Makeability Lab

Hello 👋🏽, we are a research lab in Human-AI directed by Professor @jonfroehlich.bsky.social at UW. We specialize in HCI & applied machine learning for high-impact problems in accessibility, computational urban science, and augmented reality. See makeabilitylab.cs.washington.edu

My student @jaredhwang.bsky.social ended up recording the talk. Thanks Jared! youtu.be/c9qUSjtMhn0?...

#ResearchMakesAmerica, and #UWAllen researchers make technologies to benefit people around the world. Here, Ph.D. student Chu Li talks about her work in the @makeabilitylab.bsky.social combining #HCI and urban science to make online visualizations more accessible. youtu.be/Jqo1rYDqyns?... 1/2

Must watch talk from @jonfroehlich.bsky.social on stage to receive his societal impact award from @acm-sigchi.bsky.social

Attending CHI'26 in Barcelona? Come to my SIGCHI Societal Impact Award talk entitled "'You Don't Do HCI' — Stories of Persistence, Pushback, & Pursuit" on Tues, Apr 14 at 4:30PM in the Auditorium.

Congratulations to @chimichurrichu.bsky.social on their CHI'26 Best Paper for GeoVisA11y: makeabilitylab.cs.washington.edu/project/geov...

Happy Valentine's Day from the Makeability Lab. Sending 💕during this time of tumultuousness. Take care of yourself and those around you.

I am recruiting new PhD students this year in: 🌆 Urban Computing / GeoAI 🥽 Augmented Reality 🎨 Creativity Support Tools Why join us? Work on state-of-the-art Human-AI research that has real-world impact at one of the top CS programs in the world. Deadline: Dec 15 See: jonfroehlich.github.io

We're launching RampNet, an open-source AI that helps detect curb ramps with near-human accuracy. The most amazing part? The entire project was conceived of and led by high school student John O'Meara. 🧵 A thread on what we built and why it matters.

This saddens me deeply. I have greatly benefited from working w/extraordinary international students; they have brought me & my lab incredible energy, ideas, & helped create some of the most gratifying & important breakthroughs in my career. They are in fear. Not OK! www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05...

📢 We are delighted to announce our ICCV 2025 workshop on "Vision Foundation Models and Generative AI for Accessibility: Challenges & Opportunities"! Two submission tracks: extended abstracts and full papers—the latter published in the ICCV workshop proceedings. cv4a11y.github.io/ICCV2025/ind...

One map fits all? 🤔 Unfortunately, no! Our #CHI2025 study reveals significant differences in how cane, walker, scooter & wheelchair users perceive sidewalk barriers. Dataset & paper: makeabilitylab.cs.washington.edu/project/acce... This is work led by the amazing @chimichurrichu.bsky.social

Hello! 👋 We are an open-source research project run by the @makeabilitylab.bsky.social. We have a two-pronged vision: first, to develop scalable data collection methods for sidewalk accessibility data using crowdsourcing, computer vision, and online map imagery; and second,

⚠️ We're recruiting participants for a research study! We'd like to understand how people use disability parking. Fill out this screener if you fit the criteria, and we may reach out to interview you. 🔗 tinyurl.com/uw-parking-screener 💸 $25/hr compensation

What is $131,742? Answer: this is how much it costs me to fund a PhD student per year for a full RAship in CS at UW (including 100% during the summer). PhD funding can be a confusing topic at US universities. Want to learn more? Take a look at our lab handbook: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Love the influx of academics to Bluesky. Will this be our new 🏠? To help grow the community, I just created an HCI+Accessibility "starter pack". Help me grow the list! Many are missing! go.bsky.app/PZxHNqP

As we work on those #CHI2025 videos (deadline: Sept 19), here is a set of inspirational videos 🎥 curated by my lab. Would love more examples, especially for other HCI research contribution types. Send them my way! docs.google.com/presentation...