Computer Science Assistant

Anna C. Cavender

Google, Inc.

*** ***** **** ******

Seattle, WA 98125

Email: ******@******.***

WWW: http://www.annacavender.com

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Within Human-Computer Interaction, I am interested in accessible technology for people with disabilities. I

am currently working on implementing a tag within HTML5 for caption and subtitle

support in WebKit. I have also worked on technology that encourages and improves education and

communication for Deaf and hard of hearing people.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington, 2010

Advised by Richard Ladner

Explored technological solutions to encourage access to and participation of Deaf and hard of hearing

students in mainstream, university-level classrooms.

M.S. Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington, 2006

Advised by Richard Ladner and Eve Riskin

Developed video compression metrics specific to sign language communication over low-bandwidth

networks (such as cell phone networks). Conducted usability studies to inform and validate video

compression schemes.

B.S. Computer and Information Science, University of Oregon, 2004

Advised by Anthony Hornof and Mary Flanagan

Developed EyeDraw, a program that uses an eyetracker to allow children with mobility impairments to

draw with their eyes. Studied usability of using eyes as program input.

Constructed a web-based educational game for middle school girls called Josie True.

REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES

Cavender, A., Vanam, R., Barney, D.K., Ladner, R.E., and Riskin, E.A. (2007) MobileASL: Intelligibility of

sign language video over mobile phones. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology. London:

Taylor and Francis, pp. 1-13.

REFEREED CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS

Kushalnagar, R.S., Cavender, A.C., P ris, J.F. (2010) Multiple View Perspectives: Improving

Inclusiveness and Video Compression in Mainstream Classroom Recordings. Proceedings of ACM

SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010), New York: ACM, 123-130.

[31% acceptance rate]

Cavender, A.C., Otero, D.S., Bigham, J.P. and Ladner, R.E. (2010) ASL-STEM Forum: Enabling Sign

Language to Grow Through Online Collaboration. Proceedings of ACM CHI 2010: Conference on Human

Factors in Computing Systems, New York: ACM, 2075-2078. [22% acceptance rate]

Cavender, A.C., Bigham, J.P. and Ladner, R.E. (2009) ClassInFocus: Enabling Improved Visual Attention

Strategies for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students. Proceedings of ACM SIGACCESS Conference on

Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2009), New York: ACM, 67-74. Winner of Best Student

Technical Paper Award [31% acceptance rate]

Bigham, J.P. and Cavender, A.C. (2009). Evaluating Existing Audio CAPTCHAs and an Interface

Optimized for Non-Visual Use. Proceedings of ACM CHI 2009: Conference on Human Factors in

Computing Systems, New York: ACM, 1829-1838. [24.5% acceptance rate]

Cavender, A.C., Roth, R.I., and Ladner, R.E. (2009). The Summer Academy for Advancing Deaf and Hard

of Hearing in Computing. Proceedings of ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science

Education (SIGCSE 2009), New York: ACM, 514-518. [33% acceptance rate]

Trewin, S.M., Hanson V.L., Laff, M.R., and Cavender, A.C. (2008) PowerUp: An Accessible Virtual World.

Proceedings of ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2008), New

York: ACM, 177-184. [37% acceptance rate]

Brudvik, J.T., Bigham, J.P., Cavender, A.C., Ladner, R.E. (2008) Hunting for Headings: Sighted Labelers

vs. Automatic Classification of Headings. Proceedings of ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers

and Accessibility (ASSETS 2008), New York: ACM, pp. 201-208. [37% acceptance rate]

Trewin, S.M., Laff, M.R., Cavender, A.C., and Vicki L. Hanson (2008) Accessibility in virtual worlds. CHI

2008 Extended Abstracts: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York: ACM, pp.

2727-2732. [38% acceptance rate]

Bigham, J.P., Cavender, A.C., Kaminsky, R.S., Prince, C.M. and Robison, T.S. (2008) Transcendence:

Enabling a Personal View of the Deep Web (2008). Proceedings of the International Conference on

Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI 08), New York: ACM, pp. 169-178. [15% acceptance rate]

Bigham, J.P., Cavender, A.C., Brudvik, J.T., Wobbrock, J.O., and Ladner, R.E. (2007) WebinSitu: A

Comparative Analysis of Blind and Sighted Browsing Behavior. Proceedings of ACM SIGACCESS

Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2007), New York: ACM, pp. 51-58. [31%

acceptance rate]

Cherniavsky, N., Cavender, A.C., Riskin, E.A., and Ladner, R.E. (2007) Variable Frame Rate for Low

Power Mobile Sign Language Communication. Proceedings of ACM SIGACCESS Conference on

Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2007), New York: ACM, pp. 163-170. [31% acceptance rate]

Cavender, A., Ladner, R.E., and Riskin, E.A. (2006) MobileASL: Intelligibility of Sign Language Video as

Constrained by Mobile Phone Technology. Proceedings of ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers

and Accessibility (ASSETS 2006), New York: ACM, pp. 71-78. Winner of Best Student Technical Paper

Award [33% acceptance rate]

Hornof, A.J., and Cavender, A. (2005) EyeDraw: Enabling children with severe motor impairments to draw

with their eyes. Proceedings of ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2005),

New York: ACM, 161-170. [25% acceptance rate]

Hornof, A.J., Cavender, A., and Hoselton, R., (2004) EyeDraw: A system for drawing pictures with eye

movements. Proceedings of ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS

2004), New York: ACM, 86-93. [50% acceptance rate]

Hornof, A.J., Cavender, A., and Hoselton, R. (2004) EyeDraw: A system for drawing pictures with the eyes.

Extended Abstracts of ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2004), New York:

ACM, 1251-1254. [29% acceptance rate]

BOOK CHAPTER

Cavender, A.C., Ladner, R.E. (2008) Hearing Impairments. Chapter 3 in Harper and Yesilada (eds.), Web

Accessibility: A Foundation for Research. New York: Springer, pp. 25-36.

PATENT

Cavender, A.C., Laff, M.R., Trewin, S.M. (2008) System and Method for Optimizing Natural Language

Descriptions of Objects in a Virtual Environment. Application pending.

POSTERS

Bigham, J.P., Cavender, A.C., DeWitt, J.N., Otero, D., and Ladner, R.E. (2008) ASL-STEM Forum: A

Bottom-Up Approach to Enabling American Sign Language to Grow in STEM Fields. Proceedings of the

International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media (ICWSM 2008).

Cavender, A.C., Ladner, R.E. (2008) A Consolidated Platform to Promote Accessibility in Mainstream

Classrooms. Technology and Deaf Education: An International Symposium. National Technical Institute

for the Deaf, Rochester, NY, June 2008.

Ladner, R.E., Otero, D., Dewitt, J.N., Cavender, A.C. (2008) ASL-STEM Forum. Technology and Deaf

Education: An International Symposium. National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester, NY, June

2008.

WORKSHOPS

Cavender, A.C. (2007) Using Networked Multimedia to Improve Educational Access for Deaf and Hard of

Hearing Students. Doctoral Consortium of ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computing and

Accessibility (ASSETS 2007). [40% acceptance rate]

Ciaramello, F., Cavender, A., Hemami, S., Riskin, E., and Ladner, R. (2006) Predicting Intelligibility of

Compressed American Sign Language Video With Objective Quality Metrics. International Workshop on

Video Processing and Quality Metrics for Consumer Electronics, Scottsdale, AZ, January 2006.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Cavender, A., Trewin, S. and Hanson, V. (2008) General writing guidelines for technology and people with

disabilities. ACM SIGACCESS Accessibility and Computing Issue 92 (September 2008), pages 17-22,

ACM Press. http://www.sigaccess.org/community/writing_guidelines/

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Teaching Assistant, University of Washington (Summer 2005, Winter 2007)

Introduction to Computer Programming (CSE 142)

Taught study sections, graded, and supported students.

Tutor, University of Washington (Summer 2007, Summer 2008)

Summer Academy for Advancing Deaf and Hard of Hearing (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)

Taught, tutored, and supported nine Deaf and hard of hearing students in Introduction to

Computer Programming (CSE 142 and CSE 110). Reviewed applications for acceptance.

Saturday Computing Experience for Deaf and Hard of Hearing at UW (2011).

Tutored students in project development using Arduino platform.

STUDENT SUPERVISION

Jessica DeWitt, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Computer Science, (Summer-Fall 2006)

Katie Sullivan, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Computer Science, (Summer 2009)

INVITED PRESENTATIONS

Internal:

TC 521: Technical Communications Seminar, University of Washington: 2007.

INFO 498b: Input and Interaction, Lecture on Eye Tracking as Input, University of Washington, 2009.

External:

Tech Talk Series, University of Puget Sound, Washington: 2008.

Brown Bag Presentations, National Technical Institute of the Deaf (NTID): 2009.

Google ACDC Tech Talk Series: 2010.

HONORS AND AWARDS

! University of Washington Graduate School Medal (2010)

" The Graduate School Medal recognizes the scholar-citizen whose academic expertise

and social awareness are integrated in a way that demonstrates active civic engagement

and a capacity to promote political, cultural and social change.

! Best Student Paper, ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS

2009)

" Paper entitled, ClassInFocus: Enabling Improved Visual Attention Strategies for Deaf

and Hard of Hearing Students.

! IBM Ph.D. Scholarship (2008)

! Best Student Paper, ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS

2006)

" Paper entitled, MobileASL: Intelligibility of Sign Language Video as Constrained by

Mobile Phone Technology.

! National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2005-2008)

! Computing Research Association (CRA) Outstanding Undergraduate Award (2004)

" Awarded for undergraduate research on projects EyeDraw and Josie True.

! Max E. Gellert Scholarship (2004)

! Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honor Society (2003)

! Erwin & Gertrude Juilfs Academic Scholarship (2002)

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

Reviewing

ASSETS: ACM Conference on Computers and Accessibility, 2009, 2010, 2011.

AT: Assistive Technology Journal, 2009.

CHI: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.

UIST: ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, 2011.

IUI: Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces, 2008.

TACCESS: Transactions on Accessible Computing, 2009, 2010.

UbiComp: ACM International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, 2010.

W4A: International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility, 2010, 2011.

GI: Graphics Interface, 2011.

Special Issue Editor

Universal Access in the Information Society (UAIS) 2010.

Student Research Competition Judge

ASSETS: ACM Conference on Computers and Accessibility 2010.

Accessibility Chair

ASSETS: ACM Conference on Computers and Accessibility 2011.

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

Intern in Research, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Hawthorne, NY (Fall 2007)

Mentor: Vicki Hanson, Advisors: Mark Laff and Shari Trewin

Tasked with developing design guidelines, suggestions, and recommendations for accessibility of

3D virtual worlds, specifically a 3D educational game intended for grade school children.

Database Administrator, University of Oregon (3/2003-9/2004)

Supervisors: Star Holmberg, Michal Young

Created an inventory database and web-based user interface. Established a database of student

academic information for administrative use. Provided prospective students with web page front

end to check application status to the graduate program.

RELATED ACTIVITIES

GoogleServe Event at ADWAS (Abused Deaf Women Advocacy Services) (6/16 - 6/17/2011)

Organized a GoogleServe volunteer event where 12 Googlers cleaned and re-organized a

therapist s toy and craft room, weeded and planted a large outdoor space, and built a puppet

theater for children of domestic violence victims.

Volunteer, Pacific Science Center (11/2009-6/2010)

Created an all-ages appropriate activity based on my research for use on the exhibit floor of the

Pacific Science Center in Seattle.

Mentor, ACM ASSETS Technical Paper Author Mentor Program (3/2-5/11/2009)

Mentored authors on submissions to ASSETS technical paper program.

Volunteer, National Federation of the Blind Junior Science Academy (7/23-7/25/2008)

Led two Computer Science Unplugged activities with 38 blind elementary students.

Volunteer, ADWAS (Abused Deaf Women Advocacy Services) Auction (11/17/2007)

Volunteer, DO-IT (7/17-7/21/2006)

Disability Opportunities Internetworking and Technology : Game of Life Workshop

updated August 2011

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