CSCAP
Computer Science Accessibility for Students with Visual Disabilities
Project
The primary goal of this project is to provide a means for qualified students
with visual disabilities to successfully complete a computer science major.
A long-range goal of the project is that our experience will provide a model for
other programs in such a way as to significantly increase the number of people
with visual disabilities who work as computer scientists.
Project Description.
Specifically, three major goals have been identified for the project:
- Build a high quality, barrier-free, computer science degree program
in the southeast region of Minnesota that can serve as a model for other
computer science programs in the country.
Three sub-goals of this category include:
- Develop effective teaching tools that will assist all students
in general, but students with visual disabilities in particular, in
learning the concepts of computer science.
- Adapt non-computer science courses of the computer science curriculum
to incorporate tools and techniques to assist students with visual
disabilities.
- Provide an integrated supportive environment for students with
visual disabilities as they work toward their degree and prepare for
their professional careers.
- Develop awareness among Minnesota high school students
with disabilities, as well as their counselors, teachers, and parents,
of the opportunity to major in computer science in college.
It will be necessary to actively recruit students into the program in
the beginning. As these students successfully move through the
program, however, majoring in Computer Science will be able to be seen
as a realistic possibility for future high school students with visual
disabilities.
- Increase awareness, for all students and faculty in
the programs, of barriers faced in computing by people with disabilities.
As computer scientists become more aware of these barriers, they
will be better able to design future software programs that are accessible
from the start.
One of the main strategies for this project is to bring together a number
of existing tools and methods in such a way that a complete computer science
curriculum can be made to be barrier free. The reality is that not
all of the pieces of this puzzle exist – in these cases, the pieces need
to be developed. But a real strength of the project is that many of
the pieces do exist. The challenge, therefore, is a combination of
developing the missing pieces and being able to put these and the existing
pieces together in a cohesive and integrated set.
The “missing pieces” work is to develop tools and methods for teaching
specifically computer science related concepts to students with visual
disabilities. One of these tools is the
JavaSpeak
editor for helping students learn how to program. The “existing
pieces” work is to acquire appropriate adaptive technology tools, and
then to educate and also support faculty in the relevant disciplines on
how to incorporate this technology along with accessible teaching methods
into their classes.
A second major part of this project centers on recruiting qualified students
into the program. Close to a third of the budget of the project
is for student scholarship money. In addition, recruiting efforts
will be carried out to disseminate information about the program throughout
the state, to meet with potential students directly, and to work with
counselors and teachers in preparing high school students for entering
the program.
The third major part of the project is to develop an integrated program
for the students. This includes ensuring a supportive environment
for the students on campus and providing good transition for students
from school to job placement upon graduation via quality internships.
Papers:
- Schwab, Dennis. "Non-visual Diagram Navigation Using Microsoft's InkAnalysis Tool," Honor's Thesis, Winona State University, Department of Computer Science, Spring 2006. (pdf version)
- A. C. Smith, J. M. Francioni, M. Anwar, J. S. Cook, A. Hossain, and M. Rahman. "Nonvisual Tool for Navigating the Hierarchical Structure of Programs," in Proceedings of Assets 2004, October 2004. ( pdf version)
- Francioni, Joan M. and Smith, Ann C., "Computer Science Accessibility
for Students with Visual Disabilities," in proceedings of the
33rd SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
, Northern Kentucky, February 2002, pp. 91-95. (
Word version
or pdf version
.)
- Smith, Ann C., Francioni, Joan M., and Matzek, Sam D., "A Java Programming
Tool for Students with Visual Disabilities," in proceedings of Assets 2000 , Washington D.C., November 2000. ( Word version or pdf version .)
Logistics of the Project.
This project is primarily funded by a 3-year grant from the
Program for Persons with Disabilities office of the National Science Foundation
. It is a joint project between Winona State University and Saint
Mary's University, both located in Winona, Minnesota.
Faculty members involved in this project are
This project is part of the CSCAP
(Computer Science Curriculum Accessibility Program) at Winona State University
and Saint Mary's University.
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