Lead Accessibility Scientist
Dr. Rakesh Babu is the Lead Accessibility Scientist at ERI. Dr. Babu's research tries to understand and address the accessibility problems that individuals who are blind or visually impaired (BVI) face in leading a normal adult life. He employs methods such as think-aloud direct observations, exploratory field studies, Delphi panels, and content analysis to investigate questions on this topic. Dr. Babu is presently working on three projects in this direction. The first project tries to identify and remediate the access barriers that prevent organizations from effectively employing qualified job-seekers who are BVI. Once completed, this project will deliver a scientific process to audit the accessibility of the employment environment that could enable organizations to leverage the unique potential of employees who are BVI. The second project investigates how an individual who is BVI could manage a retail store effectively and independently. Once completed, this project will deliver a training model on performing retail management tasks with low or no visual perception. This project will also generate the knowledge to set up a retail store that enables retailers who are BVI to serve their customers effectively. The third project investigates the experiences of individuals who are BVI in retrieving information from a digital library (DL). Once completed, this project will deliver a set of design guidelines on accessibility, usability, and utility of digital libraries for users who are BVI. These three projects will develop research strategies that may be adapted to understand and address the accessibility barriers faced by other marginalized groups in society.
Before joining Envision in 2018, he was a faculty member of the School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for nearly 7 years. His primary duties in that position included maintaining active scholarship around a socially-relevant, interdisciplinary and applied research topic, teaching Information Systems courses, advising students, and participating in school governance activities. During this period, he also served in the board of directors at the Industries of the Blind-Milwaukee. Between 2009 and 2011, he worked at IncludeAll AS (a research and innovation organization dedicated to audio-centric technology) as the Principal Research Scientist.
He has a Ph.D. in Information Systems from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a Masters in Management Information Systems from the Central Michigan University. He has driven a very active research agenda in the area of blind/visually impaired (BVI) accessibility for over 13 years. His work integrates research in Blind-Centered Computing, Information Systems, and the Cognitive Sciences to inform the development of IT artifacts and interventions for empowering blind citizens in the information society. Extramural funding from National Science Foundation, Research Council of Norway, Institute of Museum & Library Services, Online Computing Library Center, as well as multiple internal grants have supported different aspects of his research. Organizations including the National Industries of the Blind, National Federation of the Blind, the American Foundation for the Blind, and the International Federation of Library Associations & Institutions have partnered in these research endeavors.
Dr. Babu's CV
Dr. Babu's Biosketch