Engineering for Inclusivity [Event: Inclusive Design: Designing for Access and Disability]

Among engineering’s greatest promises is the remedy of inequality through technology, including designing technologies that are accessible to users with a diverse spectrum of ability. With an estimated one billion people in the world living with some form of disability, the challenge is large, but the opportunity is larger still. In this episode of Engineering for All, a panel of experts in inclusive design examine the role — and, many say, the responsibility — engineers have to ensure equal access to the products and technologies they build. All agree that when engineers design for disability, everybody benefits.

The panel includes adjunct professor John Moalli, whose course “Dare to Care: Compassionate Design” challenges students to solve everyday problems people with disabilities face. Panelist Adrian Rodriguez (BS ’16) is a blind software engineer who designs interfaces that work for non-sighted people. Allison Lettiere (MS ’21) uses artificial intelligence to build assistive and accessible technologies and is the president of Kids With Dreams, a not-for-profit that works with young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our moderator is Stanford lecturer Lindsey Felt (PhD ’15) who is deaf and wears cochlear implants. Her research looks at disability innovation in narratives of technology.

Watch an inspiring conversation about inclusive design in this recorded episode of Engineering for All brought to you by Stanford Engineering Alumni Relations.