Tech Lab.
HuskyADAPT team awarded at RESNA 2025
The HuskyADAPT Design team project, Switch-Accessible Tablet Application, aka Switcheroo, received a 2nd place Student Design Competition award at the 2025 RESNA conference.
Interested in collaborating? Contact us:
Kathleen Quin Voss,
Community Engagement and Partnerships Manager
kqvoss@cs.washington.edu
206-543-3170
RECENT TRANSLATION NEWS
GAAD Day 2025 Interview with CREATE Director Jennifer Mankoff
In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) on May 15, Melissa Albin from UW-IT Communications sat down with CREATE Director Dr. Jennifer Mankoff, to discuss the intersection of computing, accessibility, and disability studies. She shared personal reflections, insights on culture change, and her hopes for a more inclusive future in tech and beyond. Dr. Mankoff,…
Access Board’s Preliminary Findings on AI and People with Disabilities
January 21, 2025 This month, the United States Access Board presented its preliminary findings on the risks and benefits of AI for people with disabilities (PWD). The overall goal of these recommendations is to make AI more inclusive, transparent, and responsible, ensuring that people with disabilities are both protected and empowered in AI-driven environments. The…
Anat Caspi speaks at White House panel on AI in Transportation
June 17, 2024 CREATE associate director Anat Caspi spoke on ‘Mapping, Visualizing, and Building the Future’ as part of a White House panel on AI in Transportation. Focused on developing a national transportation infrastructure observatory and an accompanying application ecosystem, the panel gathered innovators in transportation, aiming to align end users, researchers, entrepreneurs, and federal…
Three Myths and Three Actions: “Accommodating” Disabled Students
CREATE Ph.D. students Kelly Avery Mack and Ather Sharif, along with Lucille Njoo, share three common myths about students with disabilities. They reveal the reality of their inequitable experience as grad students at UW, and propose a few potential solutions to begin ameliorating this reality, both at our university and beyond.
Alice Wong and Patty Berne: Two UW lectures moderated by CREATE researchers
January 29, 2024 Winter 2024 quarter kicked off with two outstanding conversations with women of color who are leaders in disability justice. Alice Wong: Raising the visibility of disabled people First, Alice Wong discussed topics important to her work in raising the visibility of disabled people. Wong’s book Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life was…