Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology (DO-IT) on the electronic highway
Sheryl Burgstahler, Dan Comden · 1994 · Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94) · doi:10.1145/191028.191075
Summary
This paper describes DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology), a National Science Foundation-funded project based at the University of Washington's College of Engineering. DO-IT was designed to recruit and retain students with disabilities into science, engineering, and mathematics (SEM) academic programs and careers — fields where people with disabilities, along with women and racial minorities, were traditionally underrepresented. The project made extensive use of computers, adaptive technology, and the then-emerging Internet network to connect students with disabilities to mentors, peers, and educational resources. Published in 1994, this paper captures a moment when the Internet was just beginning to be recognized as a transformative tool for accessibility, offering new possibilities for remote participation, information access, and community building that could overcome many physical barriers faced by students with disabilities in STEM education.
Key findings
DO-IT demonstrated that providing students with disabilities access to computers, adaptive technology, and Internet connectivity could meaningfully support their participation in STEM education and career pathways. The project leveraged the Internet as an equalizing tool — enabling students with mobility, sensory, or other disabilities to communicate with mentors, access educational materials, collaborate with peers, and participate in academic communities without the physical barriers that traditionally excluded them from STEM fields. By situating the program within the College of Engineering rather than a disability services office, DO-IT signaled that STEM participation by students with disabilities was an engineering education priority, not merely a support services concern. The project represented an early, structured effort to address the intersection of disability and STEM workforce diversity at a time when these were rarely considered together.
Relevance
DO-IT is historically significant as one of the earliest programs to systematically leverage the Internet and adaptive technology for STEM accessibility. Sheryl Burgstahler went on to become one of the most influential figures in accessible higher education, and DO-IT grew into a lasting program at the University of Washington that continues to this day. The paper is a time capsule of the early 1990s optimism about the Internet's potential to level the playing field for people with disabilities — an optimism that proved partly justified but also revealed new digital accessibility challenges. For practitioners, DO-IT's model of combining adaptive technology provision, mentorship, and Internet connectivity remains a template for STEM inclusion programs. The paper also highlights that workforce diversity initiatives must explicitly include disability alongside gender and race — a point that many diversity programs still overlook three decades later.
Tags: STEM accessibility · STEM education · digital divide · disability employment · internet accessibility · assistive technology · higher education · adaptive technology