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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 […]

Kacorri, H., Dwivedi, U., Amancherla, S., Jha, M., & Chanduka, R. (2020). IncluSet: A data surfacing repository for accessibility datasets. In T. Guerreiro, H. Nicolau, & K. Moffatt (Eds.), ASSETS ’20: The 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (pp. 1-4, No. 72). New York: ACM.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3373625.3418026 PMCID: PMC8375514   Data is […]

Photosensitive epilepsy is a condition that can cause seizures when affected people view flickering lights, flashing in videos and video games, and bold, regular patterns. It is estimated that 1 in 4000 people have photosensitive epilepsy with it being most common in adolescents. The Trace R&D Center (in the College of Information Studies at the […]

Dr. Amanda Lazar and her team presented recent research at the 2022 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems examining the barriers faced by people with dementia to accessing relevant, accurate health information, as well as the potential for AI-driven tools to support different types of memory. The inclusion of people with dementia […]

iSchool professor Jonathan Lazar contributed to and testified in support of the bill to bring an accessibility requirement into the procurement process for digital educational tools in Maryland’s K-12 schools.   When Maryland’s 900,000 K-12 public school students hung up their backpacks in March 2020, where most remained for the next 18 months, the locus […]

Dr. Hernisa Kacorri’s research on object recognizers with blind participants required a pivot to remote usability testing, leading her team to reflect on the many lessons learned from the shift from the lab to people’s homes.   When the covid-19 pandemic disrupted everyday life around the world, Dr. Hernisa Kacorri, assistant professor in the UMD […]

“Including Disability” offers innovative approaches to eliminating systemic barriers and gives voice to disabled people.   Including Disability is a free, open-access journal launched earlier this week by an international team, including faculty and staff from the UMD College of Information Studies, as part of a global effort to give voices to disabled people and promote […]

As a result of the covid-19 pandemic, interaction with websites and apps sometimes become the only way to access certain goods and services, leaving some older adults and people with disabilities facing significant accessibility challenges. A recent NYT article discussed the impact of bank branch closures during the covid-19 pandemic on older adults in Spain […]

iSchool professor and Trace affiliate faculty Dr. Niklas Elmqvist leads a team to continue work on accessible data visualization and to make a high school data science course accessible for all students with a $2 million contract from the Maryland State Department of Education.   Extracting insights from massive datasets in order to answer questions […]

The paper by iSchool PhD student Alisha Pradhan, iSchool assistant professor Dr. Amanda Lazar, and University of Washington’s Dr. Leah Findlater explores the potential for and challenges of this technology for older adults who use digital technology infrequently. Intelligent voice assistants like Alexa and Siri have become ubiquitous — in our homes, cars, and pockets. […]

Trace Center researchers present an overview of the first 50 years and a look forward at current and future work at the University of Maryland Disability Summit.                   The 2021 Disability Summit hosted by the University of Maryland President’s Commission on Disability Issues and the Trace R&D […]

Trace faculty and students contribute work and play key leadership roles at ASSETS 2021, which marks landmark 50th anniversaries for both the Trace R&D Center and SIGACCESS. The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility – ASSETS 2021 – wrapped up last week with a record-breaking 424 registrants, including 34 members of the […]

The Trace Research & Development Center at the UMD iSchool leads new initiatives to address accessibility barriers heightened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into stark relief the critical importance of digital accessibility and the particularly high stakes for people with disabilities. With stay-at-home orders, extended periods of quarantine and many […]

The UMD iSchool celebrates the Trace Center’s 50th Anniversary highlighting some of its most influential technologies and industry standards developed to create a more accessible world for all. Since 1971, the Trace Research & Development Center has helped millions of people interact with the world using common everyday devices, like telephones and computers. Originally formed […]