AccessComputing Leadership Institute (AccessComputing News Feb 2009)

The UW hosted the AccessComputing Leadership Institute in Seattle in fall 2008. The event brought together more than twenty-five leaders from around the country to broaden participation in computing for people with disabilities. The goals of the institute were threefold:

1. Share best practices and develop new ones that will help increase the number and success of people with disabilities in computing fields.
2. Share and learn about funding opportunities to bring these practices to the people who need them.
3. Help develop new leadership in broadening participation in computing for people with disabilities.

The institute consisted of a series of presentations, panels, and discussion forums. To stimulate ideas for implementation, presentations highlighted successful projects, and panels included students with disabilities who were successful in computing. In small group discussion forums, participants brainstormed ideas to increase the participation of people with disabilities in computing fields. Institute participants—some with vast experience and others beginning to develop interests in computing or disability—uncovered many challenges and possible solutions for broadening participation.

For more information about this institute, its participants, resources, and outcomes, visit www.washington.edu/accesscomputing/acli/index.html.