AccessComputing

For a person with a visual impairment, a computer can initially present some accessibility challenges. However, there are a wide variety of software products available to help people of all abilities access and use a computer. One of the more popular products for people with visual impairments is a screen reader that uses a digital voice to read aloud text that appears on a computer screen. While a very helpful tool in making a specific computer accessible, screen readers are not always installed on public computers in libraries and Internet cafés.

Five deaf and hard-of-hearing students from California, Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Washington attended a one-week Summer Computing Experience at the University of Washington. This was an opportunity for high school students to experience what computing is all about. They went on field trips to Adobe, Google, Valve, and Microsoft's Home of the Future and had fun learning about Seattle on the famous Ride the Ducks tour.

A large crowd of family, friends, and community members attended the Community Premiere to honor the ten students who finished the nine-week 2009 Summer Academy for Advancing Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Computing. Held at the University of Washington, this event showcased the animated films the students created.

This fall, I spoke about accessible technology in my "New Directions in Accessible Computing" lecture at North Carolina State University (NCSU). My talk was part of the Triangle Computer Science Distinguished Lecturer Series. It was telecast to Duke University and the University of North Carolina.

In my talk, I described ways that people with disabilities can use technology to create or configure their own accessibility solutions. This non-paternalistic approach respects the ability of persons with disabilities to determine their own destinies.

Students with disabilities:

• Internships
• E-mentoring
• AccessComputing Team
• Summer programs

Educators & employers:

• Host an intern
• Communities of practice
• E-mentoring

www.uw.edu/accesscomputing/

Website

www.uw.edu/accesscomputing/

Connect to AccessComputing project information, resources, and materials.

Knowledge Base

www.uw.edu/accesscomputing/knowledge-base

The newest addition to the AccessComputing website is the revised Accessible University (AU) 2.0, a fictional university home page designed to demonstrate a variety of common web accessibility problems and solutions.

In October 2010, thousands of higher education IT professionals converged on Anaheim, California for the EDUCAUSE annual conference. The conference attracts a wide variety of college and university staff and faculty members who are involved in various capacities procuring, developing, maintaining, and using IT on their campuses. I have attended all but one of these conferences since 2002, in an effort to raise awareness of IT accessibility within this population.

Each year, Summer Academy students produce two animation shorts using Maya software. Now, at the end of the 2010 summer quarter, we have eight such animation shorts. Check out the videos our students created at http://www.youtube.com/user/DHHSummerAcademy/. Also, be sure to view our other videos on YouTube, they include the following titles: