Diversity and Inclusion Track

Workshop on “Inclusive Design

Abstract

Inclusive Design is a methodology that enables and draws on the full range of human diversity i.e., including and learning from people with a range of perspectives. Assistive technologies and multi-sensory interaction technologies are primarily aimed at including broader range of users and these kinds of solutions are needed for creating more accessible environment and experiences.

The objective of this activity-based workshop is to learn about the background, principles and purpose of inclusive design, accessibility, and universal design. Participants will learn the process of inclusive design, how to think in an 'inclusive' way and apply that knowledge to a small hands-on group project. By the end of this workshop, the participants will be able to critique the accessibility of existing design solutions and be able to improve their accessibility and expand the size of targeted user groups. They will also become sensitized towards the inclusion of a variety of user perspectives in their design thinking process in further work.

Duration – 3 hours
Estimated Number of Participants - 50
  • Conceptual Outline – 45mins
  • Examples based dialogue – 30 mins
  • Real Life Projects – Implementation and Learnings – 30 mins
  • Hands on Exercise – 45 mins
  • Short Presentations/Sharing from participants/groups – 30 mins
Conceptual Outline – 45 mins
WHAT
  • Definitions & Principles - UD, ID, Accessibility
  • Understanding Disability - Permanent, Temporary & Situational
WHY
  • The Average User Fallacy
  • Need for Inclusive Design & Mismatch of Interactions
  • Economics of Inclusive Design
  • Inclusive Design Guidelines - Ethical & Legal Issues
HOW
  • Process Framework - Persona Building, 3 dimensions of ID
  • Tools & Approaches – Affordances, Accessibility, Accommodations
  • Web Accessibility and Guidelines
Examples based dialogue – 30 mins
  • Case Studies on Best Practices
  • Example of Multisensory Learning Aids
Real Life Projects – Implementation and Learnings – 30 mins
  • Projects from TCS Research
  • Drawing insights from ethnographic data
  • Implementation using Inclusive Design thinking
  • Learnings from Implementation, Usage and Acceptability
Hands – On Exercise – 45 mins



Workshop organizers

Dr. Richa Gupta

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Human Centered Design, IIIT-Delhi

Tamanna Desai

UX Head @ TCS Innovation LAB



Workshop organizers

Prof. Anjana Susarla

Michigan State University

Invited Talk

Hemangee Kapoor

Title: Enhancing DEI at the ACM, Some observations, and Way forward

Abstract

Diverse teams are more innovative and productive, is now a widely accepted fact. In a professional organisation like the ACM, we are committed to make resources and services cater to the needs of all members of the computing society. The ACM Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) council has been established to ensure that the governance and activities of the ACM involve members from diverse background and perspectives.

The talk will discuss the roles and responsibilities of the DEI council and how it plans to achieve them by making broad categories. Methods that can be taken up to achieve DEI at the awards; student mentoring programs and leadership roles will be explored. We will discuss possible directions to make the language used in computing less exclusionary and the publication review process with reduced bias. Certain milestones reached will be highlighted followed by discussion on making work environments more inclusive.

Speaker’s Bio: Hemangee K. Kapoor is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. She received her B.Eng. degree in Computer Engineering from the College of Engineering, Pune, India, M.Tech. degree in CSE from the IIT Bombay, and Ph.D. degree in CSE from London South Bank University, U.K. Her research interest spans the broad area of computer architecture and specifically in multicore caches, emerging non-volatile memory technologies, network-on-chip and design of accelerators for neural networks. She has published at reputed venues and has supervised several PhD and post-graduate students. She is a Senior Member of the IEEE and ACM. She is Associate Editor on Journal of Systems Architecture (Elsevier) and IEEE Design and Test. Prof. Kapoor has actively participated in the ACM India council: as a member (2014-22) and as Vice President (2020-22). She also serves as a member on the ACM international council for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ACM-DEI) (2021-23).

Experience Talks

  • - Lipika Dey, TCS Research
  • - Charu Sharma, IIIT Hyderabad
  • - Aparna Garimella, Adobe

Lunch with Experts

Each D & I track scholarship recipient will get an opportunity to have lunch discussion with a renowned expert on one of the three days of the conference. Four or 5 participants will be mapped to one expert.

Panel discussion

Topic: The role of technology, policy and mindset in ensuring D&I

Moderator:
-Balaraman Ravindran

Panelists:
- Varsha Apte, IIT Bombay
- Lipika Dey, TCS Research
- Akhilesh Godi