Assignment

I attended a thought-provoking talk by Dr. Jennifer Mankoff on anti-ableist technology at the Ability Project. Learning that Dr. Mankoff was Dr. Amy’s dissertation advisor inspired me even more to attend this talk. The alignment in their values was evident—both are truly inspirational. Their work challenges conventional thinking and inspires me to explore disability and accessibility culture more deeply, with the hope of contributing meaningfully.

Dr. Mankoff’s insights left a lasting impression. One powerful idea was her reimagining of accessibility culture—not just as a framework of accommodation, but as one that embraces joy, humor, and resilience. She emphasized the need to cultivate a shared sense of responsibility for accessibility, suggesting that everyone should feel accountable for it.

I was particularly impacted by the discussion on biases embedded in generative AI. It was disheartening to see how even neutral prompts could result in deeply stereotyped and inaccurate representations of disabled individuals. The talk broadened my perspectives and highlighted critical gaps in current technologies, such as the lack of tools that deliver live captions in users’ preferred languages. Dr. Mankoff’s talk expanded my ideas and notions about what inclusive design can and should be.

Learners United (Spring 2025)

This semester we initiated the IRB application process to gain approval for conducting user testing at Luv Michael.

We are currently gathering the additional information requested by the IRB and making the necessary revisions. This includes incorporating the suggested changes into the consent form, clarifying areas of the protocol that were previously unclear, and providing supplementary materials- such as more information about the ServeSafe curriculum on which our app is based.