Student Academy: Disability History for Technologists & Designers

Teach Access Student Academy

Join Teach Access for a Free two-day Virtual Workshop on Accessibility on February 20th-21st, 2025. Individual sessions will occur from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET (8:00 AM to 2:00 PM PT)!

All students are welcome to attend. Whether you are enrolled in a college or university or are a lifelong learner, this workshop will increase your knowledge about accessibility. Learn practical accessibility skills that can be applied to your projects and gain the confidence to have impactful conversations that inspire others to prioritize inclusion.

Learn more and register here: https://www.teachaccess.org/student-programs/

Session Details

Session 2: Disability History for Technologists & Designers

Disability History for Technologists & Designers presented by Dr. Emma McDonnel, National Library of Medicine Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Washington.

Dr. Emma McDonnell will take participants through disability community basics and history from the early 1900s to the present. She will focus on how this context and knowledge can inform more respectful and engaged technology research with disability communities.

About Dr. Emma McDonnell

Dr. Emma McDonnell is an accessibility technology researcher who translates disability community perspectives into the design of technology. She is currently a National Library of Medicine Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Washington, where she also earned her PhD in Human Centered Design and Engineering. Dr. McDonnell combines her professional backgrounds in design, computing, disability studies, and health informatics along with personal experiences as a disabled person to imagine ways that accessible technology design can better match community practices.