Jonathan Lazar

This information is accurate as of the fellowship year indicated for each fellow.

Jonathan Lazar is a professor of computer and information sciences, director of the undergraduate program in information systems, and founder and director of the Universal Usability Laboratory, all at Towson University. His research focuses on understanding how people with disabilities interact with technologies, how improved interface design can change the quality of life, and how human-computer interaction and public policy influence each other.

With his fellowship project, Lazar seeks to improve understanding of the relationship between web-based interfaces that are inaccessible to people with disabilities, and how those inaccessible interfaces lead to forms of discrimination that are illegal under US law. As part of the project, he will write a book about the topic and collaborate on research with the Harvard Law School Project on Disability.

Lazar has published more than 120 refereed articles in journals, books, and conference proceedings. He has also authored three books and edited three, including Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction (Wiley, 2010), Universal Usability: Designing Computer Interfaces for Diverse User Populations (Wiley, 2007), and Web Usability: A User-Centered Design Approach (Addison Wesley, 2006). He received a 2011 University System of Maryland Board of Regents Faculty Award for public service, a 2010 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award from the National Federation of the Blind, and a 2009 Innovator of the Year award from the Maryland Daily Record. He earned MS and PhD degrees in information systems from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.