Ed wants to make sure that the next generation of technology is accessible, and the best way to do that is to ensure the next generation of computer scientists understand the needs of users with disabilities. So, he and I get out of the office on a regular basis to talk to students who are studying Computer Science. When we talk to those students, Ed’s job is to explain how to build accessible software. My job is to look cute.

During this past semester, we collaborated with a very talented group of seniors at North Carolina State University. SAS sponsored the team’s senior design project. The team developed a web application called Quizard. It allows teachers to create digital quizzes that all students can use, including students with disabilities.

At the end of the semester, every senior design project team is required to deliver a short presentation about their project. The Quizard team busted a PHAT rhyme that was right on time. Check it out!

 

And just to help out all of my fine fans, I've included a transcript of the video...

[Transcript begins}

Hello Everyone,

 

My name is Christian Stith. Along with Asa Price, Christopher Shonebarger, and Kaitlin McFaul, we have had the pleasure of working with SAS this semester on a fantastic team led by Glen Walker …

Walker …

WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA!

 

[Music begins]

 

SAS Curriculum Pathways is an internet tool

For teachers and students to work together at school.

SAS handed us Quizard, a prototype application

Extending CP to support quiz creation

Once designed, these quizzes can be assigned by the teachers

To students who use 'em to choose a multitude of features

Such as true, false, fill in the blank, multiple choice

Instant quiz grading makes students rejoice

These Quizard quizzes are exceptionally flexible,

But most importantly they're universally accessible.

Built for screenreaders - teachers beware,

Quizard is a wizard of the visually impaired.

 

Quizard,

Built with universal design,

Accessible to kids who are blind,

Teachers will be standing in line,

To get some of that

Quizard,

 

Believe me when you hear me say,

It took a lot of work to get here today,

Let me show you what we did on the way,

to get to,

Quizard

 

Let's start with the front-end, where the app is runnin'

Take a trip through the Javascript, it'll be stunning,

Backbone.js to model the data

Bootstrap, for stylin, to silence the haters

Underscore for data population

That's the front of our single-page application

Now let's head to the back, I'll show you the stack

We got a whole new server, picking up slack

See SAS wanted Quizard to run with CP

That created some problems, like with MongoDB

So we replaced that database with MySQL, it's relational,

Extensible, scalable, and biodegradable,

Our RESTful API is Jersey and Jackson,

These RESTful APIs are pretty relaxing,

So we took a break with Hibernate, it's pretty great for data mapping and persistence,

La piez de resistance is

Quizard!

Desktop, tablet, or phone,

We got a live demo runnin', ready to go,

So come check out our poster, give it a shot

Take a Quizard Quiz baby, we'll see what you got!

 

Quizard,

Graduation's coming up fast,

And we just wanna say thank you to SAS,

We hope our contribution will last,

We call it:

Quizard!

 

[Crowd erupts with applause]

 

[Transcript ends}