Summary
Meet Jaxsen R. Day, a PhD student whose research examines how academic materials, digital systems, and lived experience can help higher education take a more proactive approach to accessibility.
Connecting Research, Technology, and Accessibility
Jaxsen R. Day is a doctoral student in the School of Information at The University of Texas at Austin and a Research Assistant at the National Disability Center for Student Success. His research focuses on the accessibility of academic reading materials for students with visual impairments in higher education.
His work examines how digital documents, library systems, and generative AI shape access for disabled students. As a visually impaired scholar, Jaxsen brings lived experience alongside training in qualitative research methods and accessibility-centered design.
Those experiences guide his commitment to evidence-based accessibility practices and cross-campus collaboration.
Why the Center?
Jaxsen was drawn to the Center’s focus on accessibility research grounded in lived experience and practical change. His own research explores how academic materials and institutional systems shape access for disabled students, and the Center offers a space to connect that work to broader conversations across higher education.
“I was inspired to join the National Disability Center for Student Success because it creates space for meaningful conversations about accessibility grounded in research and lived experience,” Jaxsen shared.
For Jaxsen, this work is not only about identifying barriers. It is also about listening closely to students’ experiences and using those insights to inform tools, practices, and conversations that support access across higher education.
As a Research Assistant, Jaxsen will:
- Collaborate with the Center team on the development and analysis of an AI and Accessibility survey measure.
- Lead interviews with blind and low vision students about screen readers and AI accessibility tools.
- Contribute to the dissemination of research findings, including participation in student panels and events such as the Center’s Townhall.
Research Informed by Lived Experience
For Jaxsen, accessibility research is closely connected to lived experience.
“As a visually impaired doctoral student, I have firsthand experience navigating accessibility barriers. Especially in academic reading materials, digital platforms, and institutional systems in higher education,” he said.
That experience informs how he approaches research. It gives him a clearer understanding of how access impacts student success in practice, not just in policy. It also shapes the questions he brings to his work: Who can access academic materials? How are digital systems designed? What happens when students have to wait for barriers to appear before support is offered?
Jaxsen’s work points to a larger issue in higher education. Accessibility is often addressed after a problem has already affected a student’s ability to participate. His research encourages institutions and faculty to think more proactively about the materials, platforms, and practices students rely on.
Moving Toward Proactive Accessibility
From Jaxsen’s perspective, one of the major challenges in higher education is that accessibility is still too often treated as a requirement to meet rather than a core part of teaching and learning.
“A key challenge is that accessibility is often treated as a compliance task rather than as an integral part of teaching, research, and knowledge creation,” he explained.
When accessibility is treated only as compliance, institutions often rely on reactive accommodations. But when accessibility is built into academic materials, digital infrastructure, and course design from the beginning, students have a stronger foundation for participation.
For faculty, Jaxsen’s work offers a clear reminder: accessible classrooms are not created only through individual accommodation requests. They are shaped by everyday decisions, including how readings are shared, how digital platforms are used, how documents are formatted, and how students are invited to communicate access needs.
Research, qualitative methods, and emerging technologies can help higher education better understand disabled students’ experiences and redesign systems around how students actually learn and access information.
Looking Ahead
During his time at the Center, Jaxsen hopes to build new connections and support future collaboration in accessibility research. He is especially interested in learning more about the broader landscape of accessibility and higher education while continuing to develop his own dissertation work.
To him, the Center represents progress through visibility for accessibility research.
“This Center means progress, by way of visibility for the field of accessibility research,” he shared. “Having a dedicated group focused on studying, identifying, and reporting these barriers means more opportunity for innovation and positive change in the space.”
For those new to disability research or accessibility advocacy, Jaxsen encourages people to see their observations as a starting point for dialogue.
“Your experience is valuable. If you are seeing or experiencing an accessibility problem, chances are others have as well,” he said. “Take that experience or observation and use it as an opportunity to start a productive conversation.”
For Jaxsen, that conversation is central to the work ahead. Using research, lived experience, and collaboration to help higher education move towards accessibility before the barriers even begin.
