Makerspaces offer opportunities for creative and technology-rich learning, yet their design often overlooks the needs of youth with autism. While inclusive education research has emphasized structured teaching and multimodal engagement, less is known about how spatial, sensory, and cultural factors intersect with pedagogy in makerspace contexts. To address this gap, we conducted interviews with special education staff, including teachers, assistants, and therapists, alongside focus groups with educators and architects, and a panel with disability advocates and special education experts on accessibility in makerspaces and informal learning. Our analysis identified six themes highlighting strategies for predictability, multimodal engagement, and cultural resonance to create inclusive makerspaces. These findings position makerspaces not only as sites for technical skill development but also as infrastructures of belonging and empowerment. Based on our findings, we offer guidance for educators, designers, and policymakers seeking to create accessible, community-engaged spaces that support the participation of youth with autism.

Understanding how to design and implement equity-based approaches to technology-rich learning in community settings can lead to increased and diversified participation in computing. However, research has shown that making practices can be inequitable, particularly for populations who are situated in low-resourced settings. In US cities, recreation centers have been shown to be promising sites for equity-based hands-on maker learning. However, it is unclear what approaches are needed to create the necessary technical and social infrastructure at these sites to support community uptake. Our study investigates the infrastructure development process for an equity-based makerspace program as developed within city-run community recreation centers in two US cities over 3 years. We developed an infrastructure map depicting the ecosystem of multiple organizations that are involved in creating the program and identified how digital technologies within makerspaces function as sociocultural factors within this ecosystem.

Environmental justice (EJ) is a grassroots-led praxis with a deep history of organizing in the United States and beyond. EJ addresses the unequal distribution of harms and benefits at the intersection of industrial activity and systems of oppression and uses a variety of engagement strategies, including interactive computing, to engage stakeholders in action and decision-making. Understanding these practices, especially as they pertain to prioritizing technology use and nonuse, can inform both future EJ efforts and the work of those in computing who aspire to use their tools and knowledge to advance environmental sustainability, social justice, and well-being. Drawing on interviews with EJ advocates in North America and observant participation in local EJ organizing, our analysis informs an anti-technosolutionist EJ perspective that investigates how practitioners navigate the tensions of using engagement strategies to further EJ priorities, practices, and visions. Four themes are introduced: assembling a constellation of communities and publics, representing social and environmental information, practicing nonuse of digital technology solutions, and aspiring toward new forms of action. Strategies and tactics associated with these themes are described, and implications for design and community engagement are discussed.

As technology-rich maker and DIY practices proliferate globally, we need to understand how to capture and articulate the complex and sometimes conflicting factors involved in enabling and supporting them in different contexts. In this article, we describe a study investigating the design tensions, priorities, and considerations of creating an accessible makerspace in Puerto Rico. We organized two workshops with local and non-local experts to discuss cultural, contextual, practical, and pedagogical factors involved in creating a site for technology-rich informal learning. Based on our findings, we propose a model for systematically articulating and considering design tensions involved in creating public-facing makerspaces that prioritize accessibility and community engagement. Additionally, we offer insights into the possibilities of future accessible making and DIY practices in the Caribbean, taking into account local cultural, historical, and infrastructural characteristics.

PurposeOur study's purpose is to understand the possibilities and challenges of using 3D printed tactile maps to improve campus navigational services for blind and low-vision (BLV) students.Design/methodology/approachWe used a participatory design (PD) approach with co-design sessions, focus groups and interviews with students with disabilities and university accessibility service providers. In this study, we focus on findings from a focus group with expert accessibility service providers.FindingsKey contributions include insight into the navigational challenges and preferences of BLV students in a university environment. We further discuss the importance of collaboration between researchers and university accessibility service providers and the need to adopt accessible principles at an institutional level to support do-it-yourself (DIY) assistive technology approaches, increasing access in formal learning contexts.Research limitations/implicationsThe scope of our participant pool was limited, involving a small number of students from a single US institution. Also, the inaccessibility of the 3D design tools we had access to prevented our participants from engaging directly in the map design process.Practical implicationsOur work contributes to the accessibility and assistive technologies research communities by highlighting the challenges faced by BLV students when navigating their campus and by demonstrating the efficacy of PD practices in developing 3D-printed tactile maps that elevate their needs and open up possibilities for advocacy and multi-stakeholder conversation.Originality/valueOur study shows the perspectives of university accessibility service providers on the possibility of using DIY assistive technology, such as a 3D-printed tactile campus map, to facilitate accessibility services for BLV university students in the United States.

Disabled and neurodivergent LGBTQIA+ individuals often co-create adaptive communication practices within their romantic partnerships; however, little is known about how these strategies evolve over time. We present findings from a diary and co-design study with five disabled LGBTQIA+ partnerships, documenting how communication is negotiated and sustained through shifting relational, emotional, and access needs. We argue that this ongoing work constitutes a relational infrastructure – the communicative system of shared practices, adaptive routines, and negotiated meanings that disabled and neurodivergent LGBTQIA+ partners co-create to navigate their shared lives. To model these dynamics, we introduce the Relational Access Framework for Communication (RAF-Comm): A Model for Disabled and Neurodivergent LGBTQIA+ Partnerships, a provisional and generative framework that centers identity, co-creation, and adaptation as fundamental to relational accessibility. Our findings highlight the conditional use of technology and the importance of non-use as a valid, relationship-preserving choice. We conclude with design implications for technologies that support the personal, continuously evolving ecosystems of care these partnerships create for themselves.

The transition to college and beyond can be challenging for high school youth who are blind or have low vision (BLV) due to accessibility-related barriers which may be encountered. Community-based practices to support these transitions have received relatively limited attention within the research community and are seldom documented. We collaborated with a local BLV community organization working with students of transition age to learn about their practices and investigate how university-based efforts could bridge and complement their work. Through program observations and semi-structured interviews with program instructors, we found that the community organization empowers BLV youth through interest-driven learning, equal prioritization of abilities and preferences, active engagement, identity-matched mentorship, and identification of accessibility blockers (e.g. accommodations). We incorporated these insights into a university-run workshop, developed through a long-term community-engaged approach and found that building trust, rapport, and channels for knowledge sharing helped bridge efforts from the community organization and the university, and led to significantly empowering interactions with BLV youth. Implications for organizers, researchers, and educators, point to the need for concrete long-term engagement steps, centering lived experiences and identities rather than solely higher education or career opportunities, and timely collaborative advocacy practices to support transition periods for BLV youth.

Understanding the perspectives of special education teachers on the useof artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies is important to advancing equitable learning opportunities for students with diverse needs. Although AI-enabledtechnologies hold significant promise for enhancing instruction and supportingindividualized learning, accessibility, training, and implementation challengesmay limit their meaningful use in special education contexts. This study exploresthe perspectives of special education teachers on AI-enabled technologies, guidedby three research questions: (R1) How are teachers using AI-enabled technologiesin special education classrooms? (R2) What are the needs and concerns of special education teachers about the use of AI-enabled technologies with studentswith disabilities? (R3) What AI-enabled technologies would special educationteachers envision to be useful in the future?. A qualitative study was conducted with seven special education teachers in public schools in the Eastern United States. Semi-structured interviewswere used to capture the lived experiences and perspectives of the special education teachers. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify common themes,challenges, and opportunities related to technology adoption and accessibility. Our findings show that special education teachers are using AI-enabledtechnologies in varied ways to support personalized learning and student engagement. However, they also report significant challenges around accessibility,particularly for students with speech and communication disabilities, and concerns about data privacy and algorithmic bias. Teachers emphasized the need fortargeted professional development and envisioned future AI-enabled technologiesthat are better tailored to diverse learner profiles and more responsive to thediverse needs of inclusive classroom environments. While research on AI-enabled technologies in general educationcontexts is rapidly expanding, qualitative investigations that focus on theperspectives of special education teachers and how these technologies shapeinstruction, learning, and accessibility is an underexplored area. By centering this understudied stakeholder group, our study addresses a notable gap inthe literature and advances more equitable and context-sensitive approaches toimplementation. The study results highlight both challenges and opportunities,underscoring the importance of designing future AI-enabled technologies andtraining initiatives that prioritize accessibility, equity, and inclusivity in specialeducation

Interacting with materials, including biological and living materials, that embody computation and information has increasingly been of interest to the TEI community. In recent years, increased access to low-cost synthetic biology tools and techniques has made it easier for non-experts to experiment with modifying living organisms for creative and artistic purposes, including at the molecular DNA level. A challenge has been to create engaging and culturally-mediated experiences to make these human-DNA interactions accessible to diverse audiences. Infinite Transformations in a Suitcase is a multimedia installation that creates a mediative space inviting reflection on the resilience of culture. At its center is a glass of poetry-infused wine created using genetically modified yeast cells whose DNA contains an encoding of a 14th-century Sufi poem by Hafiz of Shiraz, surrounded by video of it being written in Farsi calligraphy. By combining multiple embodied and abstract poetic elements, the installation invites the audience to reflect on the materiality and movement of culture.

Previous research on interactive technology design has often focused on individual aspects of marginalized identities and their impact on technology use. However, there is a growing need to adopt a more holistic approach that considers how multiple, intersecting aspects of marginalized identities shape technology engagement across various contexts. In this qualitative case study, we investigate the communication experiences of LGBTQIA+ individuals with disabilities within romantic relationships, focusing on the role of technology in facilitating connection, intimacy, and joy. Our findings emphasize the dynamic experiences of early disability disclosure, the transformation of vulnerability into opportunities for authentic connection, and the co-creation of communication practices tailored to the relationship’s needs. We advocate for inclusive technologies that adapt to evolving intersectional experiences, advocating for assistive technology (AT) that supports communication while nurturing emotional and relational well-being. Moreover, drawing on the concept of interdependence, we show how access is co-created in LGBTQIA+ romantic relationships, challenging the traditional views of AT as specialized tools.

Utilizing digital fabrication methods (e.g., 3D printing) has exciting implications for the design and production of customized assistive technology (AT). However, utilizing these tools currently requires a high level of technical expertise as well as time and money investments. Furthermore, facilitating collaboration between end users and makers needs effective and inclusive approaches with shared language and support for asynchronous, dispersed communication of design requirements. While these Do-It-Yourself (DIY) approaches are shown to support end-user agency and furthering technology democratization, research has to yet explore how they can further align with social justice values and practices. We explored these possibilities by facilitating DIY-AT design with students with disabilities, activist staff members, and community members within a university makerspace. By explicitly encouraging participants to consider social justice issues important to them as they engaged in DIY-AT design, we studied the considerations and supports needed for facilitating flexible co-design activities and broader conversations about accessibility barriers at the university. Adopting a transdisciplinary approach, we offer lessons learned about the potential of co-designing DIY-ATs as a way to investigate questions of social justice, inclusion, and access in academic contexts. We show how these created DIY-ATs can be leveraged by students and staff as tangible artifacts to encourage more funding and support from university administration for accessibility initiatives.

Understanding and engaging with cultural practices that respond to change and resist oppression are increasingly relevant to critical design in and beyond HCI. While these areas of exploration are no stranger to the practices of bioart and biodesign that draw on the cultural, aesthetic, and practical affordances of living organisms to engage audiences and users in reflection and cultural production, they are less familiar in HCI and computing. In recent years, increased access to low-cost synthetic biology tools and techniques has made it easier for non-experts, including those trained in computing but not biology, to experiment with modifying living organisms for creative and artistic purposes, including at the molecular DNA level. Infinite Transformations in a Suitcase is a multimedia installation that uses bioart, visual art, and music strategies to create a meditative space inviting reflection on the resilience of culture. At its center is a glass of poetry-infused wine created using genetically modified yeast cells whose DNA contains an encoded 14th-century Sufi poem by Hafiz of Shiraz, surrounded by video of it being written in Farsi calligraphy. By combining multiple embodied and abstract poetic elements, the installation invites the audience to reflect on the materiality and movement of culture.

Although there is growing evidence of the potential value of physically present educational robots in improving engagement and learning outcomes with young children, there is limited understanding of how those effects may play out over an extended period in a real school environment. There is also sparse literature on students’ and teachers’ experiences and perspectives with a robot-assisted learning system deployed at school. In this paper, we report a two-phase pilot study using a commercially available robot-assisted learning system ABii from Van Robotics with 24 students from two early childhood classrooms in a resource-constrained urban public school on the east coast of the US. The first phase was a researcher-directed pilot that ran for eight weeks, followed by a second phase of a teacher-directed pilot that lasted five months, where teachers were empowered to take charge of the robot usage in their classrooms. We reported the findings concerning students’ and teachers’ experience and perspectives with the systems using a combination of quantitative data from the system logs and qualitative data from observation and interviews. We observed positive effects of the physically present robot, as students maintained sustained interest and engagement with ABii even after eight weeks of use. Teachers likewise valued ABii’s role in supporting engagement and delivering personalized learning experiences—benefits that were particularly meaningful in resource-constrained environments, despite certain challenges associated with deploying physical robots. Moreover, our findings highlight the essential role of teachers in the successful integration of advanced technologies such as educational robots, suggesting that human teachers remain central to realizing educational robots’ full pedagogical potential. We discuss the implication of those findings by reflecting on the current literature on educational social robots and articulating their contribution to the empirical understanding of the potential value and challenges in leveraging robot-assisted learning systems with young children in under-resourced school environments.

Special educators face challenges managing the time and resources needed to teach students with diverse needs. Creating individualized instructional materials that align with the needs and plans of each student is one of these challenges. In this qualitative study, we investigated how generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can assist special educators in creating learning content tailored to the needs of students with disabilities within the framework of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Understanding how special educators can utilize generative AI tools to create personalized learning content can inform future technology design and form the basis for developing professional development tools that support the effective use and adoption of these emerging technologies.

Recent HCI research has focused on developing interactive technologies for cyclists and using technology to promote this activity. However, the community-building and advocacy aspects of cycling remain relatively unexplored. In this study, we explored the integration of urban cycling and participatory technology design to address transportation inequities and promote cycling advocacy in a US city characterized by infrastructural and social disparities. We engaged with nine bicycling advocates from five organizations in Baltimore, USA in participatory design activities to understand their motivations for promoting cycling in urban areas and how interactive technology can aid in creating a cyclist-friendly city. Along with the various practical motivations, we found the participants also promote cycling with a desire to challenge historical discriminatory practices and infrastructural inequalities and as a means of community building and identity expression. We identify three interconnected directions for future change: supporting ancillary bicycle infrastructure and DIY repair practices, changing perceptions through community engagement, and using technology to support community awareness and inclusion. We argue cycling can be a tool for resistance and identity shaping in this context, and participatory design can offer innovative directions for urban designers, policymakers, and system designers to strengthen efforts toward creating inclusive and equitable urban environments.

As online access to entertainment, education, news, and information increasingly becomes mitigated through subscription-based services, it is important to study how inequities in access impact users in low and middle-income countries (LMICS), and what infrastructuring strategies they employ to overcome obstacles. In this paper, we present findings from an interview study with 22 participants from Bangladesh who use and share online subscription-based services. Due to the lack of availability and limitations using formal international payment methods, procedural difficulties, and infrastructural challenges in Bangladesh, we found an emergence of a distinct informal ecosystem of accessing, sharing, and using subscription-based services. We report a detailed analysis of the adoption, sharing practices, and dynamics of sharing online subscription-based services in Bangladesh, that builds on and extends previous HCI literature on informality, informal marketplace, intermediaries, and media sharing in the Global South. Our findings show how a vibrant and growing user base of subscription-based online services is using creative and sometimes risky ways to gain access to media and information through informal intermediaries and administrators. Finally, we discuss potential directions for practice and policy innovations that include facilitating international payments for online services and platforms and reconsidering their policies and service delivery mechanisms to better support users in the Global South context.

Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology (DIY-AT) has shown promise in expanding access to customized, low-cost devices, particularly for individuals whose needs are not met by professionally manufactured assistive technologies. In this paper, we present a study of the structure and impact of a DIY-AT program launched through a collaboration between a university makerspace and the Maryland department of disability Assistive Technology program. Using an Action Research approach, we examine how the program's institutional, technical, and informational infrastructure evolved over time and how recipients experienced and responded to the 3D-printed devices. Our findings demonstrate that university-government partnerships can enable the large-scale production and distribution of DIY-AT, while also fostering trust, advocacy, and interest in future participation among recipients and others in their communities. We also highlight ongoing barriers to design participation and identify new stakeholder roles that extend existing models of DIY-AT ecosystems.

For individuals with visual impairments, self-employment offers the opportunity to customize work experiences specific to both their needs and abilities, and to design a work environment that takes flexibility and accommodations into account. In this paper, we describe an investigation to understand the experiences of fourteen self-employed individuals in the United States who identify as visually impaired to determine the role technology plays when either setting up and running a small business or when working as an independent contractor. Findings highlight experiences with the accessibility of tools used to aid business-related operations, challenges using these tools for purposes of compliance, issues relating to trust in third parties, and concerns for their business regarding disclosure of disability. This has led to discussions regarding the importance of agency, access to tailored education and training, and ways to support advocacy. Insights from our work offer benefits to researchers and designers interested in supporting self-employed individuals with visual impairments.