CSUN, California State University, Northridge, hosts an assistive technology conference every year. This conference is one of the biggest accessibility conferences in the world, and is sponsored by various well-known companies like Amazon, CVS Health, Google, Microsoft, and Walmart. Dr. Bern Jordan will be presenting his work on accessible kiosks in a session called “Cross-Disability […]
On February 14th, 2025, TRACE attended the NFB State Convention in Ocean City, Maryland. Dr. Bern Jordan designed and developed a prototype for accessible kiosks which he showcased during this convention. Kiosks are becoming more and more popular: we order food with them, check bags at the airport with them, and more. However, these kiosks […]
Autonomous vehicles are trained on datasets to detect human movement in order to prevent collisions. However, these datasets often only include the movements of sighted individuals. Blind people often use canes to feel around for curbs and bumps, and these movements may not be interpreted properly by current autonomous vehicles, leading to potential life-threatening situations […]
The ATiA (Assistive Technology Industry Association) conference is a huge gathering of assistive technology users, professors, parents, occupational and physical therapists, and people with disabilities. There are exhibits, seminars, and activities for people to learn all about assistive technology! Dr. Amanda Lazar, along with researchers from TechSAge and other organizations, presented at a pre-conference seminar: […]
Rie Kamikubo, a UMD PhD candidate successfully defended her dissertation on December 18th, 2024! Her PhD is in Information Studies with a focus on the intersection between AI and disability. Rie started with a background in interaction design, where she first learned about accessibility. Taking quickly to the field, she began her work in extending […]
The representations created in this study can help people understand the versatility of screen readers, and can inspire innovation and changes to these technologies for people with disabilities. UMD researchers J. Bern Jordan, Victoria Van Hyning, Mason A. Jones, Rachael Bradley Montgomery, Elizabeth Bottner, and Evan Tansil had the opportunity to present their research on […]
Being able to recognize when content can be harmful for individuals with photosensitive epilepsy can give people the opportunity to release content that is safe for all viewers. TRACE researchers Dr. Bern Jordan and Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden recently had their work on photosensitive epilepsy published in the ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing journal. Photosensitive epilepsy, […]
Understanding the opinions and thoughts of older adults when it comes to videoconferencing can lead to more inclusive designs for these populations. UMD researchers Ruipu Hu, Ge Gao, and Amanda Lazar had the opportunity to present their research on videoconferencing with older adults at the 2024 ASSETS conference (an accessibility and computing conference)! “While videoconferencing […]
Camera-based assistive technologies like object recognizers are impactful for many people with vision impairments. The insights that authors gained from this study can be used to improve these technologies are reduce the number of errors. UMD researchers Jonggi Hong and Hernisa Kacorri had the opportunity to present their research on the use of object recognition […]
The insights gained from this study can guide AI developers to integrate informed consent and inclusive data practices into their work. UMD researchers Rie Kamikubo, Farnaz Zamiri Zeraati, Kyungjun Lee, and Hernisa Kacorri had the opportunity to present their research on data access and sharing with blind people at the 2024 ASSETS conference (an accessibility […]
The new book from Springer recounts Trace’s 50-year history, its enduring contributions to the field, and the lessons learned along the way. According to reviewers, Trace is “a tour de force,” “a catalyst for a global movement” and “an indispensable engine propelling accessibility forward for people with disabilities.” The story of the Trace R&D […]
We live in a world of digital technology. Computers have become embedded in our everyday lives to the point where many of us hardly notice how often we interact with technology—to buy our groceries or train tickets, check out books from the library, communicate with colleagues, friends and family, do our banking, enter secure spaces, […]
Teachable object recognizers allow blind users to train their camera-equipped devices such as mobile phones to recognize everyday objects by providing a few photos as training examples. A user takes a series of pictures of an object to “train” the machine learning model how to distinguish that object from other objects, so that in the […]
Dementia is a syndrome that involves changes in cognition (thinking, remembering, and reasoning) and abilities, often affecting the ways that individuals engage in daily activities. Many everyday technologies are not designed to meet the access needs of individuals with dementia. Recent research shows that almost half of those with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia […]
More and more technologies that we use in our everyday lives are supported by artificial intelligence (AI). AI-infused technologies help us unlock our mobile phones, power our digital assistants, monitor health conditions, detect financial fraud, and navigate the best travel route. Although AI affords numerous conveniences and efficiencies to users, it can lead to discriminatory […]
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