ALL: Supporting Experiential Accessibility Education and Inclusive Software Development

Yasmine N. Elglaly Weishi Shi Qi Yu + 3 lainnya

27 Juni 2020

Many developers don’t understand how to, or recognize the need to develop accessible software. To address this, we have created five educational Accessibility Learning Labs (ALL) using an experiential learning structure. Each of these labs addresses a foundational concept in computing accessibility and both inform participants about foundational concepts in creating accessible software while also demonstrating the necessity of creating accessible software. The hosted labs provide a complete educational experience, containing materials such as lecture slides, activities, and quizzes.We evaluated the labs in ten sections of a CS2 course at our university, with 276 students participating. Our primary findings include: I) The labs are an effective way to inform participants about foundational topics in creating accessible software II) The labs demonstrate the potential benefits of our proposed experiential learning format in motivating participants about the importance of creating accessible software III) The labs demonstrate that empathy material increases learning retention. Created labs and project materials are publicly available on the project website: http://all.rit.edu

Qi Yu Yasmine N. Elglaly Daniel E. Krutz + 2 lainnya

15 Februari 2020

Studies indicate that much of the software created today is not accessible to all users, indicating that developers don't see the need to devote sufficient resources to creating accessible software. Compounding this problem, there is a lack of robust, easily adoptable educational accessibility material available to instructors for inclusion in their curricula. To address these issues, we have created five Accessibility Learning Labs (ALL) using an experiential learning structure. The labs are designed to educate and create awareness of accessibility needs in computing. The labs enable easy classroom integration by providing instructors with complete educational materials including lecture slides, activities, and quizzes. The labs are hosted on our servers and require only a browser to be utilized. To demonstrate the benefit of our material and the potential benefits of our experiential lab format with empathy-creating material, we conducted a study involving 276 students in ten sections of an introductory computing course. Our findings include: (I) The demonstrated potential of the proposed experiential learning format and labs are effective in motivating and educating students about the importance of accessibility (II) The labs are effective in informing students about foundational accessibility topics (III) Empathy-creating material is demonstrated to be a beneficial component in computing accessibility education, supporting students in placing a higher value on the importance of creating accessible software. Created labs and project materials are publicly available on the project website: http://all.rit.edu

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.

C. Baker A. S. Ross Kristen Shinohara + 1 lainnya

22 Oktober 2022

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.

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.