Audio production is a skilled practice that requires mastery in highly complex software and hardware tools. Blind audio producers face a steep learning curve where they must learn multiple inaccessible audio production tools in conjunction with workarounds for screen reader support. Learning audio production is made even more challenging due to a scarcity of educational resources geared towards blind people. Grounded in formative interviews and observations with seven blind audio production instructors, we developed Tutoria11y, an extension for GarageBand to support blind audio producers in creating accessible, interactive tutorials that screen reader users can follow to receive step-by-step guidance and confirmation of their actions. Findings from design exploration sessions with five blind instructors highlight how Tutoria11y can support tutorial creation and augment tutorial playback for blind audio producers. We discuss how we can rethink technology’s role as a means to amplify, rather than replace, the knowledge of disabled experts.

Collaborative writing is an integral part of academic and professional work. Although some prior research has focused on accessibility in collaborative writing, we know little about how visually impaired writers work in real-time with sighted collaborators or how online editing tools could better support their work. Grounded in formative interviews and observations with eight screen reader users, we built Co11ab, a Google Docs extension that provides configurable audio cues to facilitate understanding who is editing (or edited) what and where in a shared document. Results from a design exploration with fifteen screen reader users, including three naturalistic sessions of use with sighted colleagues, reveal how screen reader users understand various auditory representations and use them to coordinate real-time collaborative writing. We revisit what collaboration awareness means for screen reader users and discuss design considerations for future systems.

Interactive 3D simulations have enabled break-throughs in robotics and computer vision, but simulating the broad diversity of environments needed for deep learning requires large corpora of photo-realistic 3D object models. To address this need, we present Google Scanned Objects, an open-source collection of over one thousand 3D-scanned household items released under a Creative Commons license; these models are preprocessed for use in Ignition Gazebo and the Bullet simulation platforms, but are easily adaptable to other simulators. We describe our object scanning and curation pipeline, then provide statistics about the contents of the dataset and its usage. We hope that the diversity, quality, and flexibility of Google Scanned Objects will lead to advances in interactive simulation, synthetic perception, and robotic learning.

As awareness surrounding the importance of developing accessible applications has grown, work to integrate inclusive design into computer science (CS) curriculum has gained traction. However, there remain obstacles to integrating accessibility into introductory CS coursework. In this paper, we discuss current challenges to building assistive technology and the findings of a formative study exploring the role of accessibility in an undergraduate CS curriculum. We respond to the observed obstacles by presenting V11, a cross-platform programming interface to empower novice CS students to build assistive technology. To evaluate the effectiveness of V11 as a CS and accessibility learning tool, we conducted design workshops with ten undergraduate CS students, who brainstormed solutions to a real accessibility problem and then used V11 to prototype their solution. Post-workshop evaluations showed a 28% average increase in student interest in building accessible technology, and V11 was rated easier to use than other accessibility programming tools. Student reflections indicate that V11 can be an accessibility learning tool, while also teaching fundamental Computer Science concepts.