[Accessibleweb] 521 Seminar Friday 2/2: UWTC Presents Jake Wobbrock, of the UW Information School

[Jennifer Stock]

Jake Wobbrock, of the UW Information School, will be speaking Friday 2/2 @ 
11:30AM in Loew 216. The seminar is open to the UW Community and to the 
public.  Details are below and online at 
http://www.uwtc.washington.edu/courses/521/.
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Title: Improving the Accessibility of Handheld Devices for Motor and 
Situational Impairments

Abstract:

Handheld devices such as PDAs and mobile phones are becoming pervasive 
throughout society, but these technologies remain largely inaccessible to 
many people with physical disabilities. Users with tremor, for example, may 
have difficulty tapping small targets and performing smooth strokes with a 
stylus, or pressing the physical keys on low-tactility keypads. Furthermore, 
otherwise able-bodied users who interact with technologies in mobile 
contexts may incur "situational impairments," such as vibrational tremor, 
which affect their ability to interact. This talk will discuss some of these 
difficulties and offer new design directions for overcoming them. Prior work 
on the EdgeWrite handheld text input system will be discussed briefly, 
followed by a description of works-in-progress at both the basic and applied 
levels. Attendees are encouraged to wear their "designer hats" and come 
ready to brainstorm opportunities for new designs.

Speaker's Bio:

Jacob O. Wobbrock is an Assistant Professor in the Information School and an 
Adjunct Assistant Professor in Computer Science & Engineering at the 
University of Washington. His research interests are in input and 
interaction techniques, user interface technology, assistive technology, 
mobile computing, and other areas of human-computer interaction (HCI). Dr. 
Wobbrock received his Ph.D. from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute in 
the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He also 
received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Symbolic Systems and Computer Science from 
Stanford University. In 2005, he won $20,000 for the 1st place NISH National 
Scholar Award for Workplace Innovation and Design. In 2004, he was a 
National Science Foundation IGERT Fellow. Dr. Wobbrock also won Best Paper 
Awards at ACM ASSETS 2004 and ACM CHI 2006. In addition to his academic 
work, he has held industry
positions at Google, DoDots, Microsoft Research, Intel Corporation, and the 
Intel-Mattel Smart Toy Lab.