Jonathan Lazar is a professor in the College of Information Studies at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
, where he is Executive Director of th
Maryland Initiative for Digital Accessibility (MIDA) and is a core faculty member in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL). He previously had been a professor at
Towson University
Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...
.
At Towson University, he served as director of the Information Systems program for 14 years and also founded the Universal Usability Laboratory. He researches Human-Computer-Interaction, web accessibility for people with disabilities, user-centered design, and law and public policy related to HCI and accessibility. He is well-known for his work on accessibility for people who are blind.
Education
He earned his LLM from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, his MS and PhD from
University of Maryland Graduate School Baltimore (UMBC)
and his BBA from
Loyola University Maryland
Loyola University Maryland is a private Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is the ninth-oldest Jesuit college in the ...
.
He completed a Fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
.
Career
He started his career as an assistant professor at Towson University, where he served as director of the Information Systems program and founded the Universal Usability Laboratory. He was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor and in 2009, the rank of Professor. In 2019, he joined the faculty of the University of Maryland at the Full Professor rank. He has also been an associate researcher at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability since 2013.
He is the author, co-author, or editor of 17 books, including the well-cited ''Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction (2nd edition)'', ''Accessible Technology and the Developing World, Universal Usability: Designing Computer Interfaces for Diverse User Populations ''and ''Ensuring Digital Accessibility through Process and Policy.''
Awards
* In 2010, he was awarded with Dr.
Jacob Bolotin Award by National Federation of the Blind.
* In 2016, he won the SIGCHI Social Impact Award by the
Special Interest Group on Computer–Human Interaction
* In 2019, he won the Inaugural
Rachel Olivero Accessibility Innovation Award
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazar, Jonathan
Living people
University System of Maryland faculty
Loyola University Maryland alumni
University System of Maryland alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Human–computer interaction researchers
American disability rights activists
Web accessibility
Usability