AccessSTEM

There are multiple strategies that an instructor can take to include information about accessibility in engineering courses. Having an entire class focused on accessibility in web design or engineering is great. However, it is possible to incorporate accessibility topics into almost any engineering class. An instructor could focus part of or a full lecture on an accessibility topic. Teaching about accessibility or inviting including a guest speaker can help increase knowledge and the perspective of engineers as a whole.

Following are examples of strategies for integrating universal design, accessibility, and disability topics into the engineering curriculum, facilities, and programs.

The Engineering Place at North Carolina State University (NCSU) educates K-12 students, K-12 teachers, families and other the citizens of North Carolina about the nature of engineering and the opportunities and careers within engineering. The Engineering Place offers hands-on, inquiry- and problem- based programs and informational workshops and tools. The vision is that every student, educator, and parent, including those with disabilities, in North Carolina will know when engineering is and its impact on everyday life.

In the electrical engineering and computer science department at the University of Michigan, David Chesney teaches two courses that include accessibility. The first, Gaming for the Greater Good, an introductory course focused on creating a game with accessibility features for a specific disability, is used as a recruitment tool for students interested in computer science. The second, a software engineering capstone class, focused on children with disabilities in the community and how to create accessibility solutions using the latest and greatest technology.

Steps that disability and IT professionals can take to ensure the accessibility of their campus IT resources include:

Many students with disabilities have successfully completed computing courses during their K-12 education. As a result, some individuals with disabilities have successfully completed postsecondary degrees in computing and now have careers in computing fields. However, more work needs to be done in order for all students with disabilities have opportunities to pursue these careers.

InftyReader is optical character recognition (OCR) software that recognizes  standard text, but also scientific figures and mathematics symbols. After scanning a document, it can output the content in a variety of digital formats, including LaTeX, MathML, XHTML, HRTeX, IML and Microsoft Word. Assistive technology can then be used to provide speech, Braille, or enlarged text access.

Funded by the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation, ClassAct was developed to support instructors and staff who work with deaf and hard of hearing students in all mainstreamed academic environments. ClassAct improves existing teaching practice in mainstream classes by ensuring access to instruction for these students. Resources on the ClassAct website focus on teaching challenges and successful methods as well as helpful communication strategies for the classroom and service units.

A hackathon is a one-day event where teams of people collaborate to solve a problem. ATHack is a multidisciplinary hackathon with a focus on helping people with disabilities as it increases awareness regarding the need to develop assistive technologies.  It was conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Ohio’s STEM Ability Alliance (OSAA) at Wright State University (WSU) was funded by the National Science Foundation program to address the underrepresentation of individuals with disabilities in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. Beginning in 2009, this program undertook interventions to recruit, retain, and graduate students with disabilities in STEM. These interventions include academic and professional development as well as interventions inspired by research showing the importance of social dynamics and feelings of inclusion.