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picture of Dr. Brian Wentz My research interests include human computer interaction, e-commerce/web accessibility, user-centered design, mobile and social computing, policy implications of accessibility and usability, cost-justifying accessibility, expanding employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, accessibility in higher education, and usable security. A few of the courses that I have taught include Human-Computer Interaction, Project Management, Introductory Programming, and E-Commerce. I try to help students understand foundational computing principles through lectures, but I also try to use hands-on labs or assignments when appropriate. I also try to provide research opportunities for interested students.

Before joining the academic community, I worked full-time in industry for over eight years (most recently as a Sr. Systems Engineer) and held professional certifications from CompTIA, Cisco and Microsoft. In early 2003, while working on a government project, I became particularly interested in accessibility. My master's thesis at Penn State University (Harrisburg) focused on web site accessibility (my advisor was Dr. Girish Subramanian), and my doctoral dissertation at Towson University was titled "A Study of Email Usability as a Workplace Barrier for Blind Users" (my advisor was Dr. Jonathan Lazar). I'm regulary involved in collaboration with the Universal Usability Laboratory, which is housed at Towson University.

If you are an undergraduate or graduate student who is interested in working on an applied research or service learning project, please review my research page, publications page, and set up a time to meet with me. Every semester I work with undergraduate and graduate students who are dedicated and motivated towards expanding their learning opportunites beyond the classroom in a way that will have an impact on their education, their future career, and graduate school opportunities.

Contact Information:

Phone: 301-687-4023
Email: bjwentz@frostburg.edu

Lowndes Hall, 205A
101 Braddock Rd
Frostburg, MD 21532

Updates:

(2013) A co-authored journal article (with the UU Lab at Towson University) titled "A Longitudinal Study of State Government Homepage Accessibility in Maryland and the Role of Web Page Templates for Improving Accessibility" was accepted for publication in the Government Information Quarterly.

(2012) A co-authored journal article (with Dr. Libby Kumin at Loyola University and the UU Lab at Towson University) titled "A Usability Evaluation of Workplace-Related Tasks on a Multi-Touch Tablet Computer by Adults with Down Syndrome" was published in the Journal of Usability Studies.

(2012) A co-authored paper (with the UU Lab at Towson University) titled "The SoundsRight CAPTCHA: An Improved Approach to Audio Human Interaction Proofs for Blind Users" was presented at the ACM CHI 2012 conference.

(2012) A co-authored book chapter (with Dr. Jonathan Lazar) titled "Ensuring Accessibility for People with Disabilities" was published in the Buie and Murray book Usability in Government Systems: Designing for Citizens and Public Servants.

(2012) A paper titled "Evaluating the Accessibility and Usability of Blogging Platforms for Blind Users" was presented at the CWUAAT 2012 Conferece in Cambridge, UK.

(2012) A co-authored paper titled "Evaluating the Accessibility of Public Library Web Sites in the State of Maryland" was presented at the CWUAAT 2012 Conferece in Cambridge, UK.

(2012) A co-authored journal article (with Dr. Jonathan Lazar and Abiodun Olalere) titled "Investigating the Accessibility and Usability of Job Application Web Sites for Blind Users" was published in the Journal of Usability Studies.