Important Dates

Deadline for nominations: July 1, 2015
Notification of Selection: August 1, 2015
ASSETS 2015 Conference: October 26-28, 2015, Lisbon, Portugal

Please send to bruce.walker [at] psych.gatech.edu

Award Description

The SIGACCESS Impact Award is presented every other year (in odd-numbered years) to the authors of an ASSETS conference paper that has had a significant impact on computing and information technology that addresses the needs of persons with disabilities. Technical papers presented 10 or more years prior to the award year are eligible. The award will recognize work that presents a significant innovation or contribution to knowledge that has proved influential.

The selection committee will focus on a paper’s impact as judged by influence in the research community, a community of practice, industry, and/or social impact resulting from the work.

The award includes a $500 prize and a plaque of recognition for the paper’s authors. A public citation for the award will be placed on the SIGACCESS website. The registration fee for one author of the selected paper will be waived if the author is able to attend the ASSETS conference to receive the award.

ACM provides a list of the most cited ASSETS papers, and listings of the proceedings for each conference.

Nomination Procedure

Nominations for the award must include:

  1. A statement summarizing the paper’s impact, a description of the significance of the work, and justification of the nomination (two pages maximum);
  2. Three endorsement letters supporting the nomination including the significant contributions of the paper. Each endorsement should be no more than 300 words.
  3. Please send to bruce.walker [at] psych.gatech.edu

The nomination rules are:

  • The nominated paper can be any full technical paper appearing in the ASSETS proceedings 10+ years prior to the award year.
  • The nominator must be a SIGACCESS member.
  • The nominator and the endorsers must not be authors of the nominated paper.
  • Nominations that do not result in an award will be reconsidered for one further award cycle, with the option of updating the original nomination to reflect additional impact. Subsequently, a new nomination must be provided.
  • Papers with authors who are current members of the SIGACCESS Executive Committee or members of the Awards Committee are not eligible.

Selection Committee

Bruce Walker (Chair), Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

Joanna McGrenere, University of British Columbia, Canada

Clayton Lewis, University of Colorado, USA