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The Alliance for Access to Computing Careers (AccessComputing) has funds available to support training, experiential learning, and information technology (IT)-related activities nationwide. The goal is to increase the number of people with disabilities, including post-9/11 veterans, successfully pursuing computing careers.

Since 2006, minigrant funds have been used to expand existing computing events to involve students with disabilities, create new stand-alone events designed to attract and support students with disabilities into computing fields, and support professional development opportunities.

AccessComputing is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF, Grant No. CNS-0540615, CNS-0837508, and CNS-1042260). For AccessComputing minigrant success stories, visit /accesscomputing/get-involved/educators-employers/minigrants/projects-funded-minigrants. To submit a proposal consult www.uw.edu/accesscomputing/minigrant.html. For more information, send an email to accesscomp@uw.edu.

AccessComputing student interns have completed over 120 internships. They have worked on computing projects and research in industry settings, workshops, and labs. They have learned how to request reasonable accommodations, communicate with supervisors and co-workers, collaborate with others, and manage priorities. Their internship experiences have improved their resumes, helped them meet graduation requirements, improved their confidence, and further developed their network of professional contacts. As one student shared, "This experience would be very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve from regular course projects. It definitely will be a shining point on my resume. Consequently, it will help build my career in the near future."

Some specific examples of research projects include:

• A project called "Indoor Radio Propagation Analysis using RFID and WiFi Technologies" at the University of South Carolina.
• A project researching network activity and behavior at Clemson University to improve the end-user experience and make improvements to the network.

Further examples of paid internships completed by AccessComputing interns include:

• A manager of an assistive technology computing lab.
• A software engineering intern at IBM.
• A robotics interface research intern at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Research suggests that students who participate in work-based learning do better in school because they get to apply their knowledge in real-world settings, which reinforces learning from the classroom. As one student said, "I am very happy to get this research opportunity. This experience allows me to connect discrete knowledge points together, and most importantly, it allows me to apply knowledge, particularly in mathematics, to a more practical science and engineering field."

Computing students with disabilities in the United States are encouraged to contact AccessComputing staff to learn more by sending a message to accesscomp@uw.edu.

Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the first Saturday Computing Experience (SCE) for deaf and hard-of-hearing students took place in Spring 2011. Kyle Rector, a graduate student in Computer Science and Engineering Department at the ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´, led the class. Six young women and three young men from ACE High School in Highline, Edmonds-Woodway High School in Mountlake Terrace, and Roosevelt High School in Seattle participated. Volunteers included other graduate students from the Computer Science and Engineering Department, and staff from Cray, Google and Microsoft. Staff included two graduates of the Summer Academy for Advancing Deaf & Hard of Hearing in Computing and AccessComputing team members, Josiah Cheslik and Jordan Atwood. The program was developed by Richard Ladner, PI of AccessComputing.

The nine deaf and hard-of-hearing students presented the results of their Arduino project to parents and teachers on the final day of the 9-week program. The students demonstrated what they learned about computer science: that it can produce useful products and be a viable career path. One student created a light color mixer with dials to create any visual color. Another useful application was a temperature sensor, with a light that turns blue when cold and red when hot.

One of the student's parents commented that the SCE exposed their daughter to a level of computing that she had no previous experience with. Another said that the SCE helped their son pick a career path.

Hi, my name's Katie and in Fall 2011 I started working full-time at Microsoft as a Program Manager on the Office User Experience team. I graduated from the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in May 2011 with a BS in Engineering: Computing.

Olin's strong focus on design and innovative thinking has helped me with my job here at Microsoft. I joined my team in the middle of the product cycle, meaning everything was fast-paced and I needed to work hard to catch up. Over time I began to own more features, working on "feature crews" (with developers and testers) to improve various aspects of the product, make critical decisions, and design solutions to problems. I wish I could talk in detail about the cool and exciting things I am working on… but they'll be seen eventually!

I'm deaf and primarily lip-read which means that it can be hard to follow key conversations in big meetings at work. Luckily my coworkers and boss are very accommodating, and always help to make sure I know what's going on. My boss in particular works hard to make sure I feel I am not missing out on anything and that I am not held back by anything as trivial as mishearing someone in a meeting. I've never worked anywhere where it was so easy to request captioning or other services to make sure I could do my job well.

Working at Microsoft and living in Seattle has been all I could ask for and more. I interned here two summers ago at the ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´, working with Richard Ladner and Anna Cavender on a computer science research internship. That summer I was engaged in the Summer Academy for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Computer Science at UW and also became a member of AccessComputing. With these communities I made many connections and it was my first real introduction to