Congratulations to Jennifer Mankoff on receiving the AccessComputing Capacity Building Award! She was honored for her leadership in helping make all Special Interest Group on Computer–Human Interaction (SIGCHI) conferences accessible to attendees with disabilities.
Through her leadership, the SIGCHI Executive Committee now has adjunct chairs for accessibility, which institutionalizes accessibility as an important facet of SIGCHI activities. Jen holds monthly online meetings of the AccessSIGCHI leadership team to help set and execute its agenda.
Every year AccessComputing honors someone with the AccessComputing Capacity Building Award for their work and accomplishments that have changed the way the world views people with disabilities and their potential to succeed in challenging computing careers and activities.
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.
Participants will be compensated with a $30 electronic gift card
Information from the focus groups will be used to develop a disability allyship training curriculum that is rooted in lived experiences and can be implemented in the education and training of healthcare professionals and others across UW to improve our inclusive campus culture. All research information will be de-identified.
For questions or to express interest in the study, please contact the research team at uwdisabilityequity@uw.edu.
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.
Participation in this study is entirely voluntary. If you do decide to participate, your individual data will be kept strictly confidential and will be stored without personal identifiers. The study involves an informational interview to better understand screen reader needs around scientific papers. Each participant will also be asked to interact with papers on a web interface developed by the team.
Please contact Jonathan Bragg (jbragg@allenai.org) or Lucy Lu Wang (lucyw@allenai.org) if you have any questions or concerns about this study. Thank you in advance for your time! Please help us spread the word by forwarding as appropriate.
Congratulations to UW CREATE faculty on multiple awards at ASSETS 2020, the International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility!
“The University of Washington has been a leader in accessible technology research, design, engineering, and evaluation for years. This latest round of awards from ACM ASSETS is further testament to the great work being done at the UW. Now, with the recent launch of CREATE, our award-winning faculty and students are brought together like never before, and we are already seeing the great things that come of it. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners.”
— Prof. Jacob O. Wobbrock, Founding Co-Director, UW CREATE
Best artifact: SoundWatch, as described in the paper Exploring Smartwatch-based Deep Learning Approaches to Support Sound Awareness for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users Dhruv Jain, Hung Ngo, Pratyush Patel, Steven Goodman, Leah Findlater, Jon Froehlich Links: github code repository | presentation video
UW CREATE faculty members Jon Froehlich and Leah Findlater have helped develop a smartwatch app for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people who want to be aware of nearby sounds. The smartwatch will identify sounds the user is interested in — such as a siren, a water faucet left on, or a bird chirping — and send the user a friendly buzz along with information.
“This technology provides people with a way to experience sounds that require an action… [and] these devices can also enhance people’s experiences and help them feel more connected to the world,” said lead author Dhruv Jain, a UW doctoral student in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.
The SoundWatch smartwatch app that identifies nearby sounds and alerts wearers. Jain et al./ASSETS 2020
The team presented their findings Oct. 28 at ACCESS, the ACM conference on computing and accessibility.
Learn more about SoundWatch, the full team and how the smartwarch app evolved from a collection of tablets scattered around a house.
The team, one of only three selected across the country, includes Sam Logan, an associate professor at Oregon State University, and Lisa Kenyon, a professor at Grand Valley State University.
Study Details: The use of powered mobility devices for young children with cerebral palsy (CP) has been gaining traction. Evidence shows that the use of powered mobility at young ages complements (rather than detracts from) other interventions focused on more traditionally viewed mobility skills such as crawling and walking, as well as broadens accessible participation and experiences for children and families.
Heather will lead the multi-site team of investigators in collecting preliminary data to investigate device use patterns, caregiver perceptions, and developmental outcomes of children with CP after introduction of two forms of early powered mobility technologies: commercial (the Permobil® Explorer Mini) and DIY (a Go Baby Go modified ride-on toy car). As FDA clearance for the Explorer Mini was just received in March of 2020, this is the first opportunity to provide key data on the integration and use of the device in the home and community, and it represents the first opportunity to compare the novel device with a modified ride-on car, which has also been customized to support early self-initiated mobility in a socially inviting way.
Why it matters: Research comparing these devices in natural environments can add critical data to the evidence supporting early powered mobility for children with CP as a part of a multimodal mobility approach to care across the lifespan. It also presents a unique opportunity to further engage in critical discussion of facilitators and barriers to mobility and access for disabled children and families.
Dr. Kat M. Steele, an associate director of CREATE, presents at NIH’s Rehabilitation Research 2020: Envisioning a Functional Future conference on Friday, October 16, 2020. She will be presenting in the Mobility Across the Lifespan session with Bernadette Gillick, PhD, PT from the University of Minnesota and Levi Hargrove from the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. This meeting highlights rehabilitation research and informs the congressionally-mandated NIH Research Plan on Rehabilitation Research to inform priorities for the next four years.
Dr. Steele’s talk “Normalcy Fallacy: Reimagining Mobility for Scientific Discovery & Innovation” focuses on examining how our assumptions of “normal” movement can hinder scientific and translational research to support mobility across the lifespan.
UW CREATE has a large and quality presence at ASSETS 2020, the premier annual conference for accessible computing research. Drawing from three departments, University of Washington authors contributed to six papers and two posters to be presented at this year’s online conference. Three of our papers were nominated for best paper! Seven members also served in conference roles: two on the organizing committee and five on the program committee.
The papers and posters span a variety of topics including input performance evaluation of people with limited mobility, media usage patterns of autistic adults, sound awareness for d/Deaf and hard of hearing people, and autoethnography reports of multiple people with disabilities. Congratulations to the authors and their collaborators!
We look forward to seeing you virtually at ASSETS 2020, which runs October 26 to 28.
An autoethnograher’s daughter’s handcrafted cane, as presented in the paper, “Living disability theory: Reflections on access, research, and design.”The SoundWatch, as described in the paper: “SoundWatch: Exploring smartwatch-based deep learning approaches to support sound awareness for deaf and hard of hearing users.”
Accepted papers
Input accessibility: A large dataset and summary analysis of age, motor ability and input performance
Leah Findlater, University of Washington Lotus Zhang, University of Washington
The reliability of fitts’s law as a movement model for people with and without limited fine motor function
Ather Sharif, University of Washington Victoria Pao, University of Washington Katharina Reinecke, University of Washington Jacob O. Wobbrock, University of Washington
Lessons learned in designing AI for autistic adults: Designing the video calling for autism prototype
Andrew Begel, Microsoft Research John Tang, Microsoft Research Sean Andrist, Microsoft Research Michael Barnett, Microsoft Research Tony Carbary, Microsoft Research Piali Choudhury, Microsoft Edward Cutrell, Microsoft Research Alberto Fung, University of Houston Sasa Junuzovic, Microsoft Research Daniel McDuff, Microsoft Research Kael Rowan, Microsoft Shibashankar Sahoo, UmeΠInstitute Of Design Jennifer Frances Waldern, Microsoft Jessica Wolk, Microsoft Research Hui Zheng, George Mason University Annuska Zolyomi, University of Washington
SoundWatch: Exploring smartwatch-based deep learning approaches to support sound awareness for deaf and hard of hearing users
Dhruv Jain, University of Washington Hung Ngo, University of Washington Pratyush Patel, University of Washington Steven Goodman, University of Washington Leah Findlater, University of Washington Jon E. Froehlich, University of Washington
Megan Hofmann, Carnegie Mellon University Devva Kasnitz, Society for Disability Studies Jennifer Mankoff, University of Washington Cynthia L Bennett, Carnegie Mellon University
Navigating graduate school with a disability
Dhruv Jain, University of Washington Venkatesh Potluri, University of Washington Ather Sharif, University of Washington
Accepted posters
HoloSound: Combining speech and sound identification for Deaf or hard of hearing users on a head-mounted display
Ru Guo, University of Washington Yiru Yang, University of Washington Johnson Kuang, University of Washington Xue Bin, University of Washington Dhruv Jain, University of Washington Steven Goodman, University of Washington Leah Findlater, University of Washington Jon E. Froehlich, University of Washington
#ActuallyAutistic Sense-making on Twitter
Annuska Zolyomi, University of Washington Ridley Jones, University of Washington Tomer Kaftan, University of Washington
Organizing Committee roles
Dhruv Jain as Posters & Demonstrations Co-Chair Cynthia Bennett as Accessibility Co-Chair
Program committee roles
Cynthia Bennett (recent alumni, now at Apple/CMU) Leah Findlater Jon Froehlich Richard Ladner Anne Ross
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.
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 finding their own way to the stage and studio, some with a paintbrush in hands and on the big screen like Kei’Arie “Cookie” Tatum, and some with a drumstick in their hands, like Vita E. Cleveland.
The CREATE Conversation Hub hosts a live Q&A with Sara Hendren on the future of mobility and lessons she learned through writing her new book, What Can A Body Do? How We Meet the Built World.
Sara Hendren: Future visions of mobility and lessons learned through writing What Can A Body Do? How We Meet the Built World
January 8, 2021 at 11 a.m. Pacific time (2 p.m. Eastern time)
Sara Hendren is an artist, design researcher, writer, and professor at Olin College of Engineering. Her work spans collaborative public art and social design that engages the human body, technology, and the politics of disability — such as a lectern for short stature or a ramp for wheelchair dancing. She also co-founded the Accessible Icon Project.
We strive to make our events as accessible as possible, including using video conferencing with automated captions, supporting people in using text or voice to join the conversations, and working with disability services to address any other accommodations. We welcome any ongoing feedback on how best to create an accessible experience.
Mobility is a central part of accessibility and this new Conversation Hub, hosted by CREATE Associate Directors Kat Steele and Heather Feldner, provides a way to connect and learn from guests who are engaged in critical mobility work — ranging from researchers to small business owners to self-advocates.
We will dive deeply into conversations about mobility as a multifaceted concept, and explore how it intersects with other dimensions of access across contexts of research, education, and public policy.
What constitutes mobility and who gets to define it?
How do we move and explore the world?
What barriers and assumptions limit mobility?
How do we support all forms of mobility throughout the lifespan?
Mobility is about more than how we get from Point A to Point B. Regardless of form, mobility is a medium through which we interact and engage with the world. Yet, assumptions about “normal” or “acceptable” ways to move are literally cemented into our world.
The CREATE team applauds and congratulates AccessADVANCE, a new project that was recently awarded $1 million by the National Science Foundation. AccessADVANCE seeks to increase the participation and advancement of women with disabilities in academic science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers.
There are relatively few women who currently hold faculty positions in STEM fields and even fewer with disabilities. This effort has the potential to impact both — women in general, because any faculty member may at some point become disabled, permanently or temporarily and women with disabilities who are trying to advance into STEM careers.
“To effectively support female STEM faculty, attention to disability issues must be woven into the entire sociotechnical ecosystem of STEM departments,” said Cecilia Aragon, a professor in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering and AccessADVANCE co-principal investigator. “Many diversity efforts, even those that aim to take an intersectional approach with regard to race and gender, do not address disability.”
Aragon and co-principal investigator Dr. Sheryl Burgstahler, founder and director of CREATE partner organizations DO-IT Center and UW Access Technology Center, will develop and expand an online Knowledge Base and other resources to share Q&As, case studies, and promising practices regarding institutional practices.
Dr. Richard Ladner, CREATE’s Director for Education, has been named the 2020 recipient of the Public Service Award for an individual from the National Science Board (NSB). In recognizing Ladner, the board cited his exemplary science communication, diversity advocacy, and well-earned reputation as the “conscience of computing.”
“When we think about diversity, we must include disability as part of that. The conversation about diversity should always include disability.”
Richard Ladner, Professor Emeritus, University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering
From his foundational experiences as a graduate student teaching hands-on mathematics in his community to co-founding AccessComputing, Dr. Ladner has spent his career educating and changing the conversation on diversity. In recognizing Ladner, the National Science Board (NSB) cited his exemplary science communication, diversity advocacy, and well-earned reputation as the “conscience of computing.”
“When we think about diversity, we must include disability as part of that. The conversation about diversity should always include disability,” said Ladner.
As a faculty member, now Professor Emeritus, in the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, he has mentored 136 students, including 30 Ph.D. students. “I visited Richard’s lab at the University of Washington just over 10 years ago. While I did get to see Richard, he was most interested in my meeting his Ph.D. students — and I could see why,” recalled Vicki Hanson, CEO of the Association for Computing Machinery. “Richard had provided an atmosphere in which his talented students could thrive. They were extremely bright, enthusiastic, and all involved in accessibility research. I spent the day talking with his students and learning about their innovative work.”
Ladner has participated in, or organized, numerous computer science workshops for high school students with disabilities. Currently, he and his colleagues are developing accessible curricula and training teachers to help more students with disabilities participate in AP Computer Science Principles courses. Their curricula train teachers of blind and visually impaired students, teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students, and teachers of learning-disabled students.
In accepting congratulations for the reward, Ladner wrote to his peers, “I am very pleased and honored to receive this Public Service Award from the National Science Board. I’m very fortunate to be in a school where we support each other in our research, teaching, and service, including public service.”
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 independently travel to one of the testing center locations. Participants receive $625 for 5 days of testing.
If you or you know someone who may be interested, please call ABIGAIL or ALBERT at 1-888-863-4353 (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. CT) or take a quick survey to see if you pre-qualify.
CREATE faculty are already internationally recognized for their contributions to assistive technology and accessible computing; by bringing them together under one organizational roof, CREATE will enable synergies and foster collaborations that enable faculty and students to become more than the sum of their parts.
With the goal of making navigating our streets safer and easier for the mobility impaired, Jon Froehlich’s Project Sidewalk turns mapping sidewalks and improving pedestrian accessibility into a virtual game. To complete missions, users “walk” through city streets via Google Street View, labeling and rating the quality of sidewalks and features that make it easier—or tougher—to get around. They identify curb ramps, or lack thereof, assess their positioning, and point out tripping hazards.
Since Froehlich launched Project Sidewalk in Seattle in April 2019, users have mapped roughly a third of the city’s 2,300 miles of sidewalks and labeled nearly 70,000 curb ramps, uneven surfaces, potential obstacles like lamp posts, too.
Jonathan Kaufman, in Forbes magazine’s Mindset Matters column, calls for innovation to make workplaces inclusive and accessible. In his May 31, 2020 column, An Object Lesson For Business, And Innovation In The Age Of A Pandemic, he highlights the partnership between CREATE and Microsoft as a prime example of how we can “redefine the very nature of work and develop the tools needed to create a culture of innovation.”
“It is at this moment that offers organizational leadership a means to reframe the status that disability plays in how we redefine the very nature of work and develop the tools needed to create a culture of innovation and cultivate a management strategy that embraces the needs of individual employees to be more productive and in turn give back to the collective goals of the company.”
