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The Teachable Object Recognizer mobile application uses AI and machine learning to help access the visual world. Spending more time at home due to the pandemic, many of us are occupied with more indoor activities than before. From cooking and crafts to household projects, we interact with everyday objects, new and old, from packages of food to […]

Dr. Jonathan Lazar, Professor at the University of Maryland (UMD) College of Information Studies (iSchool), was honored Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at the annual UMD Research Excellence Celebration – receiving the Exemplary Researcher award for his significant contributions to making technology and digital content more accessible for people with disabilities. The UMD Research Excellence Celebration […]

Published in Maryland Today Morphic, a new computer operating system extension developed by iSchool researchers, includes an interface feature called the QuickStrip that improves accessibility by adjusting text size or spacing, reading text aloud and more. Information science major Meagan Griffith ’20 spends so much time peering at a computer for her studies that she […]

Bern’s drive to foster and enhance accessibility technologies led him to his current role as an Assistant Research Scientist at our Trace Center. He transitioned to UMD in 2016 when the Trace Center moved to the UMD iSchool from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Engineering, where Bern obtained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. Bern […]

The University of Maryland College of Information Studies (UMD iSchool) Principal Lecturer Dr. Renee Hill has been named a recipient of the prestigious 2020 Accessibility Inclusion Fellowship Award presented by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Through this award, Hill will work with the NFB to develop and enhance curriculum in the areas of accessibility, diversity, and inclusion at the […]

Master of Science in Human-Computer Interaction (HCIM) students from the University of Maryland College of Information Studies (UMD iSchool) had the unique opportunity to mentor iSchool undergraduates as part of a new initiative established by iSchool assistant professors Hernisa Kacorri and David Weintrop. The HCIM graduate students in Kacorri’s Inclusive Design course served as inclusive design […]

In the U.S., the right to make decisions for ourselves is something that most people aren’t easily prepared to give up. However, when people lose physical or mental functions due to age or circumstance, they can be forced to give up autonomy if they are seen as no longer able to make their own decisions […]

Dr. Jonathan Lazar, professor in the College of Information Studies (UMD iSchool) at the University of Maryland, is the recipient of the inaugural Rachel Olivero Accessibility Innovation Award, presented by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) of Maryland during its annual state convention on November 9th. Lazar was honored with this award for his […]

Hopes, concerns emerge on healthcare AI for the elderly and people with disabilities Original Story by Dave Pearson, May 22, 2019 AI in Healthcare Physicians considering new technology for their practices tend to ask one or more of four questions before moving ahead: Does it actually work? Will I get paid for it? What are the […]

Enabling the visually impaired to access charts on the web using deep learning Original Story by Niklas Elmqvist Sparks of Innovation: Stories from the HCIL The fact that visualization leverages the human visual system to convey data is not only inherent in the name “visualization” itself, it is also endemic to the discipline. A huge part […]

Dr. Jonathan Lazar, UMD iSchool Professor, received a Google Faculty Research Award for the next academic year. Dr. Lazar’s Google faculty research award focuses on the development of new metrics for use in automated accessibility testing tools, for more accurately measuring web accessibility in large organizations. Dr. Lazar is involved in research and teaching in human-computer […]

The new version of the United States Postal Service’s popular Automated Postal Center includes the updated EZ Access keypad developed by the Trace Center at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies (iSchool). The keypad, along with software techniques developed by Trace, makes it possible for people with low vision, blindness, physical and cognitive disabilities to use touchscreen-based […]

The new version of the United States Postal Service’s popular Automated Postal Center includes the updated EZ Access keypad developed by the Trace Center. The keypad, along with software techniques developed by Trace, makes it possible for people with low vision, blindness, physical and cognitive disabilities to use touchscreen-based public systems. The original APC, which […]

The Trace Research & Development Center is the recipient of a $4.625 million, five-year Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (link is external) (NIDILRR), part of the Administration for Community Living (link is external), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (link is external). […]

Two key components of the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII), DeveloperSpace and Unified Listing, are now available online. Both were developed as part of the Prosperity4all project and launched at the 2017 AAATE Congress in Sheffield, UK. The Trace Center collaborated in this effort and is now leading the development and pilot testing of the […]