2019 Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing
This September’s Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing, held in San Diego, CA, was the biggest Tapia Celebration yet, as well as the first one to have an accessibility committee.
As chair of the accessibility committee, I was lucky to have a great group of committee members, including AccessComputing PI Richard Ladner, Jerri Barrett, Rua Williams, and Synge Tyson. We were able to increase accessibility and inclusion at the conference, which a specific focus on the following important items:
- Electronic versions of posters and presentations available online.
- An accessible version of the conference program
- A quiet room
- Increased training for student volunteers
- Information about conference accessibility on the website
It will be exciting to see how accessibility continues to improve at Tapia in future years.
We were also excited to provide travel funding for 11 AccessComputing team members to attend Tapia, as well as see many other of our students as well. The conference kicked off with a keynote presentation from the University of Washington’s Jen Mankoff on “Making Accessibility,” and there were several other sessions on the conference program that focused on or addressed disability.
Scholarship applications to travel to Tapia are due on March 27. Scholarships can include conference registration, meals during the conference, hotel accommodations, and a reimbursable travel stipend. To learn more and apply, visit www.tapiaconference.org/participate/scholarships/.