The Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences (CREATE) at the University of Washington (UW) is leading a transformative movement in higher education and technology. With a mission to make technology more accessible and build an inclusive world, CREATE fosters interdisciplinary cooperation and research that prioritizes the needs of people with disabilities.
Founded in 2019 through gifts from Microsoft and private donors totaling $5 million, the center’s mission is to advance accessible technology and ensure that people with disabilities are active participants in shaping the future by uniting faculty, students, and staff across disciplines.
Director Jennifer Mankoff highlights their commitment to inclusive teamwork. “All the projects we fund are structured on principles that emerge from multidisciplinary collaboration and are informed by disability studies and perspectives,” Mankoff says. A recent grant, for example, “brings together experts from computer science, rehabilitation medicine, and the information school, illustrating the center’s interdisciplinary approach,” she explains.
One standout initiative is Project Sidewalk, led by member Jon Froehlich. It provides critical information about sidewalk accessibility. Deployed in over ten cities, the project uses AI to scale its impact, exemplifying how technology can extend the reach of accessibility research.
The center also supports initiatives like Go Baby Go, which offers custom mobility devices to children with disabilities at no cost while challenging outdated perceptions of having a disability and empowering children, even toddlers, to engage fully in play, learning, and community life.
CREATE faculty are pioneering work in augmented reality to improve real-time captioning for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. By allowing users to manipulate captions in a 3D space, this innovative approach enhances visual contact with speakers and access to other visual information, such as slides used in a presentation.
The center’s influence also extends to public policymaking; a CREATE article on mobile app accessibility was cited by the Department of Justice’s proposed ADA rules on digital technology.
The center is committed to reshaping STEM education to be accessible to students with disabilities and equipping all graduates to create accessible technology. And Mankoff believes other universities can learn from CREATE’s inclusive approach.
Despite rising anti-DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) legislation, CREATE remains steadfast in its mission. Mankoff emphasizes that accessibility-driven innovation is here to stay.
“Accessibility has a long history of leading to cutting-edge advances that benefit everyone,” she says. “Speech-to-text technology, for instance, was used by disabled people long before it became ubiquitous. These innovations, inspired by accessibility needs, and often designed and developed by disabled leaders, are essential to our future.”●
