Angelopoulou, Hodhod Explore Student Accessibility Issues in New Study

The latest issue of the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability includes a study by TSYS School faculty Anastasia Angelopoulou and Rania Hodhod that points out that the needs of people with disabilities are often overlooked in the development of applications in introductory computer science courses.  According to Angelopoulou, “These courses traditionally focus on teaching technical skills that do not include those for designing and developing accessible and inclusive applications.”  Understanding the need to enhance students’ understanding of designing, developing, and building applications with the needs of people with disabilities in mind early in a computer science program, their study introduces students to designing, developing, and evaluating accessible applications over three academic semesters.  Upon completion of the three-semester project, Angelopoulou and Hodhod, along with CSU coauthors Kristin Lilly and Ann Newland, assessed the impact of accessibility-related activities and the course delivery mode on students' knowledge about accessibility in computer science courses.  Results from a survey of the 76 TSYS School undergraduates who participated indicated that the students became more confident, interested, and familiar with accessible technology after attending a workshop that introduced them to accessibility measures and how they can be included in the software development process.  “[The] students [also] reported that they would consider designing and developing accessible and inclusive applications in their future work,” Hodhod added.