DO-IT News May 2026

For this issue, we asked DO-IT Director Scott Bellman to share reflections on his recent milestone of 25 years working at DO-IT. This is what he had to say.  

“On my first day at DO-IT, my supervisor Sara Lopez walked with me across the University of Washington campus. It was April. Colorful flowers and vibrant shades of green were everywhere. Undergraduate students were walking between classes and seniors were rushing along with their minds on the future, pondering graduation, summer plans, and the understanding that life was about to change forever.

The campus was different back then. It was filled with long-gone buildings and free of cell phones. One solitary skyscraper in the University District, Safeco Tower (today’s UW Tower), dominated the skyline.  

But many things were remarkably similar to the way they are today. Drumheller Fountain shot water high enough to catch rainbows. Red Square was packed with people soaking up the sun and hungry for a conversation or a bite to eat. Cherry blossom season was winding down, and UW’s annual ‘Engineering Discovery Days’ event was in full swing.

Eventually Sara pointed to the Materials Science and Engineering building and said, ‘Go in there and find Cliff. He’s running one of our DO-IT Center Discovery Days accessible technology exhibits.’ Off I went.

Cliff’s exhibit was hard to miss. His table was surrounded by local K-12 students peppering him with questions about his computer and computer gaming. When they moved on, I introduced myself and noticed that Cliff was blind, and that his setup—CPU, keyboard, and speakers—had no monitor.

‘Good thing, right?’ he laughed. ‘Those things are heavy!’  

As the next student group arrived, I watched him explain how he used state-of-the-art technology to do what college students do—check email, read the news, follow sports, and play games—without ever needing a screen.

I don’t know what to say about the person I am now versus the person I was that day 25 years ago. Since then, my respect for accessible technology and universal design has grown in ways I never could have imagined, as has my admiration for people who keep fighting for their rights even when the fight is exhausting. Over the years, I’ve seen the disability rights movement make progress, but not enough. Access to education, community, healthcare, and a livable wage isn’t just abstract policy. Access is often a matter of life and death for a group that includes more than 60 million Americans. That truth is sobering, and it stays with me.

Fortunately, this work has brought me great joy. I’m deeply grateful for the DO-IT team, our mentors, collaborators, student participants, allies, and funders—and for DO-IT's founder, Sheryl Burgstahler.  

Over 25 years I’ve had unforgettable experiences, such as meeting Stevie Wonder at an accessible technology conference, working alongside the governor of Washington State, and meeting some of the legendary icons from the disability rights movement.

But it’s everyday people like Cliff–people who are willing to share themselves with you if you are willing to listen carefully–who most ignite my curiosity and interest. A passionate fight for access is our shared responsibility toward healthy and thriving communities, and I thank all of you who have been on this journey with or without me. I offer my deepest respect to all of you. 

DO-IT Center At-A-Glance

•    2,000 students have participated in programs and engaged with mentors.
•    95% of DO-IT Scholars have attended college.
•    Over 1,000 DO-IT college and high school students completed internships.
•    Developed 100+ advocacy videos and 40 national capacity-building institutes.
•    Delivery of 70 college-preparation summer camps for youth with disabilities.
•    DO-IT's 35th anniversary is coming up in 2027!

In March, fifteen University of Washington (UW) students came together for our latest disability community meetup called “Staying Connected,” continuing a growing tradition of conversation, support, and shared experiences. This month, we also took a group outing to the Seattle Burke Museum on the UW campus.

The museum visit was organized in response to student interest, as several students had expressed a desire to go but did not have anyone to accompany them or just couldn’t find the time. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to explore together, and we hope to continue offering more activities like this in the future.

While at the Burke Museum, students noted the many accessibility features integrated throughout the space. From lower display cases and large, easy-to-read text to layouts that allow wheelchair users to comfortably approach exhibits, and so many more, the museum made it a special experience.

After the museum, we continued our usual tradition of gathering for boba, which is always fun. The students make these meetups special, and it’s great to see new friendships spark and established ones grow. Often it is difficult to feel a sense of belonging on campus, especially one as large as UW.

We’re excited to keep building on this momentum and look forward to more opportunities for students to connect in the months ahead. The image accompanying this article is from our most recent event in April. All UW students are welcome whether you have a disability or identify as an ally. For more information, send an email to doit@uw.edu. 

For nearly 35 years, DO-IT has connected hundreds of high school and college students with mentors who open doors to new possibilities. Every so often, one mentor stands out—not just for expertise, but for the rare ability to spark curiosity, build confidence, and make students feel they belong in challenging academic programs. In this issue of DO-IT News, we’re proud to celebrate “everybody’s favorite neuroscientist,” Dr. Eric H. Chudler of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. 

Each year, the DO-IT Center brings together college-bound high school students from across Washington state to build a community of support around college success. Our 2026 DO-IT Scholars come from across Washington state and have a broad range of interests. They are supported by DO-IT offices in Seattle at the University of Washington and in Spokane. 

On April 7, DO-IT Ambassador Naomi Marteeny delivered a presentation at the City of Kirkland Council meeting to help celebrate the unique talents, skills, and contributions of neurodivergent people.  

Kirkland’s mayor, Kelli Curtis, began the meeting by reading a proclamation that designated April as “Autism and Other Neurodivergence Acceptance and Appreciation Month.” The proclamation encouraged community members to promote acceptance and appreciation of those who identify as autistic or neurodivergent, because they’re making valuable contributions to the community as family members, friends, classmates, co-workers, and neighbors.

Mayor Curits then handed the proclamation to Naomi, who delivered a powerful speech on inclusion. Within the speech, she shared “We can embrace neurodivergence by understanding how people are protected by laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. We can listen carefully to the concerns of those who identify as neurodivergent and help elevate their voices.”

We’re proud of Naomi, 2016 DO-IT Scholar, for her advocacy work and we hold unwavering belief that, as the proclamation states, “neurodivergent people need to be treated with love, dignity, respect, and provided accommodations that lead to equal opportunities to thrive.”

The DO-IT Center is proud to announce that six UW students were selected to receive the Carl James Dunlap Memorial Student Award, a scholarship established by Tracey and Jim Dunlap and their family to honor the life and legacy of their son, UW student and 2014 DO-IT Scholar Carl Dunlap. Carl made a lasting impact on the UW community through his vibrant personality and strong advocacy for students, and the Dunlap family created the awards program to help ensure that other students have access to meaningful support as they pursue their education. Here are three of the six students who received awards in the most recent round of funding. 

Sarayah

Sarayah is a graduate student in Information Management at the University of Washington, with a passion for ethical technology, accessibility, and storytelling. Her work is shaped by lived experience and a commitment to creating systems that center equity, resilience, and human dignity.

Yena

Yena is a freshman at UW continuing her life lesson of learning to preserve the delicate balance between her two goals: education and health. Her complicated medical history became a stepping stone in unlocking her passion for school at a young age. Having been born with RAG deficiency and unable to undergo curative treatment, she hopes to one day be able to contribute to the development of revolutionary medicine for patients with genetic diseases. 

Joban

Joban is a Computer Science student at the University of Washington interested in using computing to support communities, address historical injustices, and analyze global data. He is actively involved as the Vice-Chair of a group called “Ability,” a lab researcher at the Information and Communication Technology for Development Lab, a Peer Advisor, and an advocate with WASHPIRG and the Washington Community Action Network. Outside of academics, he enjoys reading and writing (including working on a novel), discussing politics and history, and staying active through running, swimming, and hiking.

The DO-IT Center is honored to run the program in partnership with the Dunlap family and generous donors. Through this award, Carl’s legacy lives on by supporting students and fostering a more inclusive UW community. 

In February, AccessComputing staff attended the 2026 SIGSCE Technical Symposium, the largest conference of the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education in St Louis, MO. We were lucky to have two members of our leadership team honored during the conference.

Dr. Amy Ko’s Opening Keynote: “Love, Learning, and Computer Education”

AccessComputing senior personnel Dr. Amy Ko presented the Opening Keynote “Love, Learning, and Computing Education.” Amy Ko synthesizes her presentation in this summary:

"We live in a world that is increasingly full of hate, cruelty, and violence. These cultural forces are destabilizing schools, colleges, universities, libraries, and other places of informal learning, and every learner, teacher, and leader in them, threatening education and democracy in the U.S. and worldwide. What is our role, as computing educators and scholars, in resisting this hate? In this talk, I argue for love. A kind of love that shows up not as an abstraction in our values, but in the concrete ways that we teach computing, in the questions we ask about learning computing, in the technologies we create to support computing education, and in what we choose to teach about computing. To make this case, I examine my own experiences with love in computing education and then offer a conception of love in computing education, drawing upon a rich history of scholarship on love and learning. I then deconstruct some of the fundamental tensions between love, computing, and computing education culture. I end with several examples of loving computing education from scholars in our community, each showing us how we might reimagine our teaching, research, and institutions around love. Through this transformation, I hope we might inspire a generation of youth to help create both loving uses of computing, a loving society more broadly, and perhaps a more loving scholarly community for ourselves."

Amy shares her experiences and takeaways from SIGSCE in her Bits and Behavior Medium blog post, SIGSCE 2026: Love and Learning.

Dr. Richard Ladner Awarded Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education, Shares on the State of Computer Education

The ACM SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education honors an individual in recognition of a significant contribution to computer science education; AccessComputing founding PI and professor emeritus Dr. Richard Ladner exemplifies this through his long career in CS teaching topics in accessibility and disability, mentoring students in these topics, and his work in AccessComputing and beyond.

Richard was honored at the conference and shared in a panel with other award winners, The Future of CS Education. Key points in the panel share that the future of education is human-centered, flexible, and technology-enhanced, with learning often becoming more personalized and focused on how we can make a greater difference. This panel was livestreamed and can be viewed online.

Though Richard has retired as PI, he continues to support AccessComputing and promote accessibility in CS. His extensive knowledge in the field helps continue our success, and we are exceptionally proud of this honor.

DO-IT continues involvement in several projects focused on making computing education and careers more welcoming. This includes the AccessComputing Alliance, our AccessUR2PhD (Undergraduate Research to PhD) project, and our participation in the Alliance for Innovative Interdisciplinary Computing Education (AiiCE). Check out and share these new resources:

• Brief: Tips for Disabled Computing Students: Navigating Graduate School on the Path to a PhD (AccessUR2PhD)
• Research Article: Toward Accessible Parsons Problems on Mobile Platforms (Data Science for All)
• Recordings from the 2026 SIGCSE Technical Symposium
  • Amy Ko’s Opening Keynote: “Love, Learning, and Computer Education”
  • Panel The Future of CS Education with Richard Ladner
• Webinars
  • Impostor Phenomenon in an Academic Environment with Mary Huff, Dragonfly Mental Health (AccessComputing)
  • Supporting Students with Disabilities in Research with Kayla Brown and Scott Bellman (AccessUR2PhD)
  • Including Students with Disabilities in CS Education, Part 1 and Part 2 with Richard Lander (AccessComputing)
  • Where Will I Find the Time? A Flexible Ecosystem Approach to Digital Accessibility Training with Mary-Colleen Jenkins, UW (AccessComputing)
  • Book Chat with author Rua Williams: Disabling Intelligences: Legacies of Eugenics and How We are Wrong about AI with Rua Williams, Purdue University (AiiCE)
  • Disability, Pop Culture, and Technology with Kayla Brown (AccessComputing) 

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is an annual worldwide event held on the third Thursday in May to promote digital accessibility. According to the GAAD Foundation, “digital accessibility refers to the ability of people with disabilities/impairments to independently consume and/or interact with digital (e.g., web, mobile) applications and content.” 

DO-IT is housed within a UWIT unit called Accessible Technology Services, and has two closely related teams called Remediation and Operations (R&O) and Accessibility Consulting & Engagement (ACE). Together, we collaborate to increase opportunities for those with disabilities and support the UW's Digital Accessibility Initiative.