- Judy Harkins, Ph.D. - Gallaudet University

Professor, Communication Studies
Director, Technology Access Program

Ph.D., Gallaudet University, Special Education Administration
M.A., California State University, Northridge, Administration and Supervision
M.Ed., McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College), Education of the Deaf
B.A., McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College), French and Latin, certification in Education of the Deaf

Dr. Judy Harkins is a professor in Gallaudet University's Department of Communication Studies. She is the founding director of the Technology Access Program, a research group focusing on technologies and services that eliminate communication barriers traditionally faced by people who are deaf and hard of hearing. She utilizes knowledge gained from this work to teach Gallaudet undergraduate students about the technology, policy, and delivery of accessible telecommunications and media. Harkins has directed approximately 15 sponsored projects on access to communications and educational applications of technology. She is a principal investigator on two Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC) - one on Telecommunications Access in cooperation with the Trace Center, University of Wisconsin, and one on Hearing Enhancement, in cooperation with the Department of Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences at Gallaudet. These centers are funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.

From 1986 to 1996, her research was focused on applications of emerging technologies for communication and education. Since 1996, she has worked extensively on accessibility of general-market technologies to people who are deaf and hard of hearing, through research, evaluation, and consultation with consumers, industry, and government.

Harkins began her career at the Maryland School for the Deaf in Frederick, Maryland as a teacher and administrator. She developed plans for Section 504 implementation and accessible program development in Maryland's community colleges in the late 1970s.

Technology and telecommunications accessibility and usability by people who are deaf and hard of hearing; Public policy on accessibility; Emergency communications accessibility; Captioning; Industry collaboration on government-mandated accessibility provisions.