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Laurie McHale                              CHDD Room 397c   Box 357920
Public Relations Coordinator               Seattle WA 98195-7920
Center on Human Development & Disability   206-543-4037  Fax 206-543-5771
University of Washington                   http://depts.washington.edu/chdd
                  Office Hours: 8-5 Mon-Wed, 8-2 Thurs
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UW receives $3.5 million grant to establish National Center on Accessible
Information Technology in Education (AccessIT)

    The University of Washington has been awarded a $3.5 million federal
grant to establish a National Center on Accessible Information Technology in
Education, to be known as AccessIT. The five-year renewable grant, awarded
on a competitive basis, comes from the National Institute on Disability and
Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).
    The award will be administered by co-principal investigators Dr. Kurt L.
Johnson, associate professor of rehabilitation medicine and director of the
Center for Technology and Disability Studies (CTDS) at the UW's Center on
Human Development and Disability, and Dr. Sheryl Burgstahler, an assistant
director of UW Computing and Communications and director of the UW's DO-IT
program (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology).
Dagmar Amtmann of CTDS is the assistant director.
    "The explosion of information technology has been a double-edged sword,"
says Johnson. "We now have a wealth of options for acquiring information,
but if information technology is not universally accessible, it may shut out
people with disabilities."
    The Center for Technology and Disability Studies provides training and
research on assistive technology for people with disabilities throughout the
Pacific Northwest. The DO-IT program offers college and career preparation
to students with disabilities as well as training to employers and
educators. Although the two programs have collaborated on smaller projects,
AccessIT will give them, together, a much expanded mission.
    "AccessIT's purpose is to coordinate a nationwide effort to assist
educational and governmental institutions to make education-based
information technology accessible to all students and employees, including
those with disabilities," says Burgstahler. "Educational-based information
technology is any technology used by students and employees in educational
settings, including computers, software, web pages, telecommunications,
fax machines, copiers, printers, kiosks, and other equipment."
    "As far as we have come with advances in computing, Internet access,
telecommunications and other forms of information technology," said Johnson,
"these advances are not available to everyone, particularly people with
disabilities who may be unable to read or see displayed information, hear or
respond to spoken prompts, or use such devices as a keyboard or computer
mouse."
    The new center's focus will be broad, extending from K-12 schools
through universities and other post-secondary educational institutions.
AccessIT will provide training and technical assistance, working primarily
through the national network of 10 NIDRR-funded Disability Business
Technical Assistance Centers, established in response to mandates of the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
    AccessIT's audience will include policymakers, teachers, special
education teachers, computer lab staff, library staff, students and
employees with disabilities, as well as their families and advocates.
    "A coordinated nationwide effort is needed to assist educational and
governmental institutions in reaching the goal of making information
technology accessible to everyone," said Burgstahler. "Our new center is a
giant step toward achieving this goal."
    "This grant is the culmination of at least a decade of effort at the UW
to make information technology accessible and the recognition of the
considerable expertise that exists at the UW in the area of making
information technology accessible to all," said Johnson.
    In addition to the two UW centers, partners in AccessIT are Equal Access
to Software and Information, the Washington Education Association, and
Microsoft Corporation.