Aim/Purpose: This paper proposes a new approach to developing a deep learning-based prototyping wearable model which can assist blind and visually disabled people to recognize their environments and navigate through them. As a result, visually impaired people will be able to manage day-to-day activities and navigate through the world around them…

Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) support teachers in the utilization of assistive technology for their students. In 2019, teachers in an underserved school district in western New York participated in a training designed to support the use of accessibility features of Microsoft Office 365 and Windows 10. The purpose of this study was to…

Developing empathy skills is crucial for software developers to create user-centric solutions and design exceptional user experiences addressing the diverse needs of customers. This paper presents the findings of a quasi-experimental study that aimed to enhance empathy among computer science students through the exposure of two interventions…

Scientific disciplines spanning biology, biochemistry, and biophysics involve the study of proteins and their functions. Visualization of protein structures represents a barrier to education and research in these disciplines for students who are blind or visually impaired. Here, we present a software plugin for readily producing variable-height…

We investigate the degree to which undergraduate computing students in a United States university consider accessibility several years after instruction. Prior work has found that cultural and ethical norms become ingrained early in STEM professionals' careers; so, we focus on students approaching graduation and after an internship experience, who…

Transcripts and captions make videos more accessible to everyone. However, the time and resources required for manual transcription are a known barrier in creating accessible videos. This paper presents a small study where students (283) and tutors (27) reported their views on automatic transcriptions for recorded webinar videos. Despite not…

This paper presents a teaching innovation of introducing screencasts into Civil Engineering classroom instruction to improve learning outcomes for students, including those with hearing disabilities. Screencasts are screen captures of learning materials, broken into detailed steps with narration and synchronized captions provided by an instructor.…

This article provides an overview of the historical context in which video description services have evolved in the United States, a summary of research demonstrating benefits to people with vision loss, an overview of current video description guidelines, and information about current software programs that are available to produce video…

Intended UK government changes to the Disabled Students' Allowance will have a significant impact on the support that UK universities provide for students with disabilities. In this article we examine the types of transformation that may be needed to support for university students with disabilities, from a socio-technical perspective. The…

Communication among adolescents with cerebral palsy can be restricted with traditional Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device coupled with environmental and social barriers. The advance of communication technology offer solutions to reduce such barriers. Given that there is limited research in communication behaviours of…

In today's society, educational opportunities have evolved beyond the traditional classroom setting. Most universities have implemented virtual learning environments in an effort to provide more opportunities for potential or current students seeking alternative and more affordable learning solutions. "User-Centered Design Strategies for…

The research reported here is part of a larger project which seeks to combine serious games (or games-based learning) with location-based services to help people with intellectual disabilities and additional sensory impairments to develop work based skills. Specifically this paper reports on where these approaches are combined to scaffold the…

In this article, a prototype Greek text to Greek Sign Language (GSL) conversion system is presented. The system is integrated into an educational platform that addresses the needs of teaching GSL grammar and was developed within the SYNENNOESE project (Efthimiou "et al." 2004a. Developing an e-learning platform for the Greek sign…

The Australian Government's widening participation agenda--also referred to as the social inclusion agenda--considers equity through the triple focus of access, participation and outcomes. These foci are catalysts for re-examining teaching and learning approaches in formal education. This article considers this national refocus and the…

This article describes an outreach program to broaden participation in computing to include more students with visual impairments. The precollege workshops target students in grades 7-12 and engage students with robotics programming. The use of robotics at the precollege level has become popular in part due to the availability of Lego Mindstorm…