In a world increasingly affected by technology, CC students are learning new ways to incorporate the values of a liberal arts education in developing and implementing technology to better the world. One example of this can be found in the popular Computer Science course Accessible User Interfaces, taught by Dr. Varsha Koushik.
“The class is timely and important, as access becomes even more important as technology drives our world,” says Koushik. “We need to think about how we can empower users and design systems that cater to their abilities.”
Accessible User Interfaces is an upper-level course, taught once a year, where students gain knowledge in accessibility technology and then develop a project that addresses a need within an experienced space. The goals of this class are to gain the skills and tools to think about accessibility from the start and to improve how people of all abilities can engage with the world around them through technology. Students do this by anchoring user-centered and accessibility design principles in existing research and practice.
“The class embraces concepts and learning outcomes from interdisciplinary fields, combining computer science, psychology, and design,” says Koushik. “It encourages students to critically think about interfaces and how they should design to expand access – the ethos of liberal arts education.”
This year, at the end of Block 8, students exhibited their projects in the FAC, demonstrating how the various aps, websites, and devices they developed make the museum-going experience more accessible for a wider audience.
“Museum descriptions can be really dense for people with cognitive disabilities,” says Mustafa Sameen ’25 whose group created Mocha Simplifier, a website that can adjust printed installation descriptions to various reading levels. “Our project is significant because it breaks down those barriers to let more people experience a space.”
“There’s not a lot of talk in web design spaces about access,” says Nick Thomas ’25, another member of the Mocha Simplifier group. “This class opened my eyes to a lot you don’t see when thinking about designing new technology.”
The group of Francisco Ortega ’26, Samuel Lain ’26, Arez Khidr ’25, and Yousef Senegal ’26 developed the BVI Wayfinder for their final project. This device allows users to browse different galleries, providing audio assistance to help with navigation and artwork descriptions.
“Throughout the block, we talked about BVI challenges,” says Ortega. “With our prototype, we make spaces more accessible to people that might not be able to experience them otherwise.”
Other projects included a device that uses AI to interpret artworks auditorily for visitors and multi-sensory experiences to allow alternate accesses to artwork.
“It’s a facet of being a good global and digital citizen that’s not discussed much,” says Zach Smith ’25. “Building in accessibility from the ground up and not as an afterthought is part of designing better things for a better world.”