Advancing Access and Taming AI: Empowering Everyone Through Accessible Innovation

We will explore how AI can strengthen accessibility in education and rehabilitation if implemented with intention and oversight. A collaboration between Austin Community College and the Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center for the Blind, this session examines how AI-powered tools can support independent learning and braille literacy, as well as empowering everyone to create accessible digital content. Technology should expand independence, not replace literacy. AI should scale expertise, not substitute for it.

We will discuss AI-powered tools for accessible of digital content creation, remediation and independent learning:
- STEM content
- Technical notation
- Complex image descriptions
- Braille literacy and tactile graphics

These tools are reshaping how educational materials are created and delivered. Participants will gain insight into both the technical foundations and their practical implications for digital accessibility and instructional design.

As people who are blind and low vision, enter an increasingly competitive job market, demand is increasing for people who can communicate and problem solve across platforms. Specifically, people who are both highly literate in high-tech and low tech solutions for learning. We will investigate how artificial intelligence can be used in the education and rehab process for people who are blind, specifically in the areas of braille and dual media literacy and the use of robust mobile platforms for communication.