What barriers exist in recruiting employees and interns with disabilities?
Employers may encounter a variety of barriers to recruiting interns with disabilities. These include:
AccessComputing
Accessible Programming with Blocks4All
Blocks-based programming environments such as Scratch are often the first experiences for young children who are learning computational thinking and programming. Unfortunately, these environments are not accessible to children who are blind or visually impaired who use screen readers, thereby excluding them from experiences that can lead to careers in STEM fields including computer science. The Blocks4All prototype programming environment makes blocks-based programming accessible on a touchscreen tablet computer.
Our Technology for Equal Access
This video highlights participants in DO-IT programs such as AccessComputing, who share information about the technology they use to access school, work, and the community. Information is shared about alternative hardware, software, and peripherals that assist people with disabilities.
Teaching Accessibility: Including Accessibility in Your Courses
There are multiple strategies that can be used to teach about accessibility in computing courses. Exposing students to this information can help them create more accessible products throughout their careers.
Online Disability Identity Webinar: A Promising Practice in Engaging Students in Conversations About Their Experiences
AccessComputing is a program at the University of Washington that helps students with disabilities successfully pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in computing fields. The program also works to increase the capacity of postsecondary institutions and other organizations to fully include students with disabilities in computing courses and programs. As a primarily-online mentoring program, building a community is essential to creating a supportive environment for students with disabilities.
What can conferences do to be more accessible to participants with disabilities?
Conference organizers can take a number of steps to ensure that their meetings are more accessible to participants with disabilities. Considerations may include:
What constitutes good alt text?
All major document publishing formats support alternate text for images, often abbreviated "alt text". The purpose of alt text is to provide a text equivalent of the image, so people who are unable to see the image have access to the message it’s intended to convey.
Become an Industry Partner
AccessCSforAll: Making Computer Science Accessible to K-12 Students in the United States
The Job Search and Disclosing your Disability
This video explores strategies for disclosing disability-related information in the workplace. Interns and employees with disabilities should consider if, when, and how they want to share information about their disability.