CHS: Small: Building Mutual Expertise for Physical Accessibility in Workplaces

与非残疾人相比，残疾人就业或继续受雇的可能性更小。造成这种差异的部分原因是，残疾员工遇到了无障碍问题，使他们无法进入工作场所。这些无障碍问题中的许多都是可以解决的：例如，一名盲人员工无法查看电脑屏幕，但可以安装屏幕阅读软件，为他们朗读数字文本。然而，并非所有雇主都意识到他们工作场所存在的无障碍问题，他们可能不知道如何实施对残疾员工有用的具体便利措施。在这个项目中，研究人员将研究残疾人和雇主目前如何相互交流知识，共同创造工作场所的无障碍环境。根据这些发现，他们将确定新技术解决方案的机会，以实现协作无障碍问题的解决。该项目将使人们更深入地了解团体如何利用技术通过知识交流发现和解决问题，以及如何改善工作场所的无障碍做法和文化。此外，研究人员将与社区合作伙伴合作，广泛传播他们的发现，帮助雇主和设计师获得更多关于无障碍问题和解决方案的知识。这项提案的总体目标是确定和评价促进知识交流以解决工作场所无障碍问题的社会技术系统的原则。这项调查将首先通过对残疾雇员和求职者以及同事和非残疾雇主的个别访谈，确定残疾人和雇主在解决问题方面的现有做法和态度。然后，研究人员将对具有不同无障碍知识水平的个人在解决无障碍问题方面的智力差距进行建模，并通过促进一系列小型集体无障碍小组来确定克服这些差距的策略，在这些小组中，有残疾和无障碍的工作场所利益相关者将合作集思广益，讨论无障碍问题的解决方案。在通过这些活动产生的知识的基础上，研究人员将通过设计轻量级技术探测器来评估围绕无障碍进行知识交流的战略，从而生成和验证社会技术系统中相互知识交流的原则。这项研究将有助于我们理解残疾如何影响工作场所的体验，以及如何通过建立共同的专业知识来设计技术来改善这些体验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

People with disabilities are less likely than people without disabilities to be hired for jobs or remain employed. Part of the reason for this disparity is that employees with disabilities encounter accessibility problems that make workplaces inaccessible to them. Many of these accessibility problems are solvable: for example, a blind employee cannot view a computer screen, but can install screenreading software to read digital text aloud to them. However, not all employers are aware of the accessibility problems that exist in their workplaces, and they may not know how to implement specific accommodations that would be useful for employees with disabilities. In this project, the researchers will study how people with disabilities and employers currently exchange knowledge with each other to collectively create accessibility in workplaces. Based on these findings, they will identify opportunities for new technological solutions to enable collaborative accessibility problem-solving. The project will lead to a deeper understanding of how groups can use technology to identify and resolve problems through knowledge exchange, and how to improve workplace accessibility practices and cultures. Additionally, the researchers will work alongside community partners to disseminate their findings widely, helping employers and designers gain more knowledge about accessibility problems and solutions. The overall goal of this proposal is to identify and evaluate principles for socio-technical systems which facilitate knowledge exchange to solve accessibility problems in the workplace. This investigation will begin by identifying existing practices and attitudes of people with disabilities and employers around problem-solving for accessibility through individual interviews with disabled employees and job-seekers, and co-workers and employers without disabilities. Then, the researchers will model intellectual gaps in accessibility problem-solving among individuals with varying levels of knowledge about accessibility, and identify strategies for overcoming those gaps, by facilitating a series of small collective access groups where workplace stakeholders with and without disabilities collaborate to brainstorm about solutions to accessibility problems. Building on the knowledge generated through these activities, the researchers will generate and validate principles for mutual knowledge exchange in socio-technical systems by designing lightweight technology probes to evaluate strategies for knowledge exchange around accessibility. This research will contribute to our understanding of how disability impacts experiences in the workplaces, and how technologies can be designed to improve these experiences through building mutual expertise.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.