Teaching Accessibility in Different Disciplines: Topics, Approaches, Resources, Challenges
Kyrie Zhixuan Zhou, Rachel F. Adler, Caterina Almendral, Soyoung Choi, Devorah Kletenik, Bruno Oro, JooYoung Seo · 2024 · Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2024) · doi:10.1145/3663548.3688553
Summary
This workshop proposal addresses a significant gap in accessibility education: while teaching accessibility has been extensively explored within computer science and related computing disciplines, its integration into other fields remains under-investigated. The authors argue that accessibility education is siloed, appearing primarily in CS-adjacent courses such as HCI, web design, data science, design thinking, and software engineering. Yet accessibility knowledge is equally critical in disciplines like journalism (where graduates produce media content), medicine and nursing (where practitioners serve patients with disabilities), and education (where teachers must create inclusive learning environments). The workshop, held virtually during ASSETS 2024, brought together researchers and education practitioners from diverse disciplines to discuss four key dimensions of accessibility teaching: topics covered, pedagogical approaches used, resources available, and challenges encountered. The format included a keynote address, individual 5-minute presentations with group discussions, and a collaborative group activity using tools like Miro to outline a future research and pedagogical agenda. The organizers represent a deliberately diverse group spanning information sciences, computer science, education, health and kinesiology, and industrial design, from institutions including the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Brooklyn College, LaGuardia Community College, and Iowa State University. The paper highlights that people with disabilities represent 25.7% of the US population — the largest minority group if formally recognized — underscoring the urgency of embedding accessibility principles across all professional training.
Key findings
The workshop proposal identifies several important observations about the current state of accessibility education. First, prior research has demonstrated that accessibility can be effectively taught through diverse pedagogical techniques including lectures, assignments, projects, service learning, virtual reality simulations, and gamification, yet these approaches remain concentrated in computing programs. Second, the authors note that accessibility education has a documented positive impact: journalism students trained in accessibility are more willing to produce accessible content professionally, and medical students with accessibility training are better equipped to serve patients with disabilities. Third, the proposal highlights an important distinction between teaching accessibility to students with disabilities (creating accessible learning environments) and teaching about accessibility to all students (embedding accessibility principles in professional practice). The workshop aimed to produce a tangible outcome — a report summarizing discussions across disciplines to serve as a resource collection for teaching accessibility, intended for submission to the SIGACCESS Newsletter or conferences like ASSETS and SIGCSE. The diversity and inclusion plan included outreach through the National Deaf Center, AccessComputing, and Teach Access networks.
Relevance
This workshop addresses a critical need in accessibility practice: the gap between the computing-centric focus of accessibility education and the reality that accessible products and services require interdisciplinary knowledge. For organizations building accessible digital products, the implication is clear — accessibility cannot be the sole responsibility of developers. Content creators, healthcare providers, educators, and designers all need formal training in accessibility principles. The workshop's cross-disciplinary approach offers a model for how accessibility can be woven into professional education beyond computer science. For practitioners, the key takeaway is that building a "culture of accessibility" requires systemic educational change across all disciplines that touch people's lives, not just technical training in WCAG compliance. The workshop's emphasis on sharing pedagogical strategies across fields could help accelerate adoption of accessibility education in under-served disciplines.
Tags: accessibility education · interdisciplinary · computing education · curriculum design · pedagogy · K-12 · higher education · universal design