During the week of May 13th, the 2019 STEM for All Video Showcase took place online, bringing together 800 presenters to share 242 short videos highlighting innovations in STEM education. The showcase had a very broad reach, including nearly 50,000 unique visitors from 158 countries.
This year, AccessComputing included a video on teaching accessibility. Viewed more than 500 times, the video covered the need for universities to teach about accessibility in computing and information courses, to prepare future software engineers to create more accessible software. The video shared some of AccessComputing’s research on barriers to teaching accessibility, which shows that many higher education computing faculty are interested in teaching about accessibility, but don’t feel they have the necessary expertise or the materials. The video also shared successful examples of integration, such as interleaving knowledge about web accessibility and screen readers in web development courses.
The discussion of the video show case was wide ranging. Many shared ideas about how to integrate accessibility into CS curricula. Some shared their personal experiences teaching about accessibility. Others discussed opportunities to teach accessibility alongside ethics and policy and the importance of integrating it in the earliest computing courses that students take.