AccessComputing

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AccessComputing

The goal of The Alliance for Access to Computing Careers (AccessComputing) is to increase the participation of people with disabilities in computing fields. AccessComputing collaborators apply evidence-based practices to:

increase the number of students with disabilities successfully pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees and careers in computing fields.
increase the capacity of postsecondary computing departments to fully include students with disabilities in computing courses and programs.
create a nationwide resource to help students with disabilities pursue computing fields and computing educators and employers, professional organizations, and other stakeholders develop more inclusive programs and share effective practices, including promising practices nationwide.

AccessComputing activities help students with disabilities reach critical junctures on a path toward college studies and careers in computing fields. Most efforts of AccessComputing serve individuals with a wide variety of disabilities; some activities are specially designed for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. For additional information please see Advancing Deaf & Hard of Hearing in Computing.

AccessComputing outcomes will benefit society by making computing opportunities available to more citizens and enhancing computing fields with the perspectives of people with disabilities. For more information about this Alliance, consult the article AccessComputing: An Alliance to Increase the Participation of Individuals with disabilities in Computing Careers.

The following documents provide more information and forms for joining AccessComputing activities.

AccessComputing Mini-grant Application - a process for requesting funds to promote computing careers for students with disabilities.
AccessComputing Communities of Practice - how to join in on stimulating discussions and activities for promoting the increased participation of people with disabilities in computing careers.
AccessComputing Team Application - for high school, college, and graduate students with disabilities who would like to engage in stimulating conversations with each other and with mentors and learn about internship and other opportunities in computing fields.
Equal Access: Universal Design of Computing Departments - guidelines for making your computing department accessible to all students.
Advancing Deaf & Hard of Hearing in Computing - an AccessComputing project specifically devoted to increasing the participation of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing in computing fields.

AccessComputing is led by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and DO-IT at the University of Washington. Project partners include the NSF-funded Regional Alliances for Persons with Disabilities, Gallaudet University , Microsoft, and SIGACCESS of Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). If you are interested in knowing how you can participate in AccessComputing send an inquiry to accesscomp@u.washington.edu. It is funded by the National Science Foundation as part of the Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) program of the Directorate for Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE) (grant #CNS-0540615).