Founder Astronomy for Equity Agoura, California, United States
Abstract: Astronomy for Equity has created a community hub to significantly expand the engagement of blind and low vision (BLV) people in astronomy by leveraging greater utilization of existing resources and methods.
Astronomy, the most accessible of sciences, is a natural introduction to STEM that encourages students to embark on STEM careers and serves as a gateway to STEM for isolated communities. But BLV people of all ages are largely excluded from astronomy programs and other STEM fields.
Thousands of volunteer outreach groups worldwide introduce astronomy and STEM to the public, but they are generally unaware that BLV people are not only interested in astronomy but that there are resources and proven methodologies for including them. Even when they learn of existing resources, they lack expertise and experience working with BLV and the means to source the materials. For experts and resource developers, a lack of interaction leads to resources and methods being reinvented in isolation.
While there are many individual BLV programs, there is no structured, interactive community where ongoing training, technical assistance, and support is free and available to everyone doing outreach. Astronomy for Equity has created an online community where astronomy outreach groups worldwide learn from experts and share their experiences with others. Experts can also interact and learn from each other, share the resources and methodologies they have created with outreach organizations, and get feedback from a diverse worldwide community of end users.
This program provides the missing connections that have led to underutilization of resources by distributing them to volunteer groups in the best position to make use of them, providing support, and fostering social engagement between users.
