Smith-Kettelwell is deeply committed to supporting our community.
Please see the news tab for our upcoming and ongoing events. In the News tab, you will find information about our involvement in past outreach activities.
Outreach at Smith-Kettlewell
Projects
Completed
A11Y COVID-19
Accessible COVID-19 pandemic data are available at covid.ski.org
News
SKERI's Functional Vision and Accessibility Conference Addresses Cutting-Edge Research and Innovation
As part of its 60th anniversary celebrations, the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute successfully hosted the Functional Vision and Accessibility Conference on August 3-4, 2023, in the heart of San Francisco, California. This groundbreaking event brought together leading experts, researchers, and advocates in the fields of functional vision and accessibility to discuss and explore the latest advancements, challenges, and solutions in enhancing the lives of individuals with visual impairments.
SKERI Welcomes Claire Lilienthal Alternative School Students
On April 13th, 7th grade students from Claire Lilienthal Alternative School visited the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKERI) in San Francisco. Audrey Wong-Kee-You, Research Coordinator at SKERI, welcomed the students and teachers and introduced them to the institute’s mission of creating a unique environment for the study of vision science and the development of assistive technology to support people who are blind and visually impaired.
SKERI Researchers Featured on Research! America Blog
SKERI scientists Drs Preeti Verghese, Lori Lott, and Natela Shanidze were featured on the Research! America blog for AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month.
Bringing COVID-19 Data and Figures to the Visually Impaired.
So much of the conversation about the COVID-19 pandemic has been about trends: curves and how to flatten them, models, exponential growth, and so on. These are usually conveyed visually, which means people who cannot see the graphs are excluded from the information driving our discourse, even if the raw data are screen-readable. With his A11Y COVID-19 project, Dr.
SKERI Welcomes Local Students for a Day of STEM Inspiration
Students from Everett Middle School joined us for a day of learning what it is like to be a scientist. The Field Trip was organized by IGNITE Worldwide!, a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring girls and non-binary students to consider careers in STEM. The girls toured laboratories, met with scientists and worked on case studies.
SKERI Scientists Spearhead a Face Shield Making Campaign
Founded by Dr. Santani Teng, the Bay Area Face Shield Supply (BAFSS) has sent hundreds of face shields to healthcare workers in the community. Dr. Teng has been working with Drs Audrey Wong-Kee-You and Cecile Vullings, along with other volunteers across the Bay Area to provide life-saving personal protective equipment to healthcare workers as they work with COVID-19 pateints.
DescribeAthon 17 'Marathon'
On January 26, 2017, in San Francisco, the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute’s Rehabilitation and Engineering Research Center (RERC) hosted DescribeAthon 17 -- an event that used the Institute’s YouDescribe technology, developed by scientist Dr. Josh Miele, to raise awareness about video accessibility on the web for blind viewers. YouDescribe is an enhanced video program for YouTube in which recorded voices describe what cannot be seen.
