Including Accessibility in Computer Science Education
Abstrak
Accessibility is an important skillset for computing graduates, however it is commonly not included in computing curriculums. The goal of this workshop is to bring together the relevant stakeholders who are interested in adding accessibility into the curriculum (e.g. computing educators, accessibility researchers, and industry professionals) to discuss what exactly we should be teaching regarding accessibility. The format of the workshop works to support two main goals, to provide a consensus on what should be taught by computing educators regarding accessibility and to provide those who have taught accessibility a chance to share and discuss what they have found to be successful. As a part of this workshop, we plan to draft a white paper that discusses the learning objectives and their relative priorities that were derived in the workshop.
Artikel Ilmiah Terkait
Catherine M. Baker Yasmine N. Elglaly Anne Spencer Ross + 1 lainnya
7 Maret 2024
Few instructors include accessibility in computing education curriculum despite its importance in the computing field. Prior work on accessibility and CS education vary on what accessibility knowledge is appropriate for future computing professionals and is covered mainly in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and web design courses. In practice, there is no comprehensive list of learning objectives to characterize Accessibility as a competency even though it is an increasingly desired skillset across computing broadly. Moreover, in the soon-to-be-released CS2023, the Accessibility Knowledge Unit is nested within HCI. This placement fails to highlight the role accessibility plays throughout the CS curriculum, nor does it provide sufficient structure to guide CS educators. Thus, these efforts may not be enough to prepare future tech professionals with adequate accessibility skills to meet growing industry demand. We argue that Accessibility should be its own Knowledge Area within the CS curriculum. We present a set of knowledge units with topics and illustrative learning objectives for an Accessibility Knowledge Area in Computing Education. These objectives were produced through synthesizing computing education and accessible computing literature and discussions among the authors, who are subject matter experts in both computing education and accessibility. In this position paper, we make the case that Accessibility should be incorporated into computer science across the curriculum beyond just HCI, and we demonstrate how the knowledge units spans the different facets of computing. In addition to highlighting the cross-curriculum importance of Accessibility, the presented Knowledge Area outline provides structure for future work in creating teaching resources and guiding curricular integration.
C. Baker Kristen Shinohara Yasmine N. Elglaly
25 Februari 2020
Recent interest in accessibility emphasizes including it in computer science curriculum as key to producing effective computing professionals. Despite a general consensus that teaching accessibility in computing curriculum is good, there exist few tools and resources to support instructors in higher education. To better understand the relationship between accessibility in curriculum and research, we conducted a systematic literature review of papers in computing education. We analyzed the papers for the courses accessibility is covered in, the topics that are covered and pedagogies and assessment approaches that are used. Across this body of work, we found a number of key learning objectives commonly covered in computing education research, though it appeared the research did not evenly cover these objectives throughout curricula, nor did the research systematically investigate how learning objectives were integrated. Based on these results, we offer suggestions for future directions of accessibility education research and curriculum building.
Yasmine N. Elglaly Lin Jia Kristen Shinohara + 1 lainnya
8 Mei 2021
Within computing education, accessibility topics are usually taught in Human Computer Interaction and Web Design courses. Few have included accessibility in programming courses as an add-on topic. We studied assignments that infuse accessibility into programming topics without impacting the core computing learning objectives. We present two examples, assignments that can be used in Introductory Programming and Object Oriented Programming courses. Both assignments cover accessibility in addition to the primary computing topic taught. We included the two assignments in two courses for two semesters, conducting surveys and interviews to understand the impact of the assignments on students’ learning of accessibility and computing. Our findings show this approach has potential to satisfy accessibility and programming learning objectives without overwhelming the students, though more work is needed to make sure that students are clear on the relationship between the assignments and technical accessibility knowledge.
Yasmine N. Elglaly Catherine M. Baker Emily Kuang + 3 lainnya
11 Mei 2024
Incorporating accessibility education into undergraduate computer science (CS) programs is essential for preparing future technology professionals to create inclusive technology. However, many CS programs lack accessibility coverage, often confining it to human-computer interaction (HCI) courses. To address this gap, we developed accessibility assignments seamlessly integrated into core CS courses. We collaborated closely with ten instructors to select and customize these assignments to suit their needs. To evaluate the impact of these assignments, we conducted interviews with instructors and administered surveys and interviews with their students. Our findings indicate significant improvement in students' familiarity with accessibility concepts and confidence in implementation following completion of the assignments. However, their mindset and future interest in accessibility remained the same. Instructors found it straightforward to incorporate these assignments without compromising core computing concepts. In sum, we validated a foundation for effectively resourcing instructors with accessibility teaching materials and increasing their capacity in accessibility knowledge.
Swaroop Joshi P. Parthasarathy
16 Juni 2024
In recent years, there has been rising interest from both governments and private industry in developing software that is accessible to all, including people with disabilities. However, the computer science (CS) courses that ought to prepare future professionals to develop such accessible software hardly cover topics related to accessibility. While there is growing literature on incorporating accessibility topics in computing education in the West, there is little work on this in the Global South, particularly in India, which has a large number of computing students and software professionals. In this replication report, we present (A) our findings from a replication of surveys used in the US and Switzerland on who teaches accessibility and barriers to teaching accessibility and (B) a qualitative analysis of perceptions of CS faculty in India about digital accessibility and teaching accessibility. Our study corroborates the findings of the earlier surveys: very few CS faculty teach accessibility, and the top barriers they perceive are the same. The qualitative analysis further reveals that the faculty in India need training on accessibility concepts and disabilities sensitization, and exposure to existing and ongoing CS education research and pedagogies. In light of these findings, we present recommendations aimed at addressing these challenges and enhancing the integration of accessibility into computing education.
Daftar Referensi
3 referensiInfusing Accessibility into Programming Courses
Yasmine N. Elglaly Lin Jia + 2 lainnya
8 Mei 2021
Within computing education, accessibility topics are usually taught in Human Computer Interaction and Web Design courses. Few have included accessibility in programming courses as an add-on topic. We studied assignments that infuse accessibility into programming topics without impacting the core computing learning objectives. We present two examples, assignments that can be used in Introductory Programming and Object Oriented Programming courses. Both assignments cover accessibility in addition to the primary computing topic taught. We included the two assignments in two courses for two semesters, conducting surveys and interviews to understand the impact of the assignments on students’ learning of accessibility and computing. Our findings show this approach has potential to satisfy accessibility and programming learning objectives without overwhelming the students, though more work is needed to make sure that students are clear on the relationship between the assignments and technical accessibility knowledge.
Comparison of Methods for Teaching Accessibility in University Computing Courses
Qiwen Zhao Vaishnavi Mande + 5 lainnya
26 Oktober 2020
With an increasing demand for computing professionals with skills in accessibility, it is important for university faculty to select effective methods for educating computing students about barriers faced by users with disabilities and approaches to improving accessibility. While some prior work had evaluated accessibility educational interventions, many prior studies have consisted of firsthand reports from faculty or short-term evaluations. This paper reports on the results of a systematic evaluation of methods for teaching accessibility from a longitudinal study across 29 sections of a human-computer interaction course (required for students in a computing degree program), as taught by 10 distinct professors, throughout four years, with over 400 students. A control condition (course without accessibility content) was compared to four intervention conditions: week of lectures on accessibility, team design project requiring some accessibility consideration, interaction with someone with a disability, and collaboration with a team member with a disability. Comparing survey data immediately before and after the course, we found that the Lectures, Projects, and Interaction conditions were effective in increasing students' likelihood to consider people with disabilities on a design scenario, awareness of accessibility barriers, and knowledge of technical approaches for improving accessibility - with students in the Team Member condition having higher scores on the final measure only. However, comparing survey responses from students immediately before the course and from approximately 2 years later, almost no significant gains were observed, suggesting that interventions within a single course are insufficient for producing long-term changes in measures of students’ accessibility learning. This study contributes to empirical knowledge to inform university faculty in selecting effective methods for teaching accessibility, and it motivates further research on how to achieve long-term changes in accessibility knowledge, e.g. by reinforcing accessibility throughout a degree program.
A Systematic Analysis of Accessibility in Computing Education Research
C. Baker Kristen Shinohara + 1 lainnya
25 Februari 2020
Recent interest in accessibility emphasizes including it in computer science curriculum as key to producing effective computing professionals. Despite a general consensus that teaching accessibility in computing curriculum is good, there exist few tools and resources to support instructors in higher education. To better understand the relationship between accessibility in curriculum and research, we conducted a systematic literature review of papers in computing education. We analyzed the papers for the courses accessibility is covered in, the topics that are covered and pedagogies and assessment approaches that are used. Across this body of work, we found a number of key learning objectives commonly covered in computing education research, though it appeared the research did not evenly cover these objectives throughout curricula, nor did the research systematically investigate how learning objectives were integrated. Based on these results, we offer suggestions for future directions of accessibility education research and curriculum building.