Data & Design Group

@data-and-design.org

We are a research group at CU Boulder Information Science that uses design to understand and reimagine socio-technical systems. https://data-and-design.org

As agentic AI rapidly transforms internet infrastructure, how do we ensure disabled people's needs are not displaced? In a new article by me and @frank.computer, we argue that accessibility must not be treated as an incidental benefit of rapid AI expansion. Read below:

Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · 3mo ago

AI companies are now getting accommodations that disabled people spent decades fighting for. Jonathan Zong and Frank Elavsky argue this reflects a broader pattern, where accessibility gains become politically possible only once industry needs the same changes.

Tactile charts are an important tool for conveying data to blind and low vision people via embossed paper. However, tactile charts require high levels of time and expertise to design. Introducing Tactile Vega-Lite, new work at #CHI2025 led by MIT SM student Katie Chen news.mit.edu/2025/making-...

A new way to make graphs more accessible to blind and low-vision readers

Designed to help blind and low-vision readers understand graphics, the “Tactile Vega-Lite” system from MIT CSAIL converts data into a standard visual graph and a tactile chart. Accessibility standards...

news.mit.edu

interested in accessibility, visualization, and data ethics? i'm recruiting phd students to join the data & design group at cu boulder! we're building a collaborative space for people to grow into interdisciplinary researchers of technology and society. #ieeevis data-and-design.org/recruiting

Recruiting Ph.D. Students for Fall 2025

We are an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Colorado Boulder that uses design to understand and reimagine socio-technical systems.

data-and-design.org