Tag Archives: policy

Advice, Disability, Policy, Thoughts

Translating Accessibility Research Through Policy Work

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Over the last few years, thanks in part to the mentorship and encouragement of Jonathan Lazar1 and other members of the CREATE Advisory Board, and the emphasis on translation in NIDILRR, I have begun trying to figure out how an accessibility researcher can use policy as an approach to translation.

I recognize that basic research also has an important role to play and does not necessarily include translation. However, I’d argue that even basic research benefits from translational thinking. How else can we assess the possible ethical and societal impacts of such work? Or ensure that the information reaches the hands of those that might apply it?

What is translation anyway?

The first thing I have had to learn is how to even understand translation. As a professor who initially had little experience with policy, startups, or other translational efforts, it seemed daunting to try to go from research paper to real world impact, partly because I imagined it as a leap from A to B rather than a process. So what is translation?

As the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) points out in its knowledge translation program “new knowledge that is not used or adopted in some way is unhelpful.” Specifically, in the case of accessibility research, NIDILRR asks how new knowledge can directly benefit the disability community, including the ability to participate in society, and quality of life. This type of impact is also a core value for the Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences (CREATE), which I currently direct.

Another way to ask this question, however, is more practical. What counts as translation? I’d argue there are many paths here (and NIDILRR helpfully lays many of them out in its guidance on reporting impact). NIDILRR defines four types of impact: (1) Publications (including policy findings); (2) Tools measures and intervention protocols; (3) Technology products and devices; and (4) informational products.

For example, when a federal rule making body like the DOJ cites a research paper, that is clearly a form of knowledge translation based on a publication. Another form of translation is releasing a solution to the public, such as the release of matplotalt, an open-source Python package for easily adding alternative text to matplotlib figures that equips Jupyter notebook authors to automatically generate and surface chart descriptions with a single line of code or command. There is a lot of scaffolding to support this within NIDILRR including the Impact Center (primarily focused on patents and products) and the Center on Knowledge Translation which provides guidance on policy and stakeholder engagement.

While all of these are important (and many are interconnected), I’ve been focusing much of my learning in this sphere over the last few years on policy impacts in particular.

Translation and Policy Work

Knowledge translation is built upon and sustained by ongoing interactions, partnerships, and collaborations among various stakeholders, including researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, persons with disabilities, and others, in the production and use of such knowledge and product (NIDILRR long range plan)

Policy work, like almost all the work we do, is about relationship building. The choices we make about which relationships to develop have a big influence on the impact policy work can have. If you want to influence legislation, you need to talk to legislators. If you want to have an impact on disability concerns, you need to be in touch with both individuals and the advocacy organizations that represent them. This isn’t just about knowing the right people, or an occasional conversation (though that is a starting place), nor is it only about leadership by those who are most impacted (though that is essential). Rather, in my mind, it is about coalition building. This requires taking the time to work together — sitting on a committee, reviewing text, volunteering for a board, and so on.

In addition, policy work requires direction. What is it that you want to accomplish? How do you even set direction? I’m still learning the answer to these questions. Some of it is driven by the times we are in, but even in that context, there’s so many different things we could respond to. I think it is most useful to focus my policy efforts on things I have the expertise to contribute to.

I feel like a rank beginner here, and my efforts to date have focused primarily on responding to external prompts. For me, this has meant writing policy briefs in response to federal requests for information, and implementing policy where relevant in my institution. I have also tried to show up in relevant meetings, such as presenting to the US Access Board.

Writing a Policy Brief

Policy briefs have served three important roles in my attempts to learn about translation. First, they’ve allowed us to synthesize our research into formats that can be used by policy makers. Second, they’ve supported coalition work and getting to know a broader network of people — each of these has been written by groups of people working together to represent a specific perspective. Finally, they’ve indirectly been valuable in helping to let others know that those of us authoring these briefs are out there, and want to help.

While they are relatively dry and do not typically show up as publications, it is also possible to convert them into an opinion piece, such as the following:
AI Must Be Anti-Ableist and Accessible (Jennifer Mankoff, Devva Kasnitz, L. Jean Camp, Jonathan Lazar, Harry HochheiserAuthors Info & Claims, Communications of the ACM, Volume 67, Issue 12, Pages 40 – 42).

Attending Public Meetings

Requests for information and input sometimes take the form of video testimony of some sort. I’ve volunteered myself to give such testimony, and ultimately this has led to me being invited to give other testimony, participate in advisory councils or other meetings, and generally contributed toward a virtuous cycle of relationship building.

My first such presentation took place at the Artificial Intelligence Hearing of the U.S. Access Board, which in turn led to being cited in their preliminary findings (to academics reading this — this is then reportable to funders, department chairs, and the like as a form of both translational and academic impact).

My second notable presentation (to date) was by invitation, to the UN development program, and again led to citation in their 2025 report on human development, which also touched on AI and accessibility.

Implementing Policy

Finally, I want to touch on the question of implementing policy. When policy changes, it requires an investment to translate that into real world impact. I have many thoughts about this, but here I’ll just focus on briefly summarizing one specific role I’ve had in that. In April 2024, the DOJ released a new rule describing how Title II of the ADA should be implemented for web and mobile content. Among many other things, it applies to state university web and mobile app accessibility, including course content accessibility. I leaned heavily into my specific expertise here and focused all of my implementation efforts on getting the University of Washington to recognize the urgency, and importance of this rule. I’ve put countless hours into multiple committees to help implement this at the University level.

To make time for that, I gave up some personal time, but also worked hard to make sure my department chair understood the effort required for this work. She has been incredibly supportive, freeing me from other service requirements, and I’ve turned down external service to protect my time as well.

In the process I’ve learned invaluable lessons about how universities run; worked hard to make sure all stakeholders are represented in the process; experimented with different ways of rocking the boat when necessary; gotten to know (and become friends with) staff, faculty, and administrators all over three different UW campuses; and often felt like I was taking two steps back for every three steps forward. We’re not done, and a deeper analysis of change making is out of scope here, but I’m starting to feel like we are moving the needle.

Closing Thoughts

This post is something I’ve reflected on over a few months before sharing it. I am sure policy experts may have many critiques of what I’ve written, or that policy scholars have said it more and better, but this is for other beginners who need or want to start thinking about these things, and muddling around is sometimes where you need to start.

If you have read this far, I’m guessing you too would like to see your work have real world impact. Maybe you already are having that impact, and you should write a similar post about startups, or action research, or whatever amazing work you are already doing to bring that about. Or maybe policy is where you will go next. Either way, I hope this helps inspire you.

  1. Director of the Maryland Initiative for Digital Accessibility (MIDA); gets credit for all the good stuff I’ve learned and definitely not responsible for any of the mistakes I’ve made! ↩︎