Technology Empowerment

An approach to accessibility that goes beyond user-centered design to actively train and support people with disabilities to become technology creators, developers, and researchers rather than solely consumers of assistive technology. Coined by Richard Ladner, technology empowerment recognizes that lasting accessibility improvements require disabled people as colleagues in technology development, not just as participants in user testing. Programs like AccessComputing and the Summer Academy for Advancing Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Computing exemplify this approach by developing pathways for disabled students to enter computing careers.