ABSTRACT. Graduate computing programs are crucial for launching innovative careers, yet a persistent access gap hinders the success of graduate students with disabilities. This paper addresses this issue by arguing for targeted university interventions to increase equity. We draw from the literature to outline key challenges and institutional barriers. We then propose prioritized actions for universities, focusing on policy changes, resource allocation, and cultural shifts. Because disability services and BPC efforts tend to focus on undergraduates, our work synthesizes research on disabled graduate students' experiences to propose strategic actions that maximize resource impact while promoting sustained participation at the graduate level.

ABSTRACT. Building on the discourse of inherent exclusivity in academic conferences, this perspective paper critically asserts that conference accessibility is not a privilege to be negotiated but a fundamental right that must be universally upheld. We provide takes on issues related to equity and access, and position this paper in favour of pragmatic advocacy and intersectional solutions that support participants navigating marginalisation due to disability, race, gender, as well as volunteers undertaking "unpaid labour" who often experience the same inequities. We urge informed allies to confront exclusion as a systemic failure and collectively transform these spaces into sites of true belonging.

ABSTRACT. In this paper, we describe efforts of an alliance to increase Pell-grant eligible and first generation student access to active conference participation by systematically including considerations for student basic needs as well as developing professional science skills and knowledge that aligns with industry and graduate school pathways in computer science. We describe how an alliance creates the structure and flexibility for systematic care for student needs and local innovation to improve educational practice regarding conference participation. We describe our lessons learned for improving access to conferences as well as provide recommendations for increasing student access to professional conference benefits.

ABSTRACT. This experience report highlights findings from a pilot project aimed at training student employees to provide web accessibility testing services for university website owners, with a specific focus on addressing barriers faced by students with disabilities. By equipping undergraduate and graduate students with accessibility knowledge and tools, the project tackled accessibility challenges across university websites. This report details the training methodology, accessibility barriers identified, and broader implications for equity in higher education. Drawing on recent research, we explore how improving accessibility aligns with fostering inclusivity and supporting the sustained participation of students with disabilities in computing education and careers.

ABSTRACT. A recent experience report on teaching CS1 in prison higher education programs highlighted the importance of providing supplemental resources, leveraging the observed asset that incarcerated adult students are already "skilled independent learners." In this paper, we examine how much incarcerated adult students valued different resources in two iterations of a CS1 course taught in prison. Some resources were paper-based (e.g., physical textbook) and some leveraged the limited technology that was available (e.g., Canvas discussion boards). Students in the first iteration of the course did not have access to a code interpreter on their devices, while students in the second iteration of the course did via web browser. We report our findings on how students across these two CS1 offerings valued different resources, including how much students in the second offering valued the code interpreter. In addition, we report on differences in resources valued by students' age and comfort with technology.

ABSTRACT. In this work, we describe the implementation and evaluation of assignment resubmission practice in two distinct educational settings. The first case study involves a large introductory programming course for freshmen computing students at a public university. The second involves a smaller introductory programming course for freshmen engineering students at a private institution.

We utilized a pre-experimental research design with a post-survey for this study to investigate the impact of the resubmission practice on students' perceptions of sense of belonging, confidence, performance, and overall course experience, as well as their actual performance in the course. We explored how the impact of resubmission varied across socioeconomic, and demographic groups (e.g. first-generation status, transfer-student status, work status, etc.), and compared outcomes between students who utilized the practice and those who did not. Our findings suggest that resubmission opportunities enhance student learning outcomes and perceptions of their academic experience, with measurable performance improvements.

ABSTRACT. Students learn an abundance of technical skills while obtaining a computer science degree. The ability to develop meaningful front end user interfaces is often considered the domain of only ``more artistic'' CS students. However, for users to effectively engage with any piece of software, functional user interfaces are critical. Moreover, even among students who have front end skills, semantic and accessible design is all too often less considered. The first author piloted a ``Front End Development and Accessibility'' course this past Fall. This course teaches basic skills of front end with web and leverages key accessibility standards via WCAG. This experience report highlights challenges, triumphs, and takeaways from the first course offering. Three students - all with different backgrounds relating to the course content - share their experiences as part of this report as well.

ABSTRACT. Higher education institutions and the courses within them often expect that students will be able to seek out and find the resources that they need. The concept of ``hidden curriculum'' has come to refer to that which is not taught, but that students are expected to know. This includes not only classroom content that instructors may expect students are already familiar with, but also methods for finding and navigating resources across the institution. Our team sought to help students within our institution with key ``hidden curricula'' topics across their computing courses. In this experience report, we examine our creation and deployment of a resource hub for computing students. Further, we report on expanding these efforts in new ways across campus. By considering ``digital access'' to certain resources through the lens of ``unspoken knowledge'', new forms of ``hidden curricula'' seem ready to be revealed.

ABSTRACT. People experience situational limitations when their physical or cognitive abilities are temporarily restricted. HCI researchers and technologists have promoted designing for people with situational limitations as a means for creating technology usable by disabled people. To explore how designers unfamiliar with accessibility would approach designing for situational limitations, we analyzed the initial design work of novice designers---undergraduate students in four design courses. We analyzed how they engaged with the notion of situational limitations, how they conceptualized this category of users, and whether their initial design concepts aligned with accessibility principles. We found that most students demonstrated the baseline design skill of defining contextual user scenarios. However, many students showed a fractured understanding of situational limitations and did not necessarily generate design concepts aligned with accessibility design guidelines or disabled user needs. Our work suggests that designers would benefit from a robust model of situational limitations and reflective design approaches.

ABSTRACT. AI education is rapidly becoming essential as artificial intelligence transforms industries, yet students with disabilities often encounter significant barriers to learning and engagement. This paper examines accessibility challenges faced by learners with visual, cognitive, and physical disabilities when using foundational tools for AI development. Using HuggingFace, an influential open-source platform, as a case study, we analyze barriers such as insufficient screen reader support, complex interfaces, and information overload. We propose design recommendations to promote equity and inclusivity in AI tools, aiming to empower diverse learners to thrive in AI education. Our work highlights the importance of inclusive design for CS educators, researchers, and policymakers.

ABSTRACT. Demonstrating proficiency in various programming languages, tools, and technologies — while these skills are an integral part of the Computer Science curriculum, so too is engaging students in an exploration of accessible and inclusive design practices. Design impacts every facet of software engineering, from requirements to implementation. This paper explores how NC State University's Senior Design capstone asks students to reflect on equitable design via the Oral Progress Report (OPR), an assessment activity where teams provide a “snapshot” of their progress by considering questions like how their UI foregrounds accessibility and where they have embraced an inclusive vision of their users.

ABSTRACT. Recent work has argued for teaching accessibility alongside foundational computing concepts in curricula. This perspective paper provides a framework and example case studies for the integration of accessibility and inclusive design principles in two undergraduate computing courses encompassing both the practical and the theoretical: Intermediate Data Programming and Data Structures and Algorithms. In both courses, students practice inclusive design skills by learning about specific accessibility needs and how to accommodate them by iteratively critiquing and redesigning technology. The incorporation of accessibility case studies into the curriculum prepares computing students to not only prioritize but also actualize inclusion in data science and technology.

ABSTRACT. Computing education could foster older adults’ cognitive abilities and create a community of active lifelong learners. However, older adults are under-represented in computing education. This study examined how to design strategies to broaden participation in computing education for older adults based on andragogy principles. Two case studies focusing on computational thinking plugged and unplugged interventions were designed. The study recruited thirty-four older adults (age 60+). The structural thematic analysis was employed to analyze the qualitative data. The findings of this study revealed that computational thinking unplugged approaches substantially improve older adults’ social lives through collaborative learning, and supported their self-regulated learning experiences compared to plugged approaches. Regarding their cognitive improvement, computational thinking plugged activities were shown to impact older adults more, which can spark their interest in computing education. This study contributes to broadening participation in computing education literature by discussing the implications for exploring adult-focused learning principles and strategies.

ABSTRACT. The NSF’s Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) education directive emphasizes evidence-based practices to promote a robust, diverse, and inclusive cybersecurity workforce. This study aligns with this directive by exploring equity issues in online/hybrid cybersecurity learning environments. Guided by pedagogical frameworks and critical theory, this study focused on cybersecurity students, particularly individuals with multiple marginalized identities, self-reported classroom experiences. Findings highlighted the perceived benefit of inclusive practices, such as group assignments and interactions with knowledgeable figures of similar identities. This study underscores the importance of investigating cybersecurity education praxis and learner experiences jointly to create supportive and equitable learning environments.

ABSTRACT. This study examines barriers to inclusion for multilingual students in computer science, highlighting the role of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies in an elementary computational thinking (CT) curriculum. Data from five classrooms including observations, field notes, pre-and-post-CT tests, and student artifacts were analyzed. Findings show that teachers employed various UDL strategies to teach CT, with their frequency positively correlated with higher CT scores. Additionally, this research extends existing UDL frameworks by integrating empirically observed strategies tailored for multilingual students. Ultimately, this study offers a universe of UDL-based pedagogical strategies to enhance multilingual student participation in computer science.

ABSTRACT. While there has been progress in making Computer Science (CS) more accessible to young women, their participation in CS courses in K-12 still lags. In this study, we interviewed seven educators at Texas secondary schools in which at least 50% of students enrolled in CS courses are female (which comprise just 2% of secondary schools statewide) to examine the strategies they have used to increase young women’s participation in CS education, as well as challenges and barriers to increasing their participation. Successful strategies included requiring all students to have some exposure to CS, allowing CS to count as a foreign language requirement, collaborating with counselors and leverage peer recruitment, highlighting the contributions of women in CS, and offering opportunities for creativity and collaborative learning. Many of the strategies discussed can also make CS more accessible and welcoming to other groups underrepresented in CS as well, including students with disabilities.