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>> Narrator: We take our smartphones, computers and gadgets for granted.
But behind all this technology is a skilled workforce of
software developers, systems administrators,
Web developers and programmers.
There's an increasing demand for individuals who have technical skills.
An understanding of computing is important for these opportunities.
We often talk about broadening the participation of females
as well as racial and ethnic minorities in computing courses,
but what about including people with disabilities?
>> Richard Ladner: Worldwide there's one billion people,
about 15% of the international population have a disability,
according to the World Health Organization.
So, if you like, that's a lot of customers that they would like to get
and having a diverse workforce they're more likely to have the kinds of products
that will satisfy more people's needs and interests.
>> Narrator: Individuals with disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders,
attention deficits, learning disabilities, hearing impairments,
visual impairments, and mobility impairments,
can succeed in computing education and computing careers.
>> Cynthia Bennett: It is important for people with disabilities to pursue careers in science
because we have really unique life experiences and skills
that we can offer and it's important that for us to be stakeholders
in projects and for us to be represented on the market.
>> Michael Forzano: Being a problem solver is definitely really important
when you're a software developer.
And if you're someone with a disability
that's something that you have to do pretty regularly since,
you know, we're faced with challenges all the time.
We have to find solutions to them so that probably makes us better problem solvers.
That's definitely a good trait to have when you're working in this field.
>> Sheryl Burgstahler: It's very important
to attract students with disabilities into computing.
One reason is it's a matter of fairness.
There are a lot of opportunities in those fields
and they should have an equal opportunity to pursue those fields.
But another important thing is that they can benefit,
those fields can benefit from the perspectives of people with disabilities.
>> Narrator: With proper assistive technology and accommodations,
individuals with disabilities can successfully pursue education and careers in computing.
>> Michael Forzano: I am a software development engineer at Amazon.
I work on the Trade-in Team,
so that's the program that allows customers to trade in their old items
such as textbooks, electronics like iPhones, DVDs, videogames.
Here I am, working for Amazon as a software developer
and now I've been here almost two years.
There's been new challenges every day that I've had to face
and had to find a solution for.
>> Jessie Shulman: My name's is Jessie Shulman and I'm an operations program manager
in the web services field and a graduate of the University of Washington.
And I have a learning disability so I struggle with language to begin with,
so learning a computer syntax like Java,
all the problems that I had,
the struggles that I had with English, came up again with Java.
>> Cynthia Bennett: I am a first year PhD student
in the Human Centered Design and Engineering Department
at the University of Washington.
I became interested in a career in Human Centered Design and Engineering
because I worked as a research assistant
in the Computer Science Department at the University of Washington for two years.
I was hired because I have a psychology background and experience managing research projects.
>> Kevin Cree: I'm dyslexic which means I have difficulty reading and pretty bad handwriting.
>> Jessie Shulman: The accommodations that I used in school included books on tape.
I used a note taker for certain classes
and I used dictation software for my writing tasks.
>> Michael Forzano: I had all my textbooks in either electronic format or Braille
depending on the situation. Like for the math courses,
I had them in Braille so I could see the diagrams and everything.
They bought a, an embosser that was capable of Brailling diagrams
so I had note takers in my classes
and they would copy down the notes and the diagrams
and transcribe them into Braille which was great.
I had access to everything I needed.
>> Kevin Cree: My main accommodations would be extended time on tests,
having my books available as e-text format
which means I can use a screen reader
to read out the books to me
so even though when I'm reading it myself and I may not be able to understand it,
the computer is telling me exactly what those words are.
[ People talking in the room ]
>> Cynthia Bennett: I use a typical computer like everyone else.
But it has an additional piece of software called a screen reader loaded onto it.
The screen reader tells me what is on the screen.
>> Teacher: Don't feel too pressured if. . .
>> Narrator: Teachers can play an important role in encouraging students with disabilities
to study computing by giving this underrepresented group access to classes.
>> Vincent Martin: If you don't start doing this at a young age,
you won't even know what's going on later even if you're not a computing major.
You need to understand how computing works
because everything you have has a computer in it,
your watch, your phone, your car has 25 different processors in it.
>> Kevin Cree: For the most part, the K-12 system were very accommodating,
getting an IEP and different accommodations through them
and specific classes to assist in teaching reading and writing.
[Teacher talking]
>> Narrator: Teachers can make their classes accessible to all students
by applying universal design,
designing their classes and lessons so all students
have equal access to the information.
Taking these steps proactively has the potential to benefit all students in a classroom,
not just the students with disabilities.
>> Sheryl Burgstahler: Teachers can use multi-modes of instruction.
And so they can speak the content to the class,
they can have students discuss it in small groups,
they can write things on the overhead projector,
they might show a concept using a video.
And so that's the first thing is just to recognize that the students in their class
have many different learning styles
and some of them actually have disabilities that affect their learning.
>> Richard Ladner: You might provide alternative ways
to look at a single concept in a science class,
not just one way of looking at it.
So there might be a visual way, a more auditory way,
perhaps, examples from different walks of life of a concept.
So you're already doing that.
And so you just want to continue doing that and maybe add a little bit more.
>> Michael Forzano: I would say they should be willing to work with the student
because every student has different needs.
They should be willing to provide their materials in accessible formats.
>> Narrator: It's important for students with disabilities to feel welcome in the classes.
>> Sheryl Burgstahler: In the high school setting,
one good way to get the word out
about classes that students might take,
particularly in computer science,
is to let the counselors know how open they are
to having students with disabilities in their classes.
>> Erika: I've had a lot of mentors and teachers
who have helped me be more encouraged to go into computing.
One of the professors, a well-known professor, Richard Ladner,
has really helped me go towards computing.
>> Richard Ladner: You can think of beginning computer science courses as gates.
Gates to get into a field,
and if those gates are impenetrable
or really difficult or kind of don't meet the needs of a lot of students then,
if you like, that gate is already closed and they're not getting in.
So why not have a course that is so inviting, so much fun,
so interesting and is an inviting course.
>> Narrator: An example of universal design is Quorum.
It's a programming language that's easy for everyone to use and understand,
while also being accessible to students who are blind.
>> Richard Ladner: Quorum isn't just a language for blind kids.
It's a language for everyone
and it just happens to work really well with blind kids as well
so if you like it's universally designed.
It's designed for easy learning by everyone, including blind kids.
>> Narrator: Although applying universal design
minimizes the need for accommodations for students,
it's also important to have a plan in place
to respond to additional accommodation requests.
>> Cynthia: There are a lot of people who
take the time to leave the world a better place than it was
when they entered it.
And I feel that it's my responsibility to do the same,
to thank all the people who helped me
and to ensure that more people with disabilities
can pursue the career that I have, and pursue it a little bit more easily.
>>Narrator: To learn more about how you can encourage and support
students with disabilities in computing courses,
engage with the AccessCS10K project hosted by the
University of Washington and the University of Nevada Las Vegas.