Developing Experiential Laboratories for Computing Accessibility Education

这项提案旨在解决残疾人容易使用的计算机软件短缺的问题。与国家聋人技术研究所合作，该项目将开发一套五个体验式“无障碍学习实验室”。这些实验室的目的是提高残疾用户对无障碍挑战的认识，并教学生如何编写无障碍软件。这些独立的实验室将适用于两年制和四年制大学的基础计算机课程（如计算机科学1）和高级计算机课程。为教师提供教学材料，包括视频、讲座幻灯片和活动，将促进其他机构采用无障碍学习实验室。这些实验将完全用HTML/CSS和JavaScript编写，这意味着它们将在任何具有现代网络浏览器和互联网连接的计算机上运行。通过使这些实验室广泛地可访问，该策略将增加它们改善计算机科学教育和增加可访问软件开发的潜力。该项目旨在改善计算机无障碍教育。为项目开发的每个实验都将包含关于可访问性需求的信息和模拟特性，以向非残疾用户演示可访问性挑战。实验将包括解决可访问性问题的步骤，并演示解决特定问题的方法。每个实验室还将包含产生同理心的材料，比如残疾用户描述无障碍软件如何降低他们的数字生活质量的视频。项目的一个优势是它与国家聋人技术研究所、RIT的无障碍服务以及盲人和视障人士协会的合作，以验证实验室的保真度。这种合作也将有助于评估实验室在提高对可访问软件需求的认识以及帮助计算机科学学生学习如何创建软件方面的有效性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This proposal aims to address the shortage of computer software that can be easily used by people with disabilities. Working with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the project will develop a set of five experiential "Accessibility Learning Labs." These labs will be designed to raise awareness of accessibility challenges faced by users with disabilities and to teach students how to write accessible software. The self-contained labs will be appropriate for both foundational computing courses (e.g., Computer Science 1) and upper-level computing courses at two and four-year institutions. Providing instructors with teaching materials, including videos, lecture slides and activities, will facilitate the adoption of the Accessibility Learning Labs by other institutions. The labs will be written entirely in HTML/CSS and JavaScript, meaning that they will work on any computer that has a modern web browser and Internet connectivity. By making these labs broadly accessible, this strategy will increase their potential to improve computer science education and increase the development of accessible software.This project aims to improve computing accessibility education. Every lab developed for the project will contain information about an accessibility requirement and an emulation feature to demonstrate the accessibility challenge to non-disabled users. Labs will include steps to address the accessibility problem and demonstrate ways in which the particular problem has been addressed. Every lab will also contain empathy-creating materials such as videos of users with disabilities describing how inaccessible software lowers the quality of their digital lives. A project strength is its collaboration with National Technical Institute for the Deaf, RIT's Access Services, and the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired to verify the fidelity of the labs. This collaboration will also aid in evaluating the effectiveness of the labs at generating awareness of the need for accessible software and at helping computer science students learn how to create it.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.