People

Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden

founder of the Trace R&D Center and served as its director for 50 years until stepping down in October 2021
professor in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland
has been active in the field of technology and disability for 50 years and was a pioneer in the field of Augmentative Communication (a term originating from his writings), assistive technology and computer access
was selected as part of the team designing the first digital talking book machines for the Library of Congress talking book service – and carried out extensive exploration and testing of approaches in senior living facilities
past President and Fellow of RESNA, a Founding Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and Fellow in the Human Factors and Ergonomics society
has been a long-time leader in the area of web accessibility, creating the first set of Web Accessibility guidelines in 1995 and serving as co-editor and co-chairing the WCAG Working Group from its inception through 2013
third annual recipient of the Yuri Rubinsky Memorial World Wide Web Award

assistant research scientist in the College of Information Studies (iSchool) at the University of Maryland
has worked in the field of accessibility and universal design for nearly 20 years
has worked on the development of techniques for cross-disability access to public ICT, development of cross-disability user experiences, analysis and contributions to accessibility standards and regulations, the development of hands-on accessibility training workshops, and research into automatically generating personal, one-size-fits-one interfaces and adapting devices to meet user needs and preferences
research interests are in the areas of accessibility, human-computer interaction, and user-centered design
has been awarded 10 patents relating to disability access
has worked with over a dozen companies and other organizations on improving the accessibility of public kiosks and other ICT products
Dr. J. Bern Jordan homepage

assistant Professor in the College of Information Studies
holds an affiliate appointment in the Computer Science and the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland, College Park and serves as a core faculty at the Trace R&D Center
received her Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2016 from The Graduate Center at City University of New York, and has conducted research at the University of Athens, IBM Research-Tokyo, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University
focuses on data-driven technologies that can benefit the disability community, with an emphasis on rigorous, user-based experimental methodologies to assess impact
recipient of a Mina Rees Dissertation Fellowship in the Sciences, an ACM ASSETS best paper finalist and a best paper award, an ACM CHI honorable mention award, and an IEEE WACV best paper award
has been recognized by the Rising Stars in EECS program of CMU/MIT
Dr. Hernisa Kacorri homepage

assistant professor in the College of Information Studies and an affiliate in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park
received her PhD from the University of Washington in the Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, where she was funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the National Library of Medicine predoctoral fellowship
examines the design of technology for older adults – and in particular, older adults with dementia – to support social interaction and engagement in activities
work is supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) and the National Science Foundation
Dr. Amanda Lazar homepage