From Awareness to Action: Teaching Software Accessibility for Neurodiverse Users
Abstract
Neurodiversity affects about 15-20% of the population and neurodiverse users can struggle with software usability. However, there are few initiatives geared at educating about accessibility for neurodiversity. We begin conversation about this topic by synthesizing accessibility guidelines for some of the neurodiverse population -- people on the autism spectrum, people with dyslexia and people with ADHD -- and giving guidelines about teaching about accessibility for neurodiverse users.
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Parents of disabled students participated in three studies.
“Parents of disabled students also participated in three studies (e.g., [29]).”
From Where are the Disabled Students?: A Literature Review of Disability Inclusion in Computing Education Research (2026) · cites this paper as [29]
Only three papers in the dataset engaged with disability scholarship as a theoretical framing, specifically critical Disability Studies framings such as a social model of disability approach or a disability justice approach.
“Three papers explicitly engaged with critical Disability Studies framings, specifically taking a social model of disability approach [22, 29] or disability justice approach [37].”
From Where are the Disabled Students?: A Literature Review of Disability Inclusion in Computing Education Research (2026) · cites this paper as [29]
These three papers stood out due to the depth of their engagement with the disabled communities they targeted and for how they situated accessibility as an issue of power, identity, and justice, rather than solely one of technical compliance or awareness.
“These papers stood out due to the depth of their engagement with the disabled communities they targeted [22, 29] and for how they situated accessibility as an issue of power, identity, and justice [22, 37], rather than solely one of technical compliance or awareness.”
From Where are the Disabled Students?: A Literature Review of Disability Inclusion in Computing Education Research (2026) · cites this paper as [29]
Systematic approaches to embedding accessibility and diversity in both technology development and computing curricula remain rare.
“Despite widespread calls for inclusive education, systematic approaches to embedding accessibility and diversity in both technology development and computing curricula remain rare [2, 16, 17, 26].”
From Teaching Participatory Inclusive IT Design with a Neurodiversity Lens in Computing Education (2025) · cites this paper as [17]
Authentic collaboration has been associated with motivation, empowerment, and deeper learning.
“In contrast to empathy exercises that risk superficiality or stereotyping [3], authentic collaboration has been associated with motivation, empowerment, and deeper learning [14, 17, 27].”
From Teaching Participatory Inclusive IT Design with a Neurodiversity Lens in Computing Education (2025) · cites this paper as [17]
Technology disciplines are still rarely tailored to the learning needs of neurodivergent students, reflected in higher dropout rates, reduced self-efficacy, and frequent invisible access labor.
“Empirical studies confirm that technology disciplines are still rarely tailored to the learning needs of neurodivergent students, which is reflected in higher dropout rates, reduced self-efficacy, and frequent invisible access labor to secure participation [6, 17, 36, 40].”
From Teaching Participatory Inclusive IT Design with a Neurodiversity Lens in Computing Education (2025) · cites this paper as [17]
An educational scientist and the accessibility advisor supported facilitation, reflection, and process integrity, realizing a multi-perspective setting.
“An educational scientist and the accessibility advisor supported facilitation, reflection, and process integrity, realizing a multi-perspective setting [1, 17, 27].”
From Teaching Participatory Inclusive IT Design with a Neurodiversity Lens in Computing Education (2025) · cites this paper as [17]
Proactive, predictable structures benefit all learners.
“The choice of modality was a context-specific design decision, not a general claim about autistic communication preferences; the broader point is to provide proactive, predictable structures that benefit all learners [17, 40].”
From Teaching Participatory Inclusive IT Design with a Neurodiversity Lens in Computing Education (2025) · cites this paper as [17]
Co-creative engagement can produce more meaningful learning and change.
“They complement critiques of empathy simulations that risk superficial understanding or stereotyping [3], and align with reports that co-creative engagement can produce more meaningful learning and change [14, 17, 27].”
From Teaching Participatory Inclusive IT Design with a Neurodiversity Lens in Computing Education (2025) · cites this paper as [17]
Inclusive, strengths-based settings can surface capabilities and increase opportunities for meaningful contribution.
“Inclusive, strengths-based settings can surface capabilities and increase opportunities for meaningful contribution [14, 17, 27].”
From Teaching Participatory Inclusive IT Design with a Neurodiversity Lens in Computing Education (2025) · cites this paper as [17]
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- Authors
- Kletenik, D., Minkowitz, R., Peric, A., Sahin, M., & Adler, R. F.
- Affiliations
- Brooklyn College (US)
- Cornell Tech (US)
- Northeastern Illinois University (US)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2024-03-07
- Pages
- 687-693
- OpenAlex
- W4392542353
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4
- FWCI
- 4.92
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- PSC CUNY Grant
- SIGCSE Special Projects Award
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Human Factors and Ergonomics › Digital Accessibility for Disabilities
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Disability Rights and Representation
- Keywords
- neurodiversity, software accessibility, accessibility education, autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, accessibility guidelines, usability, inclusive design
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