MIT Hackathon Tackles Accessibility Challenges - Joshua Bolkan, Campus Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently hosted its annual Assistive Technology Hackathon (ATHack), an event that brings together people with disabilities and students from the graduate to Ph.D. level to work on prototypes for assistive tools. Usually, hackathons will stock up on general materials, then participants will claim them from a stock room on a first come, first served basis. When supplies run out, teams must make do with the newly limited options. ATHack is different in that teams have two weeks of planning prior to the event itself and submit a list of required materials to ensure they have what they need. The unusual arrangement allows teams to spend their time at the 12-hour event building their tools and troubleshooting them. "Our goal [for ATHack] is to inspire everyone there to think about accessibility and to pursue projects in this space in the future," said Jaya Narain, a graduate student in mechanical engineering who co-founded and co-organized the event, in a prepared statement. https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/03/15/mit-hackathon-tackles-accessibility-challenges.aspx