DO-IT News December 2023

With mixed feelings, I share with you my plan to step down from my position as director of Accessible Technology Services and DO-IT as of December 31, 2023. My passion for universal design and accessibility for all led me to founding DO-IT in 1992, and I couldn’t have found a better home for my career. I leave DO-IT set up for success to continue creating a more accessible world into the future.

In 2024, I look forward to continuing to engage in projects of particular interest to me, doing more writing, spending time with our two grandchildren, and, of course, promoting universal design wherever my path may lead. I am going to miss all of the wonderful people I have worked with over the years, but I hope to stay connected with so many of you, including the participants in DO-IT programs continuing to lead the world into a more accessible future.

For those interested, here is a bit about my journey and the history of what has become ATS and DO-IT:

Although I had already graduated—twice—and worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Washington (UW), my first full-time job with the UW was with the Academic Computing Center (ACC). It was 1984. I came from a faculty-administrator position at St. Martin’s College (now University) in Lacey, Washington. My initial assignment was to build a Microcomputer Support Group to assist faculty, staff, and students who decided it was a good idea to replace their terminals (that connected to the mainframes) with a Macintosh or PC. 

My group grew to become Desktop Computing Services. In 1992, during a budget-tight time, I was asked to “dabble” in grant writing, to seek funding to explore the feasibility of Internet use in K-12 schools, show how the use of technology can improve lives, and develop collaborations on campus, particularly with the department of computer science and engineering. My dabbling led to grant and state funding for DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology). All DO-IT projects serve to increase the success of people with disabilities in college and careers, using technologies as empowering tool; many of them are in collaboration with faculty in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science.

 

DO-IT has grown substantially over the last 30+ years, becoming housed under Accessible Technology Services over time, when I helped push for more accessibility work to be done both on campus and off. Accessible Technology Services has two outreach units. DO-IT draws in partners on-campus, nationwide, and internationally, whereas the IT Accessibility Team reaches out to UW staff and faculty to join forces to ensure that all the technology the UW procures, develops, and uses is accessible to everyone, including faculty, students, staff, and visitors with disabilities. DO-IT has had a multitude of grant-led programs spanning the United States and even beyond, while, of course, always continuing our capstone program: DO-IT Scholars, which has helped lead hundreds of students with disabilities into successful degrees and careers.

Although I spend much of my time writing and giving presentations, what I will miss most about my job directing Accessible Technology Services and DO-IT is engaging with participants in the DO-IT Scholars, AccessComputing, and other projects. I plan to stay active in the field, so who knows where our paths may cross again.

DO-IT Summer study helps Scholars prepare for success in college and careers. Scholars have been coming to the University of Washington campus every summer since 1993 (attending virtually in recent years due to the pandemic) to get a mini experience of what it’s like to go to college. Scholars who came to Summer Study in July of this year participated in a two-week web accessibility class where they learned the basics of how to check websites for accessibility, conducted accessibility reviews of UW websites, and shared their findings with actual UW clients.

Scholars split into two groups and each group was assigned a “client” from the University of Washington community. UW clients included the Meany Center for the Performing Arts and the UW Counseling Center. The Meany Center is a performing arts center located on the University of Washington. The Counseling Center is a confidential mental health service available to all currently enrolled UW students.

Scholars reviewed their respective client’s websites for issues that can impact users with various disabilities in their ability to navigate a web page. They inspected several elements of web pages to assess accessibility including heading structure of web pages, alt text for images, contrast of colors used, and visual indication of focus. Scholars documented issues they found and each group reported their findings out to their respective clients.

Jen Nguyen with the Counselling Center is working in the confines of a website that is part of a larger website to incorporate Scholar feedback, especially with an inaccessible “Need for urgent help” feature for crisis services.

Michaela Marino with the Meany Center is working to update the font size on the website along with improving color contrast, and ARIA landmarks, among other accessibility considerations. They will be diving into user research and explore important conversations about how to make their content more accessible ahead of a new site rebuild.

It’s exciting to see Scholar feedback having a real-world impact. Even though Web Accessibility may not have been their favorite Summer Study experience, Scholars helped make the experience better for people who have barriers to navigating the web.

 

Recognize and understand what Neurodivergent means

A neurodivergent person is someone whose brain, body and nervous system operate differently from neurotypical people. Neurodivergent traits are frequently misunderstood and misinterpreted by neurotypical people and often viewed as aggressive or toxic interpersonal behaviors. Here are a few examples:

• People with autism can be seen as rude or angry or aggressive in their communication due to difficulties in picking up on non-verbal social cues or nuanced communication from neurotypical people.
• People with ADHD are often viewed by neurotypical people as lazy, flighty or irresponsible because they struggle with forgetfulness or go into periods of hyperfocus.
• People with dyspraxia can be seen as careless, clumsy, and destructive due to a number of possible impacts, including impaired fine motor skills, balance, and ability to judge proximity.
• People with auditory processing differences are not hearing impaired but may have difficulty distinguishing the meaning of spoken words without extra time to process or without supplemental input such as captions.

Neurotypical people can start the path to allyship by understanding that these, and other examples of differences in cognitive function, are not signs of low intelligence or intentional behaviors.

Recognize that Neurodivergent individuals choose to identify themselves in different ways

The person-first movement, an example of which might be “a person with Autism”, gained traction in recent years among disability rights movements but particularly in the neurodivergent community, that has never been uniformly adopted and identity-first language is still widely used. Among the neurodivergent communities, autistics in particular view Autism as a part of their identity. This is also true of many individuals who received diagnoses of “Asperger’s Syndrome”. The medical profession has dropped Asperger’s in favor of the Autism Spectrum, but many Aspies still see that as their diagnosis and part of their identity. Note that the Deaf community in particular also prefer identity-first language.

Functioning labels, such as “high-functioning” and “low-functioning” are discriminatory and harmful

Particularly in terms of Autism, individuals usually labeled “high-functioning” often need no, or less support and so are often overlooked. Those labeled “low-functioning” may be seen as incapable of things they can do independently. While these terms are usually applied to autistic people, the implication exists for other neurodivergent people; ADHD is a good example, as some people with ADHD function well without intervention or supports, while others may not. Like everyone, neurodivergent people have a variety of strengths and challenges; needs can vary by day, by environment, by activity. Rather than labeling neurodivergent people by “functioning”, focus on the type of support they need.

Communicate clearly, open communication without pressure and listen

• Many neurodivergent people have a hard time “reading between the lines”. For the neurotypical, communication is full of unspoken understandings. Using clear, plain language and take the time to check for understanding.
• It’s hard for neurodivergent people to initiate conversation, even if they have a topic they need or want to address with you. They just may not be ready. If an ND person is quiet, don’t assume they have nothing to say.
• Give time, opportunity and space, particularly in meetings; listen to the words of the ND person, not their tone or body language. Relaxed or social settings don’t necessarily make communicating easier for neurodivergent; it can sometimes make it harder.   

Give misunderstanding time to work itself out

Most often, a communication challenge can be clarified and worked through with discussion. Reframing a situation can be a particularly helpful process. But recognize that communication can require significant energy for neurodivergent people, and they may need a longer timeline – days, or even weeks for complex issues, to work through. This is a particularly important time to avoid negative assumptions; it’s also a time and process when they’re more likely to creep in.

Finally, take responsibility for your own learning

Check out additional resources:

• Autistic Self Advocacy Network
• ADDitude Magazine
• The Neurodiversity Hub
• The Neurodiversity Network

The winner of the 2023 NSF AccessComputing Capacity Building Award is Maya Israel, associate professor of educational technology and computer science (CS) education in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. She is the research director of the Creative Technology Research Lab, where she supervises students and postdocs. 

For the past ten years, Maya has been a beacon of light, through her research and advocacy, in helping the CS for All community make computer science more accessible and welcoming for K-12 students with disabilities. Her research provides evidence that Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles can be applied to computer science education to make it more inclusive for all students. Her advocacy has been influential in the creation of CS teacher standards that focus on equity and inclusion of all students including those with learning disabilities. The CS for All community has benefitted from her persistent and wise advocacy for students with disabilities in CS education.

Are you familiar with the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities?  Buried in Chapter II of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide, is information about the supplements.  They were also highlighted in the 2021 Dear Colleague Letter: Persons with Disabilities – STEM Engagement and Access. A FASED supplement can be requested to alleviate barriers to participation in research or training for disabled personnel on a grant, including PIs, other senior personnel, graduate students, and undergraduates.

Funding must be spent on equipment or services that will ameliorate a barrier that is particular to the project rather than equipment or assistance that the disabled person would use in a more general way.  Examples given in the PAPPG include: prosthetic devices to manipulate a particular apparatus; equipment to convert sound to visual signals for a particular experiment; access to a special site or to a mode of transportation; or a reader or interpreter with special technical competence related to the project. A wheelchair, hearing aid, or more general purpose device would not be funded.

Requests for FASED supplements can either be included with a proposal when it is submitted or submitted as a supplement to an already existing award and should include information about the specific nature, purchase, and need for the equipment or services requested.

AccessComputing is interested in learning more about how members of our community have used FASED supplements.  Have you requested a FASED supplement?  Was it funded?  What was the funding used for?  If it was not funded, why wasn’t it?  Email us at accesscomp@uw.edu and tell us more.  We hope to use the information we learn to benefit our larger community.

Recently, the DO-IT Center was featured in UW’s Viewpoint magazine. The goal of the magazine is “telling the story of diversity at the University of Washington.” The article shares ideas from three members of the DO-IT community: Dustine Bowker, Kayla Brown, and Sheryl Burgstahler.

The article, appearing on page 4 of the Fall 2023 Issue, is called "Reaching All Learners: The UW’s DO-IT program works to adapt classrooms and labs to be used by all people." The following is an excerpt from the article:

A decade ago, Dustine Bowker went to a pizza party at the Husky Union Building (HUB). Then a junior at Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Bowker, who identifies as being on the autism spectrum, came to the University of Washington to learn about a program designed to help people like him. He’s had to learn to recognize social cues, he said, and adapt to fit into many situations. But at the HUB that day 10 years ago, he felt a sense of belonging. “That was my very first event where I saw dozens of people with disabilities in the same room, and that was a new experience for me,” Bowker says. “It’s a type of community, I guess, that I didn’t even realize was there.”

“One of the biggest influences with DO-IT is learning about disability, how to interact with people with disabilities, knowing about areas like the disability rights movements,” Bowker says. Through DO-IT, he’s made lifelong friends and now better understands that, when it comes to disability rights, he’s building on the legacy of earlier advocates. “I wanted to give back to that community in a way,” he says. “And I think DO-IT has been one of the most profound sources of that.”

To request an accessible PDF version of the article, send an email to doit@uw.edu.

Photos by Scott Hamilton and Lacey Johnson; photo originally used in RIT article.

Several NSF AccessComputing Team Members completed their Ph.Ds this in 2023. Congratulations to each of them on this important milestone in their careers! Our first three new Ph.Ds set a major milestone: Abraham Glasser, Noella Kolash and Matthew Seita are the first three deaf Ph.Ds to graduate from RIT. 

• Abraham Glasser received his Ph.D in Computing and Information Studies. His dissertation, “Empirical Investigations and Dataset Collection for American Sign Language-Aware Personal Assistants.” Voice-controlled personal assistants are increasingly ubiquitous, and pose urgent accessibility challenges and barriers for DHH users. Dr. Glasser’s dissertation consisted of parallel research efforts investigating issues surrounding this technology, and provides a basis for future design and development of personal assistants that would be able to understand ASL input. Dr. Glasser started at Gallaudet University as an Assistant Professor this academic term.

• Noella Kolash received her Ph.D in Computing and Information Studies. Her research interests focus on accessible and educational technology and human computer interaction for Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Currently, she works on improving accessibility for people who are deaf through the selection of culturally understandable icons. Dr. Kolash works as a Junior Full Stack Engineer with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at RIT.

• Matthew Seita received his Ph.D in Computer Science His research interests lie in accessibility and human-computer interaction and how Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) can help deaf, hard of hearing and hearing people communicate better by designing ASR technology that will alert speakers that the software can’t pick them up clearly, which results in errors which lead to deaf people misunderstanding the communication exchange. Currently, Dr. Seita is doing a postdoc with Dr. Raja Kushalnagar at Gallaudet University. 

Several other NSF AccessComputing team members either completed their Ph.Ds this year or will complete them before the new year:

• Aisha Urooj received her Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of Central Florida. Her dissertation, “Visual Question Answering: Exploring Trade-offs Between Task Accuracy and Explainability” explores the process of answering questions about complex situations in videos; the process requires capturing the underlying semantics of actors, objects, and their relationships and their evolution over time (actions). Dr. Urooj examined methods of embedding learning action and relationship in video to solve the video question-answering task. The learned embeddings have the information of implicit graph structure for actions and relationships which significantly benefits in answering complex reasoning-based questions about the video. Dr. Urooj is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in AI at the Mayo Clinic.

• Brittany Lewis received her Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of Rhode Island. Her dissertation, “Designing Accessible Computing Device Authentication For People With Upper Extremity Impairments” examines how computing device authentication makes assumptions about the user's ability to perform complex tasks with their arms, hands, and fingers. As a result, entering complex passwords, or accurately positioning a camera for facial recognition can create barriers for people with upper extremity impairment. Dr. Lewis said that the goal of her work “was to explore and design more accessible ways for people with UEI to log in to their computing devices.”

• Jennifer Adorno will graduate in December with a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of South Florida. Jennifer’s dissertation, “Refining The Machine Learning Pipeline For US-Based Public Transit Systems” focused on improving methods and tools for handling real-time data in public transit research with the goal of decreasing the barrier of entry for data-driven approaches. The research crossed several branches of computer science such as big data, data science, and human-computer interaction. Jennifer is currently searching for a postdoc position focused on accessibility research targeting blind or visually impaired individuals.

• Tee Chuanromanee received their Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame. Their thesis is titled "Designing the Trans Experience: Technology and Common Gender Transition Narratives." Dr. Chuanromanee’s dissertation studies the role of technology in gender transition, in particular, the roles of access, storytelling, and decision-making in gender transition. They currently work as a Human Factors Engineer at Southwest AIrlines in Dallas, TX, and continue part-time as a Research Assistant at the University of Michigan School of Information.

The DO-IT Center gets a lot of calls and visits from people in Seattle, Washington State, and all across the United States. People are curious about our programs, resources, and opportunities. It’s no surprise, then, when international visitors collaborate with us on visits to the University of Washington Campus and DO-IT. This fall, DO-IT hosted visitors from Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, South Korea, and Indonesia!

A visit from Indonesian educators in October was facilitated locally by an organization called the World Affairs Council. The group consisted of five leading disability rights advocates from Indonesia who wanted to explore best practices for inclusive workplaces. They traveled under the auspices of the U.S. State Department, within the International Visitor Leadership Program.

In November, 24 teenage advocates from Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru visited with funding from the Digital Literacy Youth Leadership Program, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The students visited DO-IT as part of a two-week exchange focused on the use of social media to address community issues.

In December, twenty-one visitors from Korea were sponsored by the Korea Education and Research Information Service (KERIS), which plays a crucial role in advancing the integration of Information Technology across all levels of Korean education, from primary to higher education. As a public institution operating under the Korean Ministry of Education, KERIS not only promotes diverse projects but also actively engages in fostering academic research initiatives. They learned about DO-IT’s work related to educational systems, student and teacher supports, and educational technology.

Several staff members shared their expertise during the visits, including Rochelle Bowyer, Andrea Mano, Gaby DeJongh, and myself. For more information, visit the DO-IT International Initiatives webpage.  

The Computing Research Association's Distributed Research Experience for Undergraduates (DREU) is a program that supports summer research experiences for undergraduate students from groups that are underrepresented in the computing field, which includes students with disabilities. AccessComputing has been partnering with this program for years to pair up team members with a variety of computing labs and faculty mentors.

During my time at DREU, I was involved in three projects: Building a mobile math application, a machine learning suicide prevention project, and ADHD research in the workplace. From the math-app project, I learned value skills in mobile development, and I feel comfortable developing my own mobile app. Additionally, the machine learning team just published a paper on the research we did, and I was listed as an author on that paper. This is a first for me so I am very excited to have something to show people.

The best part of my experience was the remote aspect. Since I was a remote worker, I was able to do my work while studying abroad in Oxford. I wrote code and completed research in England, Italy, and France. I would like to have a remote job out of college and travel Europe, so this was a taste of that lifestyle. I cannot thank DREU enough for the amazing experience, and I recommend this program to anyone interested!

This year, DO‑IT Phase I Scholars participated in a three-week Summer Study session. They learned about college life; explored online resources; interacted with peers, staff, and mentors; and had fun. The DO‑IT Scholars program started in 1993 as an experimental project for teens with disabilities nationwide. While it is usually held on campus at the University of Washington, this year it was held online. It is currently open to Washington State teens and is supported by the State of Washington. The DO-IT Scholars program is supported by all DO-IT staff and led by Tami Tidwell, Kayla Brown, and Andrea Mano.