Designing for Accessibility: Socially Engaged Engineering & Design
The Center for Socially Engaged Engineering & Design is excited to partner with Prof. Dhruv “DJ” Jain and EECS 495 Accessible Computing for the third year and to host this course in our collaboration space. The team-based course explores the development of technology systems focused on disability, accessibility, or chronic illness. Students get the opportunity to work closely with individuals with disabilities to develop technologies addressing a specific need allowing them to see the interplay between human factors, human-machine interfaces, community perspectives, and social and ethical aspects.
Story by Lawryn Fellwock
EECS 495 students participating in a stakeholder mapping activity after having discussions with their project clients at C-SED
From Prof. Jain’s Syllabus: “Everyone planning a career in technology should understand accessibility. Not only is it cutting-edge and exciting, but accessibility is a human rights issue and the law. Students should know how to build accessible technologies and understand the value of innovating new approaches to accessibility. Disability touches almost everyone, either directly or indirectly, at some point in life, temporarily or permanently. For example, when you are in a crowded restaurant and miss an important phone call because you couldn’t hear it ring. Or, it’s cold outside, and you’re shivering too much to use the touchscreen on your phone.”
At the heart of this course is a commitment to a socially engaged approach to engineering and design—a principle that took shape through a close collaboration with C-SED. As students move through the project milestones, they follow a path informed by C-SED methodologies—first mapping stakeholders, then stepping into the field to conduct interviews and design observations. These exercises are more than just assignments; they push students to listen, empathize, and refine their ideas based on real human experiences.
Some examples of past projects include a custom minimalistic text-messaging app for someone with low vision, a motorized joystick that allows a power-wheelchair user to get closer to tables, a hearing aid app that allows automatic fine-tuning in different acoustic environments. In the three year partnership between C-SED and EECS 495, students have gone on to develop apps that have entered the marketplace as well as present papers on their work, such as the one below.
C-SED Graduate Facilitator Lauren Wojciechowski running a stakeholder mapping activity for EECS 495 students at C-SED
Check out the full list of Michigan Engineering Courses that call C-SED home in Winter 25: