Developing Experiential Laboratories for Computing Accessibility Education

Rochester Institute Of Tech, Rochester NY

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal aims to address the shortage of computer software that can be easily used by people with disabilities. Working with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the project will develop a set of five experiential "Accessibility Learning Labs." These labs will be designed to raise awareness of accessibility challenges faced by users with disabilities and to teach students how to write accessible software. The self-contained labs will be appropriate for both foundational computing courses (e.g., Computer Science 1) and upper-level computing courses at two and four-year institutions. Providing instructors with teaching materials, including videos, lecture slides and activities, will facilitate the adoption of the Accessibility Learning Labs by other institutions. The labs will be written entirely in HTML/CSS and JavaScript, meaning that they will work on any computer that has a modern web browser and Internet connectivity. By making these labs broadly accessible, this strategy will increase their potential to improve computer science education and increase the development of accessible software. This project aims to improve computing accessibility education. Every lab developed for the project will contain information about an accessibility requirement and an emulation feature to demonstrate the accessibility challenge to non-disabled users. Labs will include steps to address the accessibility problem and demonstrate ways in which the particular problem has been addressed. Every lab will also contain empathy-creating materials such as videos of users with disabilities describing how inaccessible software lowers the quality of their digital lives. A project strength is its collaboration with National Technical Institute for the Deaf, RIT's Access Services, and the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired to verify the fidelity of the labs. This collaboration will also aid in evaluating the effectiveness of the labs at generating awareness of the need for accessible software and at helping computer science students learn how to create it. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.