Jon Froehlich, OSCUR’s PI at the University of Washington and director of the Makeability Lab, received the 2026 ACM SIGCHI Societal Impact Award, which recognizes mid-career to senior researchers whose HCI work demonstrates social benefit.

At the heart of that impact is Project Sidewalk, a web-based platform that combines crowdsourcing and AI to map and assess sidewalk accessibility. It has assembled the largest sidewalk accessibility dataset to date, and cities have used it to fund sidewalk repairs and to prioritize infrastructure investments with data. OSCUR’s RampNet now runs inside Project Sidewalk, labeling curb ramps for people to validate.

“This recognition belongs to my incredible students and collaborators in the Makeability Lab who work tirelessly to design more accessible, equitable futures and pursue research in accessibility, education, and environmental sustainability,” Froehlich said. He was honored at CHI 2026 in Barcelona.

Read more in Allen School News. Photo: Dennis Wise.