This Week in Accessibility

June 12, 2026

Articles/Reports/Books 

• Accessibility by Design: A Comprehensive Playbook for Higher Education (Coalition on Accessibility in High Education). A Practical Guide to Embedding Accessibility Across Digital, Physical, and Institutional Systems for Learners with Disabilities. 
• Who Is Missing from AP CSP? Students with Disabilities (CSTA). Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) has been widely celebrated as a gateway into CS. Since its launch, the course has helped increase participation among historically underrepresented groups, including females and students of color. But one group is often missing from these conversations: students with disabilities. A closer look at the data reveals a whole new story.  
• Trump Administration Sued Over Delay Of Accessibility Rules (Disability Scoop). Disability advocates are suing after the Trump administration abruptly delayed a pair of rules designed to improve accessibility right before they were set to take effect. 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• Accessibility in STEM Education: A Roundtable Discussion (LDA). June 22, 2026 12:00 - 1:00PM EDT. Join us for a discussion about the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals Zero Barriers! guide. This is a new, free educational resource from the Smithsonian Science Education Center that supports students to investigate and address barriers to accessibility in their community by using STEM and social science tools. During this accessibility conversation, educators, researchers, and students will share their lived experiences and perspectives. This webinar will be recorded, and available to watch at a later date. 
• SqueakyFest '26 (The Squeaky Wheel). July 19-29, 2026 SqueakyFest, the first-ever multi-city disabled comedy festival returns in 2026 with six shows across five cities, and more than 40 of the world’s funniest disabled performers. The cities for SqueakyFest include: New York, Seattle, Washington D.C., Chicago and Toronto.  
• Microsoft Ability Summit - Accessible Math Unlocks STEM Education and Careers (Microsoft). May 19, 2026 Recording and resources are available at the DAISY Consortium website. Last year, Peter Wu at Microsoft and Sara Shunkwiler at Johns Hopkins Engineering met through Sara's low-on-spoons LinkedIn post asking Microsoft to please fix math accessibility at the source. Peter responded 3 mins later on a Sunday afternoon, looped in the DAISY Consortium, and used Sara's Space Systems Engineering courses as a sandbox. Please share the updates and join the conversation. 
• The STEM Access Exchange - Interest Form (STEM Access Community of Practice). New complex STEM Accessibility CoP born from a thread in the EDUCAUSE Digital IT community on math and STEM accessibility. Co-led by Dawn Dunaway (UAH), Lisette Torres-Gerald and Daniel Reinholtz (Sines of Disability), and Sara Shunkwiler (JHU Engineering), our goal is to connect higher education professionals and others engaged in STEM accessibility work so we can share ideas, challenges, resources, and promising practices. Free, open to all! 
• Experiences of Graduate Students in their Programs and Research (Access Computing). During this session, graduate student with disabilities shared their experiences navigating graduate school in computing, including their research journeys, mentorship experiences, and advice for students considering a PhD. Watch a recording of this webinar on DO-IT Webinars. 
• Unlock the Secrets of Safer, Smarter Product Design Workshop 2: Usability, Data, and Accessibility Design Risks. June 17, 2026 09:00 AM in Pacific Time (US and Canada). This session digs into how people actually interact with your device, how data gets handled, and where design assumptions create accessibility gaps that can derail your product. This session helps your team identify usability and accessibility risks before they become costly problems, and understand what responsible data practices look like in device development. 

Articles/Reports/Books 

• Short Naps, Long Hours: How Autism Clinics Squeeze Medicaid Dollars Out of Preschoolers (The New York Times). The industry has grown rapidly, straining state budgets. A focus on finances has led to overbilling, fraud and even harm. 
• The USC Professor Who Pioneered Socially Assistive Robotics (IEEE Spectrum). When the robotics engineering field that Maja Matarić wanted to work in didn’t exist, she helped create it. In 2005 she helped define the new area of socially assistive robotics. 
• 133 - That’s the essence of CREATE ft. Jennifer Mankoff & Heather A. Feldner (SOUR). Today in the episode of What’s Wrong With: The Podcast, we are excited to be joined by two guests to talk about accessibility, inclusive design, and the future of technology!  
• Are That Many Students Really Faking Disabilities? (The Chronicle of Higher Education). In reality, students with disabilities face mounds of paperwork, climbing health costs, overworked administrators, and a skeptical faculty. 
• The Faces Age Verification Cannot Read (LinkedIn). Half of U.S. states now require online age verification, and the systems doing the verifying were not built with disabled faces in mind. 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• Career Readiness – Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD). Career Readiness is an inclusive career development program
for transition-age youth with disabilities that addresses barriers 
to employment. The program aims to close the economic gap experienced by people with disabilities by preparing young adults 
to transition successfully to employment, postsecondary education, and independent living after high school. The PYD curriculum is hands-on, customizable and multi-modal. Our training ensures individualized growth and meaningful individual outcomes by responding to where each participant is in their continuum of development. 

Articles/Reports/Books 

• Digital Accessibility: The Invisible Core Of Scalable, Sustainable AI (Forbes). As AI moves from pilot to enterprise deployment, performance is no longer defined by model accuracy alone. It is also defined by how well systems work for people—across differences in age, ability, language and context. This is where digital accessibility becomes critical. 
• GAAD 2026: Not Much to Celebrate, Yet (LinkedIn). Disability advocates across the US are exhausted, and we have more than enough reasons to be. GAAD exists to raise awareness. The goal, always, was to make GAAD unnecessary. We were supposed to be working toward a world where accessibility is so embedded in how we build, buy, and govern that we no longer need a special day to remind anyone that disabled people exist. We are nowhere near that finish line. And in several important areas, we have lost ground. 
• "Signed Language is a Home, Too" (Switchbacks). A conversation with Sara Nović, author of Mother Tongue. Sara is already the author of several books, including the bestselling True Biz, which I continue to tell my friends to read, especially my hearing friends who may be less familiar with Deaf culture and experience. True Biz was the first mainstream novel I read featuring deaf characters where I actually enjoyed myself, rather than wondering what tropes were coming next. 
• Undergraduate Research Highlight: Developing Intelligent User Interfaces for Accessibility (Computing Research Association). This Q&A highlight features Ritesh Kanchi, an Honorable Mention in the 2025 CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researchers award program. Ritesh completed a B.S. in Computer Science at University of Washington in 2025. He is now a first-year Ph.D. student in Computer Science at Harvard University. 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• Scaling Relevance & Collaboration: UDL Case-Based Learning in Large Classes (UDL Goodwin University): Wednesday, June 10, 11 AM – 12 PM PDT. Universities increasingly rely on large classes as gateways to majors and degree progress, yet these learning environments often amplify inequities. Students experience anonymity, limited participation opportunities, and uneven access to peer-supported reasoning. Research in higher education consistently shows that collaboration, when intentionally structured, can significantly improve performance, deepen conceptual understanding, and strengthen persistence in introductory courses. This proposal synthesizes findings from two peer-reviewed studies that examine the effects of structured collaborative learning and case-based instructional design on student performance and engagement. Taken together, these studies demonstrate how carefully structured peer interaction and case study based content delivery lead to better learning outcomes, greater accuracy in conceptual reasoning, and improved student perceptions of belonging and capability. 

Articles/Reports/Books 

• The analog teaching and learning trend, disability, and access friction (Beyond the Scope). Thinking about how recent interest in lower-tech teaching and learning can engage with accessibility 
• Introduction to Contemplative CRiT Collage (TERC). Wanting to support marginalized scientists, particularly disabled scientists of color, in 2024, TERC researchers Lisette Torres-Gerald and Christina Silva conducted a pilot study to develop and refine a new data collection methodology called Contemplative CRiT Collage (CCC). Its intention is to aid in the mending of scientists of color with disabilities who encounter negative experiences in STEM. It is a new approach to supporting their persistence in STEM. The CCC pilot was a two-year study to evaluate the methodology’s impact on the participants' experience. 
• Mothers with Disabilities Deserve Better (Disability Belongs). Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate strength, care, and resilience, and honor the countless ways parents nurture their children. Yet for millions of mothers with disabilities in the United States, this celebration highlights a harsh reality: the systems meant to support families often fail them. 
• Here’s What Psychiatrists Mean When They Say You Have A.D.H.D. (The New York Times). My patients often ask if I think they have a particular psychiatric diagnosis, such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autism. The way they ask suggests they believe that as their psychiatrist, I can identify hidden attributes in their brains, much in the same way one of my physician colleagues might diagnose a patient with a genetic mutation or bacterial infection. 
• How Peer Mentoring Supports Neurodivergent Students (Inside Higher Ed). At Adelphi University, peer mentors help neurodivergent students build confidence, navigate social settings and engage in campus life. 
• 260 - Dr. Cynthia Bennett: Who Gets Left Out When We Build for Access (YouTube). Dr. Cynthia Bennett is a blind researcher at Google who studies the AI systems that are supposed to serve blind people. She found out blind people were making Audio Description, and she, a blind person, had no idea. That gap changed how she works. In this conversation, we get into what authentic representation actually requires, why "good enough" accessibility protects the wrong people, and the tool she helped build so blind professionals can finally create AD themselves. 
• Dr. Cynthia Bennett Part 2: What We Lose When We Stop Describing Things to Each Other (YouTube). Dr. Cynthia Bennett is a blind researcher at Google who studies what happens when technology is built without the people it's supposed to serve. In this conversation, we get into why imperfect, unpredictable human moments are exactly what AI struggles with most. Why she thinks claiming to be objective is less honest than just telling you where you stand. And how the process of making research accessible to her, as a blind researcher, actually changed what her research found. 
• Why autism pioneer Uta Frith wants to dismantle the spectrum (New Scientist). After a career spent grappling with the neural underpinnings of autism, Uta Frith is unwavering in her controversial call to scrap our current view of the condition and start again 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• The 2026 D-30 Disability Impact List (Diversability): Nominations for 2026 will close on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. We are excited to share that nominations are now open for the 2026 D-30 Disability Impact List #D30DisList. The list will honor the unique accomplishments of our most impactful disabled community members through a nomination and selection process. 
• Just Tech Fellowship (Social Science Research Council): Applications Close June 28, 2026. The Just Tech Fellowship supports rigorous, original, and community-grounded work that addresses pressing questions about how technology shapes society and public life. The program is designed for researchers, artists, and practitioners whose work advances thoughtful, practical, and imaginative approaches to how technology is designed, governed, and experienced in public life. 
• Exploring Autistic and Non-Autistic Perceptions of Shared Spaces (Institute for Human Centered Design): Tuesday, May 19, 9 AM – 11 AM PDT. Join us as Stuart Neilson explores how digital imagery reveals autistic and non-autistic sensory experiences of shared spaces. 
• Accessible By Design: Creating Inclusive Events That Work for Everyone (Disability Belongs): Tuesday, June 9^th, 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT. This interactive session will equip you with the tools to design events that are inclusive from the outset. You will learn why accessibility is foundational to effective events and how to integrate it across every stage of planning. The training will cover key considerations for in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats, with practical guidance you can apply immediately. 
• Scholarships & Professional Development (ATHEN). Scholarship applications for The Teresa Haven Scholarship for Students with Disabilities are due June 5, 2026.
• Interagency Accessibility Forum (IAAF) (Section508): Thursday-Friday, May 21-22, 2026. Presenters and panelists covered a wide range of Section 508-related subjects, including agency compliance updates, project management strategies for accessibility assessments, procurement of accessible technology, regulatory differences, tools like ART and SRT, and broader efforts to promote digital access to government information. 
• From Policy to Practice: Operationalizing Accessibility and AI Policies in Higher Education (ATTECS): May 26 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EDT. This webinar focuses on change implementation: how institutions can move from announcements, compliance documents, and strategic statements to consistent, institution-wide practice. 
• Fourth Annual Smith-Kettlewell Summer Research Institute (The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute): Apply by June 1, 2026. This year’s course, “From Ideation to Presentation – AI as a Research Assistant for BLV Data Science Scholars,” is the fourth in a series of five yearly “Smith-Kettlewell Summer Institute” courses. It is a guided, project-based experience designed to support BLV researchers through the full research lifecycle, from developing a research idea to presenting findings, while leveraging AI as a core assistive and productivity tool. As in previous years, the course is free of charge to those whose applications are accepted.

Articles/Reports/Books 

• This Designer Is Turning Assistive Devices Like Compression Gloves, Ostomy Bags Into Stylish Accessories (Teen Vogue): Destiny Pinto's rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis led her to rethink how assistive devices like compression gloves could look. 
• Who gets to speak for mothers of autistic children? (The 19th): A key federal advisory committee has been reshaped around Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) moms, raising questions about who gets heard in setting pivotal policy. 
• Cyborg Tech From the Inside (IEEE Spectrum): IEEE’s commitment to evaluating technology from the user's perspective extends beyond this special report. To provide a necessary corrective to the “techno-solutionism” that often dominates coverage of assistive devices, IEEE Spectrum created the Taenzer Fellowship for Disability-Engaged Journalism, through which six writers with disabilities are contributing articles about the devices they rely on daily. 

Webinars/Events/Other

• Disability, Deafness and Neurodiversity in Architecture series (UCL): May 13, 2026 – June 03 2026. Register via Zoom. An inaugural series of seminars and workshops exploring disability, deafness and neurodiversity in architecture, foregrounding inclusive research, pedagogy and design practices. 
• Disability, Pop Culture, and Technology (UW Access Computing): Media often portrays disability and technology in powerful and sometimes problematic ways, especially genres like science fiction. In this webinar, Kayla Brown, EdD, UW DO-IT explores representation in media and pop culture; what portrayals, especially those related to technology, reveal about real-world innovation; and where narratives veer off course.  
• New Ideas in Accessible Math/STEM (AiiCE): May 13, 2026 10:00 AM in Pacific Time (US and Canada). Speakers will discuss their efforts in making mathematics and STEM education more accessible for students with disabilities. The session will highlight challenges, innovations, and practical considerations for creating STEM learning materials that are not only compliant but also usable and inclusive. Register via Zoom.  
• Global Accessibility Awareness Day (Disability IN): May 21, 2026. This Global Accessibility Awareness Day, join Disability:IN and global business leaders to explore how organizations are using accessibility to build solutions that work better for more people. 
• Tech Unlimited Learning Enrichment Valut (Tech Unlimited): LEV is a free virtual library of ready-to-use technology lesson plans created by educators and social workers for neurodiverse learners. Each course is designed to reinforce Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills and explore the creative power of tech.  LEV creates a window into Tech Unlimited’s educational philosophy and teaching techniques. It spotlights the role of social workers as essential curriculum partners who infuse Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) into each lesson through conversation starters, activities, and projects. Provide feedback via a short survey (10-20 minutes in exchange for a $20 gift card) or a focus group ($45 honoraria). 
• Disability Comedy: Live From Your Living Room (The Squeaky Wheel) - Thursday May 14, 2026 @ 8pm EDT - Laughter brings people together and together is where change starts.Join us on May 14 for a special show that combines comedy, community, and a commitment to accessibility all in one unforgettable virtual event. We believe everyone deserves to experience art, joy, and connection. The event is free to attend, but your donations help support future inclusive festivals and ensure every artist is paid for sharing their talent. ASL and captioning will be provided.

Other Opportunities

• From Cassandra McCall and Hana Dang:  Our research team is seeking staff, faculty, and administrative volunteers to participate in a study to better understand access and accommodation procedures at institutions of higher education across the US, with a specific focus on engineering universities, college, and departmental units. In this first phase of a two-part study, we are conducting a survey to learn more about you and your knowledge of and experiences in supporting engineering students with disabilities in higher education. Later phases of the study will include follow-up semi-structured interviews to be conducted at a later date. The results of this study will be used to enhance the educational policies, practices, and other institutional supports offered by universities to promote the participation of disabled people in engineering education and the workforce. 
  • The survey is expected to take about 15–20 minutes to complete. If you are interested in participating in this study, please fill out and submit the following survey: Click here to access the Qualtrics Survey! 
  • We look forward to hearing from you! If you have any questions about the study or about your participation, please contact Cassandra McCall (cassandra.mccall@usu.edu) or Hana Dang (letramhuong.dang@usu.edu). 
  • This project is funded as a National Science Foundation CAREER Award No. 2340778. The protocol has been approved by the Utah State University IRB #14474. 
• Postdoctoral Research Associate in Center for Community-Driven Assistive Technologies (CDAT) (Lehigh University): Applications close: Open until filled. The Center for Community-Driven Assistive Technologies (CDAT) at Lehigh University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher to contribute to interdisciplinary research on AI-enabled assistive technologies. This position focuses on understanding user needs, fostering trust, and advancing the adoption of AI-enabled Assistive Technologies designed to support individuals with disabilities and/or older adults.

Articles/Reports/Books 

• A New Yorker Rediscovers Her City, in a Wheelchair (The New York Times). After losing her legs, a New York Times food writer began to feel like a tourist in her home city. So, facing her fears, she met it like one. 
• Colleges get another year to comply with web accessibility deadlines (Higher Ed Dive). Reactions were mixed to the U.S. Department of Justice’s extension for digitally accessible content managed by state and local government entities. 
• DOJ Extends Web Accessibility Deadline (Inside Higher Ed). Public colleges now have until next year to ensure their web pages and mobile apps are accessible to people with disabilities in accordance with recent updates to the ADA. Disability advocates decried the delay as “unconscionable.” 
• Colleges Were Sweating a Major Compliance Deadline. Now the Justice Dept. Has Delayed It. (The Chronicle of Higher Education). Public colleges across the country were days away from a major compliance deadline: By this Friday, their websites, digital tools, and course materials were supposed to meet new federal accessibility standards under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Instead, the Department of Justice has pushed that deadline back by a year, offering institutions more time to overhaul sprawling and often outdated digital ecosystems. 
• New Deadlines Set for ADA Digital Accessibility as DOJ Cites Technical Challenges (The Edu Ledger). The U.S. Department of Justice has extended the deadline for K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and other public institutions to comply with a new regulation that requires them to make digital content accessible to people with disabilities. The extension – outlined in an “interim final rule” the DOJ issued on April 20 – came just days ahead of the April 26 deadline for state and local government entities with a total population of 50,000 or more. 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• Inclusive Coding Festival 2026 sponsored by Microsoft, is a mentor-powered, accessibility-focused tech initiative that provides mentor-guided technical project experiences for college students and new grads. To participate in the mentor-guided project experience, students need to register their project first by May 22 and their individual or team project will be matched with a mentor from industry. 
• Foundations on Disabled Students in U.S. Higher Education (National Disability Center). This online course for higher education staff and faculty, especially those new to working with disabled students, will help you get to know the current landscape of disability on campus and why it matters. 
• Teach Access Fellowship Program (Teach Access): Application due Friday, May 22, 2026 (11:59 PM). The Teach Access Fellowship Summer Institute is a new, intensive, hands-on program focused on helping educators create instructional materials to teach accessibility topics in their courses. Grounded in Teach Access’s mission to advance accessibility education through mentorship and applied learning, the Institute offers opportunities for collaboration, feedback, and continued support as participants implement their materials in the fall. 
• Calling all scientific journal editors! Help us understand how scientific journals approach the inclusion of people with disabilities in research, publications, and editorial policies. https://lnkd.in/eiUqMGY3 This survey is open to all scientific journal editors. You do not need expertise in disability research, nor does your journal need to focus on it. This survey is being conducted by the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center, in collaboration with the World Health Organization Disability Programme. Resulting data will be reported in aggregate. No individual journal or respondent will be identified in reports or publications. We will use the findings to highlight field-wide trends and areas for growth. Please share with your networks! The survey will close on May 1st. 
• The 2026 Digital Shift: Proactive Strategies for Compliance, Accommodations and UDL  Date: Wednesday, May 6 Time: 11 am - noon, PST - The landscape of higher education has shifted from a reactive "accommodation-on-request" model to a proactive "accessible-by-design" since the Title II mandate. This is a pivotal opportunity to lead campus-wide cultural change. We’ll explore the intersection of legal compliance, the evolution of traditional accommodations, & the scalable power of Universal Design for Learning.

Articles/Reports/Books 

• The Publishing Mystery That No One Wants to Talk About (The Atlantic) A minimally speaking autistic man just wrote a best-selling book. Or did he? 
• The New Era of Sensory Augmentation (Communications of the ACM) From bionic eyes restoring sight to AI-powered haptics creating novel senses, researchers are blurring the line between restoration and enhancement. 
• New Autism Drug? Experts Debunk Federal Officials’ Claims of Leucovorin As Treatment (rewire news group) During a White House press conference on autism, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary shared that the agency would be filing a federal register notice to label the drug leucovorin as treatment for autism. 
• The Climate Justice Movement Needs Disability Justice (uptonrebecca) A few summers ago, my chronic illness symptoms started getting worse every summer. POTS makes me sensitive to extreme heat, Fibromyalgia gives me even more pain when it’s humid, and the air quality (from the wildfires in Canada, just North from where I live) gives me mild respiratory symptoms. I started realizing the reason my symptoms felt worse every summer was climate change. I felt grief and rage over the inaction of governments and what billionaires and corporations have been able to get away with. 
• You’ve Never Seen an Untraumatized Autistic Adult. Neither Have I (Autism Spectrum News) Here is a fact we don’t talk about enough: there has never been a generation of autistic people who grew up fully seen, accurately diagnosed, genuinely accommodated, and believed when they described their own experience. 
• Ungrading as a neuroinclusive teaching practice (UW) In 2023, my first student in 20 years of teaching disclosed his autism to me. Like many, he had accommodations on file in K-12 but decided against it at UW Tacoma. Within days, another student shared that he had ADHD, saying that the university kept students like him around to provide the lower end of the bell curve. He too decided against accommodations. 
• What the ADA Title II Extension Really Means (Chax Training and Consulting) In this special episode, legal expert Judith Risch returns for her second appearance this week to walk through the Department of Justice’s one-year extension, and what it signals now that the update is official. Together, we move beyond the headline to explore what’s driving the change, what may come next, and what organizations should actually be paying attention to right now. 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• From Policy to Practice: Operationalizing Accessibility and AI Policies in Higher Education (ATTECS) - May 26 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EDT - Using the Accelerating Implementation Methodology (AIM) as a lens, the session will examine how leaders can define the scope of change, build active sponsorship, align decentralized units, anticipate resistance, and sustain results over time. The emphasis is on practical, operational leadership in complex environments—not on any single policy domain. 
• CRA-E Career Landscape Workshop Series 2026 (CRA-E) The CRA-E Career Landscape Workshop Series is a free virtual program designed to help graduate students, postdocs, and industry professionals explore academic career paths with an emphasis on teaching. 
• Disability, Pop Culture, and Technology (AccessComputing) In this webinar recording, Kayla Brown explores representation in media and pop culture; what portrayals, especially those related to technology, reveal about real-world innovation; and where narratives veer off course. 
• AI for Accessibility: Inclusive Tech in Action (NOD) - Thursday, May 21 1:00-2:00 PM EST - Explore how artificial intelligence can enhance accessibility and empower diverse communities. This session will examine how AI is reshaping digital experiences, from hiring systems to workplace tools, and what it takes to implement these technologies responsibly. 
• Disability Inclusion Fund Grant Opportunity! Accepting Applications Now Through May 20, 2026 (Borealis Philanthropy) We are thrilled to announce that the Disability Inclusion Fund (DIF) will be funding a new round of collaborative grants.  
• Webinar: Accessible AI Makes Apprenticeships Work for Everyone (EventBrite) - Wednesday, April 29 11 AM PDT - Join us to learn about how accessible AI-powered tools can increase access to apprenticeship programs for people with disabilities. 
• You Ask, Experts Answer: A Community Q&A on ADA Title II Compliance (3PlayMedia) - Wednesday, April 29th at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT - In this special, final episode of the Countdown to Compliance series, we're bringing the higher education accessibility community together for an open conversation. Whether you've attended every session or you're just getting started, this is your space to ask the questions that are actually on your mind — and get real answers from experts who work in this space every day. 
• AAAS Multidisciplinary Working Group on Disability Inclusion in STEMM Townhall (AAAS) - Wed Apr 29, 2026 10:00 am Pacific - The current AAAS Multidisciplinary Working Group (MWG) has been charged with identifying actions to support a more disability-inclusive STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) ecosystem. Its members represent diverse disciplines, career stages, and sectors who have worked over the last year to develop a set of recommendations for AAAS. 

Articles/Reports/Books 

• These blind students say their college blocked their education. A new rule could help (NPR). Miranda Lacy and Harold Rogers became fast friends during their undergraduate years. They both shared their dreams with one another: Rogers wanted to use his education to become a psychotherapist, Lacy a social worker. 
• How Artificial Intelligence Impacts Workplace Accommodation (Job Accommodation Network). This publication outlines how AI supports workers and employers, including ways to accommodate workers, take advantage of the latest technology, integrate accommodations into AI-driven hiring tools, and prepare for the future of work. As its use accelerates, AI holds tremendous promise to improve job opportunities and work experiences for people with disabilities. 
• “I was flying and like thousands of disabled people, the airline, Southwest, broke my mobility scooter” (19^th News). One of the most prominent women leading disability advocacy alleged an airline destroyed her mobility scooter on Thursday. 
• Dancer with MND performs on stage again through digital avatar (BBC). A ballerina with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) says she was able to dance again after her brainwaves were used to power an avatar live on-stage in Amsterdam. 
• Yes, all my bags are for the moon trip (nasa hasn’t called but im ready!!) (@nyledimarco). Everyone’s talking about Artemis II. The first humans to travel to the moon in 50 years. Historic mission. But nobody’s talking about the Deaf men who made it possible. 
• “In the last year, it’s gotten a lot worse” A Qualitative Investigation of Barriers to Disability Benefits in 2025 (DREDF). In this report, we offer findings from a rigorous qualitative study to contribute to an evidenced-based understanding of the effects of these changes. Between July and September 2025, we interviewed 52 attorney and non-attorney benefits specialists at 32 organizations that assist claimants with obtaining and maintaining SSI and SSDI benefits. Collectively, the organizations included in this study represent over 8,000 SSI and SSDI claimants across the country. To contextualize our findings in the rapidly changing policy landscape, we draw on reporting, SSA records such as press releases and emergency messages, and other research. 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• Beyond Compliance: Creating Accessible Classroom Experiences in Computer Science (DO-IT Center at the University of Washington): Apr 16, 2026 11:00 AM Pacific Time. This panel discussion will discuss how a cohort of UNC Charlotte's College of Computing and Informatics faculty approached modernization of their courses to embrace and apply universal design and inclusive classroom practices. The discussion will engage everyone in collective learning. 
• ISLAND 2026 Abstract Submissions (ISLAND Conference): Deadline for submissions is 11:59 Eastern Time July 1st, 2026. The ISLAND conference serves as a forum for access technology developers, science educators, rehabilitation professionals, and educational researchers to network and share their experiences with how they have promoted the inclusion of persons with disabilities into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields of study. 
• From Policy to Practice: Operationalizing Accessibility and AI Policies in Higher Education (ATTECS): Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 12:00 – 1:30 PM ET. Higher education leaders are being asked to implement complex, high-stakes mandates—accessibility requirements, AI governance expectations, and evolving approaches to “(not) DEI”—often amid shifting regulations, organizational restructuring, and limited capacity. The central challenge is not policy development. It is execution. 
• Squeaky Wheel Community Microgrants (The SQUEAKY WHEEL). Squeaky Wheel Community Microgrants are one-time short-term relief payments of $250 to help cover small but crucial expenses, including but not limited to medication, accessibility tools, and cell phone bills. 
• Why Do Disability Prevalence Estimates Differ? (Zoom): May 5, 2026 5:00 AM in Pacific Time. A Webinar on Disability Data: Understanding Differences Across Data Sources. 
• AAAS Multidisciplinary Working Group on Disability Inclusion in STEMM Townhall (AAAS): Apr 29, 2026 10:00 AM in Pacific Time. The current AAAS Multidisciplinary Working Group (MWG) has been charged with identifying actions to support a more disability-inclusive STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) ecosystem. Its members represent diverse disciplines, career stages, and sectors who have worked over the last year to develop a set of recommendations for AAAS. The MWG is interested in gathering feedback focused on two primary questions: 1) is anything missing? and 2) is anything unclear? Content will be shared at the townhall and sent out for asynchronous feedback after the event. 
• John Slatin AccessU 2026 (Knowbility): May 11 – 14, 2026. Join us from May 11-14, 2026, for the only hands-on, hybrid accessibility training conference where tech professionals, content creators, policymakers, and advocates come together for deep learning in accessible digital design. Options are available to attend in person in Austin, TX, or virtually. 
• Paid Internships (The Neurodiversity Alliance). The Neurodiversity Alliance offers over 50 paid national internship opportunities for neurodivergent students and recent graduates ages 18 to 26. Interns get the opportunity to work alongside national staff mentors and peers from across the country to advance our mission in meaningful ways, while developing core leadership and professional skills for life. 
• Zero Barriers in STEM Education: Accessibility and Inclusion Program (Smithsonian Science Education Center): July 27 – 31, 2026. The Smithsonian Science Education Center’s Zero Barriers in STEM Education: Accessibility and Inclusion Initiative aims to increase the prevalence of accessible and inclusive practices in STEM education and K-12 school culture for all students across the spectrum of abilities.  The program convenes teams of educators representing schools, districts, and state education agencies from across the US for an education summit in Washington, D.C. During the Summit, teams develop logic models that focus on a problem of practice related to providing accessible and inclusive STEM programs and improving school culture for students with disabilities. 
• Tactile Art Teach-in (American Action Fund): June 14, 2026. Blind people can draw and understand images and graphics, but many of us rarely get the chance. Drawing opens up a world of spatial communication, self-expression, and new ways of thinking. Whether you’re sketching the layout of an intersection, making a floor plan, graphing an equation or making art, drawing helps you explore concepts and explain your thoughts in a way words cannot. 
• You Ask, Experts Answer: A Community Q&A on ADA Title II Compliance (3PLAYMEDIA): Wednesday, April 29th at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT. In this special, final episode of the Countdown to Compliance series, we're bringing the higher education accessibility community together for an open conversation. Whether you've attended every session or you're just getting started, this is your space to ask the questions that are actually on your mind — and get real answers from experts who work in this space every day. 
• Build for Everyone (ICF 2026): Register by May 22. This program is for college students and recent graduates who want to build a meaningful technical project, learn accessibility in practice, and work with mentors over the summer. 
• Kapor Foundation Research Fellowship (Kapor Foundation): Rolling basis. The Kapor Foundation Research Fellowship supports journalists producing long-form investigative reports and tech policy researchers conducting research, analysis, or evaluation that informs policy related to the Kapor Foundation’s three priority areas, with an emphasis on responsible AI and tech ethics. Research is a vital tool in dismantling systemic inequities in the tech sector. By supporting researchers and investigative journalists who are deeply exploring these complex issues, we hope to foster a deeper understanding of the barriers that exist but also drive actionable solutions. 

Articles/Reports/Books 

• Becoming Anti-Ableist (Making Space). Inspired by the book, The Anti-Ableist Manifesto, this online course, Becoming Anti-Ableist teaches you how to unpack biases and build an inclusive and accessible world. 
• ‘I Thought I Would Be Caged My Whole Life’ (The New York Times). Doctors believed that Woody Brown would never be able to speak or process language. He went to graduate school and is publishing his debut novel. 
• NIH Strategic Plan for Disability Health Research (National Institutes of Health). NIH recognizes that disabled Americans have health needs and goals both related and unrelated to their disabilities. The plan outlines a person-centered approach that places individuals, not impairments, at the center of scientific inquiry. NIH will leverage the strengths of its Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs) to provide coordinated support for research that examines and addresses the effects of medical conditions, nonmedical factors, and their interaction on the health and well-being of Americans with disabilities. 
• The Invisible Toll: Navigating a Conference with Endometriosis (The Scientist). Endometriosis affects one in 10 people assigned female at birth. In a packed conference hall, I was almost certainly not the only one calculating how long I could stand. 
• The accommodations process is disabling (The Mind Hears). I’ve been part deaf all my life and have had accommodations at my institution for the past 26 years. So why was my accommodations request for captioning of a faculty senate meeting denied? Had my deafness miraculously been cured recently? No. 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (ACM Journal): Submission deadline: July 10, 2026. Play—whether digital, analog, embodied, social, or solitary—is central to human flourishing. Opportunities for play are often shaped by technologies, environments, policies, and cultural narratives. At the same time, disabled players, creators, and communities have developed innovative practices that expand what play can be. This special issue of TACCESS invites scholarship that deepens our understanding of disability and play across leisure, gaming, recreation, and everyday playful interactions. We encourage contributions that address the full spectrum of physical, sensory, cognitive, and psychosocial disabilities, including both visible and invisible disabilities and intersectional identities. 
• Ascend Fellowship Program, Horizons 2026 (Making Space): Priority Application Deadline: April 19, 2026. This Horizons Cohort 2026 focuses on early-career Disabled professionals who are exploring their next professional steps, whether that means entering the workforce, building new skills, pivoting career directions, or strengthening long-term career stability. 
• ExLAIM Research Experience for Teachers and Undergraduates (ExLAIM Research Experience): Application Deadline: April 7 for undergraduates. This program brings together undergraduate students, teachers, and industry mentors to explore how Generative AI can support K–12 learning. You will work on real-world challenges and contribute to the development of MerryQuery, an AI-powered educational platform. 
• CWUAAT: Inclusion Matters (University of Cambridge): 7-9 April 2027. The CWUAAT (Cambridge Workshop on Universal Access and Assistive Technology) series has hosted the multidisciplinary dialogue on design for inclusion for 25 years, since 2002. It involves a wide range of disciplines, including design, computer science, engineering, architecture, ergonomics and human factors, policy and gerontology. The 2027 edition will mark 25 years of collaborative research, celebrating what we have learned and reflecting on what we still need to do. 
• Webcast Series (Job Accommodation Network): April 30^th, 2026, and May 7^th, 2026). The JAN Webcast Series is a virtual training series presented by JAN consulting staff and guest speakers. This training goes beyond the basics, offering actionable solutions for workplace accommodation challenges, practical guidance on complying with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and trusted strategies for engaging in the interactive process. 
• Supporting Apprentice Success: Unlocking the Power of American Workers with Disabilities through Apprenticeship - LIVE WEBCAST (Job Accommodation Network): Thursday April 30, 2026, at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern. The Office of Disability Employment Policy’s Job Accommodation Network, known as JAN, and Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability, known as EARN, are your partners in supporting apprentice success. EARN will share strategies on how to leverage youth and workers with disabilities as apprentices to meet workforce needs and boost productivity. JAN will share how accommodations support the journey of an apprentice from a learner to skilled professional. 
• Accessibility Summer Camp! (Accessibility Summer Camp): June 12, 9 am - 4 pm CDT. The Accessibility Summer Camp (ASC) is an affordable, one-day virtual conference, now in its 9th year, based out of Wichita, KS. Organized by dedicated volunteers from WSU Tech, WSU, and across the United States, ASC connects professionals and educators with the best practices in accessibility.

Articles/Reports/Books 

• Meet the Woman Who Made Museums More Accessible (Hyperallergic). The first head of Accessible Programs at the National Gallery of Art tells us about her path and the future of museum accessibility. 
• The AI Quagmire (AFB). This report, The AI Quagmire: Benefits, Risks, and Aspirations Through a Disability Lens, shares AFB’s analysis of current usage trends, which can be used by developers, employers, educators, policymakers, and users themselves. We invite you to join us in leveraging this data to make intentional design choices, rigorous evaluation of AI tools, and shared accountability to ensure that AI expands access rather than deepens disparities. 
• How the term ‘neurodivergent’ moved from activists to pop culture — and politics (The 19^th). Nicki Minaj is one of the most recent Trump supporters to identify herself as “neurodivergent,” embracing a narrow definition of a once-niche term commonly associated with autism and ADHD. 
• Navigating ADA Title II: How six member institutions are leading the way (Digital Collegium). The clock is ticking! On April 24, 2026, the Department of Justice’s Final Rule on ADA Title II takes full effect for many higher education institutions. The new regulations require public entities to meet rigorous new standards for digital accessibility. 
• Three Blind Cats and One Visually Impaired Human in the Family (Including Disability). Based on the firsthand experiences of a visually impaired human sharing a home with three blind cats, this paper explores the parallels between different species experiencing a similar disability. Along with comparisons of practical adaptations to daily life – including pictures of blind cats going about their day – the paper examines the creation of a household culture and communication style reflecting these sensory limitations, both human and feline, that are then passed along to new members of the family. The paper considers broader issues of historical and social treatment of disability across species, as well as the ways disability can inform care and compassion for others, regardless of ability or species. 
• An Accessible Housing Model Built to Be Scaled (The New York Times). The Kelsey, a nonprofit focused on affordable, disability-focused housing, opened a building in San Jose, Calif. two years ago. Now, it’s taking its model national. 
• The Power of Giving Your Disabled Characters a Happily-Ever-After (Literary Hub). Sabina Nordqvist on Writing a Romance Novel that Decenters the Abled Gaze. 
• Before Special Ed, There Was the School-to-Asylum Pipeline. How One Lawsuit Helped End It (The74). 50 years ago, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ended the routine institutionalization of kids with disabilities. Advocates fear a return to that dark time. 
• AIMAC: The AI Model Accessibility Checker (Foundation Benchmarks). We prompted the top AI models to build web pages across 28 categories and audited them for accessibility. We published every generated page, side by side, so you can see how different models tackled the same design challenge. We even measured emdash usage. 
• Accessible design is digital infrastructure (Anna E. Cook). What America by Design reveals about how public platforms fail when maintenance, governance, and accountability are treated as optional/. 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• EMPOWER VI Mentorship Program (EMPOWER VI): Applications will close on June 25th. Mentoring from adults with visual impairment can provide a supportive bridge for transition-aged youth with visual impairment, helping them build confidence, skills, and a path toward a successful future. 
• Call for RESPECT 2026 KPP Working Groups (RESPECT): Submit by April 7, 2026. The KPP Working Group is a collaborative practitioner project conducted by a team of three to eight PreK-12 educators from around the world to produce a high-value report on a topic of interest in PreK-12 computing education. Participation in a WG is a 5-month commitment. Interested individuals should each submit an application. The KPP Organizers will select participants and assemble the working group teams. 
• 5th Annual Universal Design for Learning Conference for Higher Education (Goodwin University): October 2, 2026. Goodwin University is a nonprofit institution of higher education and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) through its Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. Goodwin College was founded in 1999, with the goal of serving a diverse student population with career-focused degree programs that lead to strong employment outcomes.

Articles/Reports/Books 

• Schools race to meet web accessibility deadlines (K-12 Dive): New federal accessibility rules for web content and mobile apps will start being enforced as early as this April — but many school districts won’t be ready to comply, recent survey results show.
• Butler’s new Deaf education curriculum draws concern (Mirror Indy): Butler’s new online master’s program in Deaf education will train future educators how to teach speaking and listening to deaf children, particularly kids who have cochlear implants or use other hearing technology. The new program is funded through a $1.25-million grant from the federal Department of Education. But community members are upset that Butler’s curriculum only includes one ASL class, a one-credit course that teaches basic signs and “stories, poems and readings that exist in Deaf culture.”
• My mission to make life more user friendly for the disability community (nature): Inventor Josh Miele says that accelerating change requires uprooting social attitudes about blindness and other disabilities.
• Why we keep getting the cause of dyslexia wrong (Science Focus): While it was long thought to involve problems with the sounds letters and groups of letters make – what’s known as phonology – or issues with vision, more modern research has revealed dyslexia to be a complex learning disability involving multiple brain regions, and likely more than one potential cause.
• To Stay in Her Home, She Let In an A.I. Robot (New York Times): A few thousand ElliQs have been shipped to seniors across the United States since 2023, which means some of the first people living alongside artificially intelligent robots are octogenarians who came into a world without color television. The robots are available for purchase from the Israeli start-up Intuition Robotics, but so far they have mostly been provided to older adults by nonprofits and state health departments as an experiment in combating loneliness. As A.I. works its way deeper into daily life, ElliQ is designed for the most human act of all: to become a roommate, a friend, a partner. “A robot with soul,” the company’s founder sometimes said. 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• The Joy Zabala Fellowship for Mentoring in Assistive Technology and Accessible Educational Materials (Knowbility): Explore the Joy Zabala Fellowship’s history of success and its future vision as it recruits its fifth cohort of AT and AEM leaders. Thursday February 19, 2026 3:00 PM CT.
• 5th Annual Symposium for Disability and Accessibility at Yale, 2026 (Yale): April 6-11, 2026 - Over the past five years, the Symposium for Disability and Accessibility at Yale has strived to create dialogue around important conversations in disability communities while prioritizing access to all of our community members. Now, as we celebrate our 5th milestone year, we turn to trace disability lineages and the narratives that they have knowingly and unknowingly created.
• Impostor Phenomenon in an Academic Environment (AccessComputing): Impostor phenomenon, the feeling that you don’t truly belong, is common among academics and can negatively impact both quality of life and the pursuit of knowledge, regardless of actual achievements. This seminar will define impostor phenomenon, explore its symptoms in academic settings, and foster community discussion on strategies to overcome it. As part of Dragonfly’s Global Migration initiative, this session will raise awareness, improve mental health knowledge, and build supportive skills among academics worldwide.
• Tapia 2026 Call for Participation (Tapia): AI innovation is advancing at an unprecedented pace—transforming both how we build AI and how we use it to advance science. The Tapia 2026 program will spotlight frontier AI, assistive technologies, and cybersecurity through engaging tutorials, workshops, panels, posters, and an exciting generative AI hackathon. Submission Deadline: March 3, 2026  11:59 pm HST (Hawaii Standard Time). Decision notifications will be sent by April 15, 2026. 

Articles/Reports/Books

• Children with disabilities particularly vulnerable to Minneapolis ICE crackdown (The 19). Already-anxious parents say their kids are missing not just school but also therapy appointments to avoid encountering potentially hostile federal agents.
• GAO: Barriers keep schools from fully embracing assistive technology (K-12 DIVE) The federal government watchdog outlined how some districts use these tools to fit the individualized needs of students with disabilities.
• 7 Black Activists Who Shaped Disability Rights (SETWORKS blog) Throughout history, Black activists — many of them women — have been central to advancing disability rights.
• The ‘R-Word’ Returns, Dismaying Those Who Fought to Oust It (The New York Times) The term, long considered a slur for those with intellectual disabilities, is seeing a resurgence on social media and across the political right.
• Accessibility for Everyone by Laura Kalbag. Now available free online! You make the web more inclusive for everyone, everywhere, when you design with accessibility in mind. Let Laura Kalbag guide you through the accessibility landscape: understand disability and impairment challenges; get a handle on important laws and guidelines; and learn how to plan for, evaluate, and test accessible design. 

Webinars/Events/Opportunities 

• Confidence and Connection: Exploring Interabled Relationships | Feb. 12, 2026: (National Organization on Disability) This Valentine’s season, we’re creating space for an honest, affirming conversation about confidence, connection, and belonging in interabled relationships.
• Open Style Lab Design Impact Fellowship Program: (Open. Style Lab) The OSL Fellowship Program, is an educational program that brings together fellows with lived experiences of disability, designers, occupational therapists, and engineers to work together to design style-led solutions with and by the disabled community. Applications are now open in London, New York program will open at a later date.
• University of Arizona Disability Studies Conference: Highlighting disability scholarship, art, and activism. (University of Arizona) Spring 2026 Call for Submissions. Deadline for submissions: February 9th, 2026.
• AFB Scholars Program (American Foundation for the Blind) AFB is excited to present our AFB Scholars Program, a bold investment in the next generation of blind leaders! Through the generosity of the Lulu J. Alonso Scholarship Fund, this program empowers blind students to pursue their education and serve as change agents in creating a more equal and inclusive world. Application Deadline: Tuesday, February 17, 2026
• BroadFutures’ DC-based Summer Internship Program application is open! Young people (18-26) are placed with a wide range of employer partners such as Brookings (research), The Willard Hotel (hospitality), and DCTV (communications/production), all of whom are committed to creating structured, inclusive, and meaningful work experiences for neurodivergent folks, paired with ongoing training and individualized mentoring. Internships last from June 8 to August 7. Apply here by March 6
• Join the CANVAS (College Autism Network Virtual Association of Scholars) community for our February call, Thursday, February 19 at 2pm EST. Presenters will be Ren Butler (PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University), JiWoong Jang (PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University), and Dr. Andew Begel (Associate Professor, Carnegie Mellon University), presenting “Preparing Autistic Students for the AI Workforce: Weaving Technical Skills with Social-Emotional Learning.”
• Neuroinclusion activated: Insights from ServiceNow February 10, 2026 at 10am EST. Speakers are Karen Pavlin, Chief Workforce Innovation Officer, ServiceNow and Lisa Smyth, VP Neuroinclusive Workplaces, Everway. Join thought leaders from ServiceNow as they share practical approaches for embedding neuroinclusive practices across teams and products. From designing accessible platforms to shaping neuroinclusive culture and leadership, you will gain actionable insights to accelerate impact in your workplace.
• 2026 Accessibility Summit (Digital Collegium) July 28, 2026. Join us for the Digital Collegium Accessibility Summit, a one-day online event dedicated to advancing digital accessibility in higher education.
• Study on ADHD in Software Engineers - Hi everyone! Here at the University of Michigan - School of Information, we are conducting a research study on productivity and coworking for software engineers with ADHD. We're recruiting US-based software engineers with ADHD for a 1-hour-long interview (compensation is $50 USD), so if you self-identify as one, please consider reading more about the study and filling out our recruitment survey.

Articles/Reports/Books 

• A Professor Wins the Right to Teach Online After Her University Ordered Her Back to Campus (The Chronicle). Writing for a panel of judges, Patricia A. McCullough of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that the university failed to make its case that the arbitrator, Jay Nadelbach, had “impermissibly infringed on the university’s managerial rights to determine its standards of service and direct its work force,” and had misinterpreted and failed to properly apply the Americans With Disabilities Act.
• Cripping the Archive (Edited by Jenifer L. Barclay and Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy Foreword by Jaipreet Virdi). Jenifer L. Barclay and Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy edit a collection of interdisciplinary essays that consider how and why physical, sensory, intellectual, and psychological disabilities are underrepresented, erased, or distorted in the historical record. The contributors draw on the methodology and practice of cripping to uncover disability in contested archives and explore ways to build inclusive archives accountable to, and centered on, disabled people and disability justice.
• How Losing My Limbs Turned Me Into a Different Kind of Cook (New York Times). Living with a chronic illness, there have always been limitations to understand, boundaries in which I had to operate. I’m impulsive by nature, eager to act on ideas once I have them, but over time I learned to pace myself, to be more patient, to avoid long hours on my feet. And then, after many years of figuring this out, the boundaries changed again.
• Something We Don’t Talk About: Navigating Senior Leadership With a Psychiatric Illness (Inside Higher Ed). About two years ago, I was diagnosed with a severe course of type-one bipolar disorder, which means I suffer from strong and unpredictable mood shifts. The diagnosis initially shocked me and, at once, gave me relief.
• The Double Bind of Disability (Rebecca Monteleone). As medical advancements continue to shape the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disability and illness, technology is often presented as a pathway to autonomy. Challenging this assumption, Rebecca Monteleone shows how medical technologies contribute to a cruel double bind, forcing disabled people to be accountable for adapting to a world built by and for nondisabled people while dismissing their lived experiences in favor of medical expertise.
• The spiral of suffering (aeon). Never before have humans possessed such convenient access to abundant medical knowledge, expert guidance, health influencers, and communities of fellow sufferers. Expertise flows across digital networks, promising hope for every ailment. Yet, paradoxically, this abundance can become a source of suffering.
• Third-Party Accommodations (Michigan Law Review). Does disability rights law impose an obligation on employers, schools, and other places of public accommodation to control the behavior of coworkers, students, or other third parties to accommodate an individual with disabilities? This Article examines that unexplored legal question and shows that the law frequently fails to protect people with disabilities from the choices and behaviors of third parties.
• Why I Don’t Call Myself an Accessibility Expert (Sheri Byrne-Haber). I’ve been working in the fields of disability inclusion and digital accessibility for over two decades. I’ve filed thousands of bugs. I’ve led accessibility programs at major tech companies. I’ve served on standards committees. I’ve written hundreds of articles and spoken at dozens of conferences. I have three disabilities myself. And yet, I don’t call myself an accessibility expert.
• Why Is There So Much Research About Us Without Us? (Independent Social Research Foundation). We write this post twenty-five years after the turn of the century. At this point there is no doubt that involving experts by experience improves research practice, findings, and implementation. So we ask: Why is so much research about underserved people still done without the involvement of those people? 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• 2026 Annual Disability Statistics Conference (Center for Research on Disability): March 18, 2026. Each year, the Annual Disability Statistics Conference transforms data into insight. Attendees gain access to trusted research, expert analysis, and interactive demonstrations that make complex information clear and actionable.
• Strengthening Assignment Clarity with UDL, AI, and TILT (Goodwin University) March 11 at 11am Pacific - Join Dr. Matt Bergman as he explores how Universal Design for Learning (UDL), AI tools, and the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework work together to strengthen assignment clarity and student sense-making. Participants will examine examples, experiment with AI tools, and learn evidence-based strategies for designing assignments that improve transparency, optimize challenge and support, and meet the needs of diverse learners in higher education.
• Program Specialist III (Statewide Digital Accessibility Program Specialist): Closes: 2/10/2026 Austin, TX. This position performs complex (journey-level) consultative services and technical assistance work in support of the Statewide Digital Accessibility program. Under the supervision of the Statewide Digital Accessibility Officer, this position supports state IT leaders and the vendor community to improve digital accessibility practices and ensure that state government communications, technology, websites, and digital services are accessible for Texans and state employees with disabilities.
• Special Education Spending Study - The Institute of Education Sciences (IES), a division of the U.S. Department of Education, is seeking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance to initiate the National Study of Special Education Spending (NSSES). This proposed data collection aims to produce comprehensive estimates of expenditures for students with disabilities, disaggregated by state, district, school, and disability category. In addition to quantifying financial inputs, the study seeks to identify the primary factors driving special education spending and to evaluate the extent to which federal funds under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) cover actual costs. The IES has released the proposed forms and instruments for the study and is currently requesting public comment on the design.

Articles/Reports/Books

• Author Guidelines for Preparing Accessible Mathematics Content (SIAM). These Author Guidelines for Preparing Accessible Mathematics Content were drafted as a joint collaboration between the American Mathematical Society (AMS), European Mathematical Society (EMS), London Mathematical Society (LMS), and SIAM (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics). They are designed to provide concise guidance and examples to help authors prepare accessible mathematical content for books, journals, and other scholarly outputs.
• Gaming the System? Extended Time on Tests Is Often a Waste of Time (Inside Higher Ed). Ever since the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, in which wealthy families were accused of paying thousands of dollars to falsify disability diagnoses for their children so they could cheat on the ACT, there have been widespread concerns that students are faking disabilities. This has become ever more topical as the number of college students with disabilities, especially cognitive and psychological disabilities, has risen in recent years. While disability advocates and researchers largely believe this is due to increased knowledge of different disability symptoms and decreased stigma, others seem determined to find more nefarious causes.
• Higher Ed Prepares for New Era of Accessibility (Inside Higher Ed). Looming federal regulations update the ADA to make web content and mobile apps more accessible to people, including college students, with disabilities. But universities are scrambling to comply by the April deadline.
• How AI helps neurodivergent professionals showcase their strengths (Microsoft). AI can be a bridge to greater inclusion and a connector that helps people participate more fully in society, says Walther, a senior fellow at the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and Harvard’s Learning and Innovation Lab. The tools can help people with neurodivergence curate a new inner dialogue, moving beyond the self-judgment that can come with feeling different, she says.
• Researchers survey the ADHD coaching boom (UW Medicine). More people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are turning to coaches for guidance. Those coaches, who often have ADHD themselves, offer similar services to psychologists but don’t think of their work as clinical, according to a study published today in JAMA Network Open.   
• The Accessibility Crisis of 2026: What No One Wants to Admit (Vocal Media). Every January, the internet fills with glossy predictions about the future - tech trends, workplace trends, fashion trends, AI trends. But there’s one category that rarely makes the list, even though it affects millions of people every single day: Accessibility. 

Webinars/Events/Other 

• A conversation with I. King Jordan & Greg Hlibok (National Mentoring Month): Jan 27, 2026 12:00 PM PT. In honor of National Mentoring Month, a time to recognize the positive impact of individuals who provide guidance to others, we have an exciting event to announce! Join us on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, from 3 PM  - 4:30 PM EST for a virtual event with I. King Jordan, an educator who became the first Deaf president of Gallaudet University, following the Deaf President Now protest in 1988.
• Articulate A Deaf Memoir of Voice Book Talk with Rachel Kolb and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (NYU Disability Studies): Thursday, February 12, 4-5PM ET @ Zoom. Articulate: A Deaf Memoir of Voice is Rachel Kolb’s debut book about growing up deaf and mainstreamed in the years after the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed. Part memoir, part social commentary, Kolb reflects on the possibilities and stakes of communicating in different languages and sensory forms, from spoken and written English to American Sign Language. Join the author and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (Emory University) for a virtual book party, which will include some reflections on translating the insights of Deaf and disability studies into general-audience writing.
• Unleashing Value and Talent: JAN and EARN Resources for Today's Workforce - LIVE EVENT (Job Accommodation Network): Thursday February 12, 2026 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern. This virtual outreach event will highlight the services and resources provided by the Job Accommodation Network and the Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability to empower workers with disabilities and help employers and policymakers set high expectations, retain talent, and put productivity enhancing accommodation practices into action in today’s evolving workplace.
• Where Will I Find the Time? A Flexible Ecosystem Approach to Digital Accessibility Training (AccessComputing): Jan 27, 2026 11:00 AM PT. When it comes to digital accessibility training, instructors often ask, “Where will I find time to learn these new skills?” followed by, “Where do I start?” In this session, Mary-Colleen will explains the Ecosystem Approach to digital accessibility training and share a flexible training model that helps time-pressed folks answer the big question  "Where will I find the time?"