Lets foster a pipeline of diverse tech talent through accessibility

Im tired of the blame for the lack of diversity in tech to fall on this so-called pipeline problem. I dont want to have this debate (today anyways), so lets pretend for a second its true that the problem does in fact lie in the lack of diverse candidates that are qualified for careers in technology.

If this is the case, what are we doing to solve that?

I had the privilege of attending an event at Purdue University for deaf and hard of hearing people (but open to everyone!) to make a career in tech accessible. This event was hosted by Deaf Kids Code & Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) at Purdue. This event marked the launch of a crowdfunding campaign Khan Academy: 1000 videos for the deaf which will help have 1,000 videos on the Khan Academy e-learning platform interpreted into American Sign Language (ASL). Thus, videos teaching computer science will be available in ASL since, for many deaf and hard of hearing people, english is a second language and therefore closed captioning is not sufficient. According to Shireen Hafeez, Founder of Deaf Kids Code, this platform was chosen because Khan academy is an open source education resource that allows for translations to happen with their material and curriculum.

When 70% of people who are deaf or hard of hearing are unemployed, it is imperative to enable greater social and economic participation by this population (Communication Service for the Deaf ). Software engineers and developers enjoy flexible employment conditions like working from home and are focused on independently writing code.

This is about creating accessibility to education, which should be a human right, explained Heya Kaakeh, a student at Purdue and project manager of the EPICS team. Heya sees the value of this campaign more than just making these videos accessibility; the bigger picture is pioneering a movement of inclusion in education. We must work to equalize education, to make this country an even better one! By providing accessibility and opportunities in education, we are giving hard of hearing and deaf individuals the tools that they need to shake and rock society!

So, how does this diversify the pipeline?

You know what, people with disabilities dont even fall into the category of underrepresented minorities in tech - that is reserved for race and gender. However, one in eight people in the United States (13 percent, or 30 million) aged 12 years or older has hearing loss in both ears, based on standard hearing examinations (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders ). Not only that, but deaf gain (as opposed to looking this as a hearing loss) spans races and gender as well as faith, national origin, and sexual orientation.

Why should we care?

Yes, its true this is a deeply personal issue to me because my brother is hard of hearing. But he is an artist, not a software engineer. The real reason I support this initiative is because we will all benefit. The diverse perspectives these people will bring to tech will improve the products tech companies create. When tech is accessible to deaf and hard of hearing people, it becomes more accessible to us. Not only that, but this will help the economy by giving people jobs. There is going to be a gap in how many techies are able to fill tech jobs!

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