This post is to share that Devva Kasntiz passed on Jan 26 2025 with the accessibility community. There is further information about her passing and impact written by her close friend and collaborator Susan Fitzmaurice with many thoughtful responses from the larger disability community.

She was a transformative figure in disability studies and accessible technologies, pioneering work that bridges academia, advocacy, and innovation. Her interdisciplinary approach has shaped how we understand disability as a cultural, social, and political phenomenon, as recognized by her recent 10 year impact award for ASSETS. Through her leadership and scholarship, she has championed the development of accessible technologies that empower individuals with disabilities, amplifying their voices and dismantling barriers. She has shaped an entire generation of new technologists who are empowered to prioritize disability studies, disability justice, and related concepts in their work. For example, we have heard accounts from computing scholars who did not know what disability studies was, or how to frame it to accessibility and computing audiences until reading her transformative publications. The impacts go beyond the practical, additionally offering hope to scholars with disabilities and those wishing to draw on disability perspectives from the humanities, that there is a place for themselves and their work in computing fields. Kasnitz’s impact is profound and enduring, fostering a legacy of inclusion and equity in both theory and practice.

Jennifer Mankoff, Director, CREATE & Richard E. Ladner Professor, Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington

Gillian Hayes, Chancellor’s Professor, Kleist Professor of Informatics, University of California, Irvine

Cynthia Bennett, Senior Research Scientist, Google Research