DO-IT News January 2017: All Articles

Jeff Bigham and Carol Frieze, both of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), were recipients of the 2016 AccessComputing Capacity Building Awards. Capacity Building Award recipients are collaborators who have forged pathways that significantly advance students with disabilities in computing fields. Through their work and accomplishments, award recipients have changed the way the world views people with disabilities and their potential to succeed in challenging computing careers and activities.

Jeff Bigham is an Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science (SCS) at CMU. He received the Capacity Building Award for his work engaging students with disabilities in accessibility research and outreach activities.  Jeff has hosted multiple AccessComputing research interns in the accessibility research that his lab conducts. He has also led computing activities for students at National Federation of the Blind conferences.

Carol Frieze, Director of Women@SCS and SCS4ALL at CMU, received the Capacity Building Award for her working making broadening participation programs welcoming and accessible to students with disabilities. Carol has made efforts to include students with disabilities in existing computing outreach activities and expanded efforts to offer workshops and activities for students with disabilities. This fall, Carol planned a Capacity Building Institute at CMU that addressed current and future resources for CMU faculty, staff, and students with disabilities and showcased some of the amazing disability research going on at CMU.

By: Sara London, DO-IT Intern

The true meaning of living with a mental illness is that I can be who I want to be, because I have learned that what other people think means very little anymore. However, I do have limitations. I can’t drink, I take medication throughout the day, I must have a well balanced sleeping schedule, and I live with persistent anxiety.

I work two part-time jobs while attending graduate school. Living with a severe mental illness and still managing a hectic lifestyle seemed impossible at first. My mind can bounce back and forth. I have confidence inside me that rose from this difficult journey. I am determined and live with this passion. All the while, I have this voice inside that says “you can’t do any of it, you will fail, you will get sick again.” I have learned that this is part of me. I recognize who I am as a whole, the positive and the negative.

The most interesting part of living with a mental illness is that it’s not visible. Looking at my appearance, you would never know I live with this inside of me. Sometimes I feel like my disability is less credible, less serious, and less important because others cannot see what I live with. I sometimes work to hide that part of me, so others will not deem me as crazy. I find myself monitoring my emotions and adhering to what is socially acceptable because of the stigma placed upon people who live with a mental illness. I feel conflicted about what it means to be open about this part of me. It’s a constant process, which comes with gains as well as losses.

Living a life with a mental illness is not easy. However, it seems that without this disability of mine, I wouldn’t have been given as many incredible opportunities. I wouldn’t have my identity. Without it I think I would be more lost, more unsure, and less driven. I see this disability as a gift. It has contributed to my incredible life full of love, support, undeniable personal drive, and fire. Without this illness, I wouldn’t be who I am today. For that, I am always grateful.

By: Sheryl Burgstahler, DO-IT Director

Readers of this newsletter know me as the Director of the DO-IT Center, but for this issue I will share work I do as director of the Access Technology Center (ATC). These two centers make up Accessible Technology Services within University of Washington Information Technology (UW-IT). While DO-IT reaches nationwide and even internationally in its efforts, the ATC’s focus is close to home. Campus-wide, the ATC promotes the procurement, development and use of IT that is accessible to students, faculty, staff, and visitors with disabilities. The ATC hosts a showroom of assistive technology for people to try out and use. ATC staff also consult with UW staff and faculty on the design of accessible websites, documents, videos, and other technology, always striving to make our campus more inclusive.

ATS staff have been particularly busy because of a new Washington State policy (#188) on IT accessibility. Although we have always been required to make our resources, including those delivered through the use of technology, available to all potential users, this policy has provided us with some requirements that push this agenda forward. ATC is leading the campus effort for compliance with Policy #188 and is increasing its engagement with campus units so that they can do their part. It also hosted a meeting of all Policy #188 coordinators from postsecondary institutions across the state so that we can coordinate our efforts in making the IT across all Washington State campuses accessible to all faculty, staff and visitors.

For more information about Policy #188 consult the Office of the Chief Information Officer website. For the UW’s policy, guidelines and support materials go to the Accessible Technology website.

By: Kayla Brown, DO-IT Staff

In December 2016 AccessComputing held a Capacity Building Institute (CBI) with a focus on making classes, departments, and organizations more welcoming and accessible to students with disabilities and encouraging educators to include accessibility in the computing curriculum. This CBI was a hands-on, project-oriented workshop, where participants created resources to share with colleagues and students.

Attendees included computing faculty members and graduate students, computing students and professionals with disabilities, disability services professionals, and industry professionals from across the country. Sessions shared information on broader subjects such as accommodations and universal design, IT accessibility, and the experiences of individuals with disabilities, as well as presentations on specific outreach activities, strategies for making courses welcoming, and methods for teaching accessibility.

The CBI also facilitated discussions between participants. Through discussing topics such as challenges in increasing the participation of students with disabilities in computing and strategies to increase accessibility content in computing curriculum, participants were able to make tangible plans to implement at their own institutions. To read the responses to discussion questions and session summaries, view the upcoming proceedings when they are released.

In DO-IT’s online publication, Universal Design in Higher Education: Promising Practices, practitioners share promising practices related to the application of universal design in postsecondary education settings. This collection of promising practices complements the more general content in the printed book, Universal Design in Higher Education: From Principles to Practice, which recently published a second edition under Harvard Education Press.

This complementary publication is available freely online. It can be freely copied and distributed as a book or in part for noncommercial, educational purposes. The collection will continue to grow as more articles are submitted.

Articles may be submitted at any time to udhecop@uw.edu. Submitted articles should include specific ways practitioners and researchers have applied universal design in postsecondary settings along with evidence of success. They are peer-reviewed by members of the Universal Design in Higher Education Community of Practice, and if accepted, edited by DO‑IT. Articles selected for the online resource are freely available on our website. Authors must agree to these conditions while retaining copyrights to their individual contributions. For author guidelines, consult the preface of the book.