Although over 650 computing programs are accredited by ABET’s Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC) in 25 countries, there is no requirement that their graduates learn about accessibility in building computing solutions. This is a major shortcoming, as Computing Science Curricula 2023 requires coverage of accessibility and also provides a guide on how this can be achieved in computing coursework. Additionally, there are legal requirements that computing programs need to ensure their graduates are able to develop accessible computing solutions.

A joint criteria subcommittee of CAC and CSAB (the ABET professional society representing computing) is currently exploring approaches to address this shortcoming. This BoF will present the status of this effort, discuss proposed wording for accessibility in the accreditation criteria, and gather input from the computing education community. This BoF has two main outcomes: (1) BoF attendees will learn how to apply the principles and practices of accessibility in designing and developing computing solutions, and (2) the criteria subcommittee will learn how best to incorporate an accessibility curricular component into the CAC accreditation criteria.