Related papers: Q&A: Accessibility in Astronomy for the Visually I…
Astrophysics lies at the crossroads of big datasets (such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and Gaia), open source software to visualize and interpret high dimensional datasets (such as Glue, WorldWide Telescope, and OpenSpace), and…
Blind and low-vision (BLV) employees in mixed-visual ability teams often encounter information (e.g., PDFs, diagrams) in inaccessible formats. To enable teamwork, teams must transform these representations by modifying or re-creating them…
Printed documents continue to be a challenge for blind, low-vision, and other print-disabled (BLV) individuals. In this paper, we focus on the specific problem of (in-)accessibility of internal references to citations, footnotes, figures,…
The rapid growth of virtual reality (VR) has led to increased use of social VR platforms for interaction. However, these platforms lack adequate features to support blind and low vision (BLV) users, posing significant challenges in…
NASA's Great Observatories have opened up the electromagnetic spectrum from space, providing sustained access to wavelengths not accessible from the ground. Together, Hubble, Compton, Chandra, and Spitzer have provided the scientific…
We present the second edition of a Best Practices Guide for academic departments and other institutions striving to create more inclusive environments for physicists and astronomers in the LGBT+ community. Our recommendations incorporate…
People with visual impairments face numerous challenges in their daily lives, including mobility, access to information, independent living, and employment. Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Computer Vision (CV) has the potential to improve…
Over the last decade there has been considerable research into how artificial intelligence (AI), specifically computer vision, can assist people who are blind or have low-vision (BLV) to understand their environment. However, there has been…
After several years of intensive technological development Virtual Observatory resources have reached a level of maturity sufficient for their routine scientific exploitation. The Virtual Observatory is starting to be used by astronomers in…
Background: Software engineering requires both technical skills and creative problem-solving. Blind and low-vision software professionals (BLVSPs) encounter numerous workplace challenges, including inaccessible tools and collaboration…
We report on an exploratory project aimed at performing immersive 3D visualization of astronomical data, starting with spectral-line radio data cubes from galaxies. This work is done as a collaboration between the Department of Physics and…
Braille literacy is critical for blind individuals' independence and quality of life, yet literacy rates continue to decline. Though braille instructors in integrated K-12 classrooms play a central role in literacy development in blind…
Open Science has been a rising theme in the landscape of science policy in recent years. The goal is to make research that emerges from publicly funded science to become findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) for use by…
Both the basic educational contents for students and study programs for science teachers include several topics in physics and astronomy, from the simplest ones to others as advanced as nuclear fusion to explain stellar evolution and…
We present a state-of-the-art report on visualization in astrophysics. We survey representative papers from both astrophysics and visualization and provide a taxonomy of existing approaches based on data analysis tasks. The approaches are…
To ensure that AI-infused systems work for disabled people, we need to bring accessibility datasets sourced from this community in the development lifecycle. However, there are many ethical and privacy concerns limiting greater data…
Computer science education has evolved extensively; however, systemic barriers still prevent students with visual impairments from fully participating. While existing research has developed specialized programming tools and assistive…
Despite centuries of close association, statistics and astronomy are surprisingly distant today. Most observational astronomical research relies on an inadequate toolbox of methodological tools. Yet the needs are substantial: astronomy…
As social VR applications grow in popularity, blind and low vision users encounter continued accessibility barriers. Yet social VR, which enables multiple people to engage in the same virtual space, presents a unique opportunity to allow…
Astronomy depends on ever increasing computing power. Processor clock-rates have plateaued, and increased performance is now appearing in the form of additional processor cores on a single chip. This poses significant challenges to the…