Seo receives grant for accessibility module

JooYoung Seo
JooYoung Seo, Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor JooYoung Seo has received a $5,000 grant from the nonprofit organization Teach Access to develop and implement a new accessibility module. Seo was one of 19 recipients nationwide who were awarded a faculty grant to infuse accessibility into curricula by creating "modules, presentations, exercises, or curriculum enhancements centered around the fundamental concepts and skills of accessible design and development."

Seo's module will be integrated into his course, Introduction to Data Science (IS 407), and cover topics such as accessible data visualization, multimodal data representation, and accessible data reproducibility. Students will learn how to incorporate multimodal data representations—such as data verbal description, data sonification, and data tactilization—into their data storytelling process and how to integrate accessibility into standard reproducible data workflows using tools such as R Markdown, Jupyter Notebooks, Interactive Shiny dashboard, and Quarto.

As part of the grant requirements, recipients will add their new materials to the Teach Access Curriculum Repository, which will be freely available to anyone interested in utilizing curricula to teach accessibility. Seo will also share the accessibility module on GitHub as an open-source project, in order to foster its adoption by the wider community.

"As an educator, my mission is to ensure that the beauty of data science is accessible to all," said Seo. "This new module, supported by the generous Teach Access grant, will provide a unique opportunity for students to understand and integrate accessibility in their data visualization and storytelling process. It's not just about learning a skill—it's about fostering an inclusive perspective that considers diverse audience experiences in every step of data processing. I believe this approach will widen their understanding and consideration of accessible user experiences in their future careers in the field."

Seo is an RStudio double-certified data science instructor and accessibility expert who is certified by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). His research focuses on how to make computational literacy more accessible to people with dis/abilities using multimodal data representation. He earned his PhD from the Learning, Design, and Technology Program at Pennsylvania State University.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Knox appointed interim dean

Professor Emily Knox has been appointed to serve as interim dean of the School of Information Sciences, pending approval by the Board of Trustees. Until officially approved, her title will be interim dean designate. The appointment will begin April 1, 2025.

Emily Knox

iSchool instructors ranked as excellent

Fifty-six iSchool instructors were named in the University's List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent for Fall 2024 and Winter 2024-2025. The rankings are released every semester, and results are based on the ratings from the Instructor and Course Evaluation System (ICES) questionnaire forms maintained by Measurement and Evaluation in the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. 

iSchool Building

Scholarship alleviates financial burden for returning student

During her time as an active-duty Naval Officer, Anna Hartman realized that she had a passion for helping others and building community. That passion, combined with a lifelong love of reading, led her to pursue an MSLIS degree at the University of Illinois. Hartman is receiving support for her studies through the Balz Endowment Fund, which was established by Nancy (BA LAS '70, MSLIS '72) and Dan (BS Media '68, MS Media '72) Balz to help make education more affordable for returning students.

Anna Hartman

Ocepek and Sanfilippo co-edit book on misinformation

Assistant Professor Melissa Ocepek and Assistant Professor Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo have co-edited a new book, Governing Misinformation in Everyday Knowledge Commons, which was recently published by Cambridge University Press. An open access edition of the book is available, thanks to support from the Governing Knowledge Commons Research Coordination Network (NSF 2017495). The new book explores the socio-technical realities of misinformation in a variety of online and offline everyday environments. 

Governing Misinformation in Everyday Knowledge Commons book

Faculty receive support for AI-related projects from new pilot program

Associate Professor Yun Huang, Assistant Professor Jiaqi Ma, and Assistant Professor Haohan Wang have received computing resources from the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR), a two-year pilot program led by the National Science Foundation in partnership with other federal agencies and nongovernmental partners. The goal of the pilot is to support AI-related research with particular emphasis on societal challenges. Last month, awardees presented their research at the NAIRR Pilot Annual Meeting.