RESPECT 2025: Designing an Accessible Future for Equitable Computer Science
By Brianna Blaser, AccessComputing Director and Co-PI
The ACM SIGCSE Conference on Research on Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT) 2025, held in July in Newark, NJ, was the first RESPECT conference to have a theme related to accessibility. Authors were asked to make a good faith effort, even if accessibility was not the primary topic of their research, to attend to accessibility at least in terms of future research directions or limitations. In addition, the Accessibility Chair, Alexis Cobo, led efforts to ensure that the proceedings were accessible, a first for a SIGCSE conference.
We were excited to see many AccessComputing partners and friends at the conference; many wrote papers, featured below:
- Implications of Disability Definition, Determination, and Data Collection - Richard E. Ladner, Maya Cakmak, and Brianna Blaser
Empowering Disabled Engineers through Accessible Co-Curricular Activities - Mavis Murdock, Katherine H. Allen, and Elaine Short
Inspiring Blind and Low Vision High School Students and their Teachers to Access STEM in College - Isabela Figueira, Josahandi M. Cisneros, Julieta Lindo, Vinh H. Luong, and Stacy M. Branham
Fostering Equity and Access to Empower Marginalized Communities through Making - Maria Lopez-Delgado, Kevin Lemus, and Patricia Ordóñez
Disability Theory in HCI: Research Reform through Community, Learning, and Play - Rua M. Williams
Justice-Centered Computing Curriculum Design in Informal Learning - F. Megumi Kivuva, Davie A. Ross, and Amy J. Ko
Embedding Accessibility in a Computer Science Education Network: Lessons from a Collective Impact Approach - Leiny Y. Garcia, Shaundra B. Daily, and A. Nicki Washington
Improving Access and Equity for Graduate Students with Disabilities: A Call to Action - Joanne Esch and Brianna Blaser
Training Students to Support Accessible Web Development in Higher Education: An Experience Report - Terrill Thompson, Naisha Sinha, Joey Lieng, and Simran Shukla
Creativity and Curb Cuts: Experiences in Our First Offering of a Front End Development and Accessibility Focused CS Course - Briana Bettin, Tony Garnett, Alex Gore, and Andrea Llanas
Legends and Maps: Efforts to Reveal Hidden Curricula Knowledge Within Our Institution and Its Computing Courses - Briana Bettin, Joseph Teahen, Isabella Gatti, Andrea Llanas, Tony Garnett, Tim Perr, Leo C. Ureel, and Laura E. Brown
Towards More Accessible Open Source AI Platforms - Michael Murray, Tamanna Motahar, and Maya Cakmak
Case Studies for Teaching Accessibility and Inclusive Design Principles in Data-Centric Computing Courses - Aarya Dharm, Arona Cho, Megan Pham, Suh Young Choi, Sonoma Miller, and Kevin Lin
Slow but Steady: Progress Toward Accessibility-Focused Initiatives in Computer Science Education - Yerika Jimenez, Shaundra B. Daily, A. Nicki Washington, Cecilé Sadler, and Brianna Blaser