3D Printing for Accessible Education: A Case Study in Assistive Technology Adoption

Leona Holloway; Matthew Butler; Alex Waddell; Kim Marriott

doi:10.1145/3706598.3713689

3D Printing for Accessible Education: A Case Study in Assistive Technology Adoption

Department of Human Centred Computing

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

3D printing is a mainstream technology enabling the affordable production of 3D models that may enhance access and understanding of graphics for students who are blind or have low vision (BLV). However, the potential usefulness of a new technology does not guarantee its adoption. This paper presents a case study in the adoption of 3D printing as an accessible format for BLV education in Australia and New Zealand. Over the last six years, a community-driven research project engaged in awareness raising, created a community of practice and developed guidelines for the use of 3D printing in education. We evaluate the success of the project using an Implementation Science lens with the RE-AIM framework and identify the key factors for successful adoption. We hope this work will guide the adoption of 3D printing for BLV students and serve as an exemplar for the adoption of other assistive technologies.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Editors	Bongshin Lee, Marshini Chetty, Phoebe Toups-Dugas
Place of Publication	New York NY USA
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Number of pages	19
ISBN (Electronic)	9798400713941
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713689
Publication status	Published - 2025
Event	International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2025 - Yokohama, Japan Duration: 26 Apr 2025 → 1 May 2025 https://chi2025.acm.org (Website) https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3706599 (Proceedings - Extended Abstracts) https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3706598 (Proceedings)

Conference

Conference	International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2025
Abbreviated title	CHI 2025
Country/Territory	Japan
City	Yokohama
Period	26/04/25 → 1/05/25
Internet address	https://chi2025.acm.org (Website) https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3706599 (Proceedings - Extended Abstracts) https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3706598 (Proceedings)

Keywords

3D printing
assistive technology
blind
Implementation Science
low vision

Access to Document

10.1145/3706598.3713689Licence: CC BY-NC

696056748-oaFinal published version, 1.28 MBLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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title = "3D Printing for Accessible Education: A Case Study in Assistive Technology Adoption",

abstract = "3D printing is a mainstream technology enabling the affordable production of 3D models that may enhance access and understanding of graphics for students who are blind or have low vision (BLV). However, the potential usefulness of a new technology does not guarantee its adoption. This paper presents a case study in the adoption of 3D printing as an accessible format for BLV education in Australia and New Zealand. Over the last six years, a community-driven research project engaged in awareness raising, created a community of practice and developed guidelines for the use of 3D printing in education. We evaluate the success of the project using an Implementation Science lens with the RE-AIM framework and identify the key factors for successful adoption. We hope this work will guide the adoption of 3D printing for BLV students and serve as an exemplar for the adoption of other assistive technologies.",

keywords = "3D printing, assistive technology, blind, Implementation Science, low vision",

author = "Leona Holloway and Matthew Butler and Alex Waddell and Kim Marriott",

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year = "2025",

doi = "10.1145/3706598.3713689",

language = "English",

editor = "Bongshin Lee and Marshini Chetty and Phoebe Toups-Dugas",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)",

address = "United States of America",

url = "https://chi2025.acm.org, https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3706599, https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3706598",

}

Holloway, L, Butler, M , Waddell, A & Marriott, K 2025, 3D Printing for Accessible Education: A Case Study in Assistive Technology Adoption. in B Lee, M Chetty & P Toups-Dugas (eds), Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 273, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), New York NY USA, International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2025, Yokohama, Japan, 26/04/25. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713689

3D Printing for Accessible Education: A Case Study in Assistive Technology Adoption. / Holloway, Leona; Butler, Matthew ; Waddell, Alex et al.
Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ed. / Bongshin Lee; Marshini Chetty; Phoebe Toups-Dugas. New York NY USA: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2025. 273.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - 3D Printing for Accessible Education

T2 - International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2025

AU - Holloway, Leona

AU - Butler, Matthew

AU - Waddell, Alex

AU - Marriott, Kim

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - 3D printing is a mainstream technology enabling the affordable production of 3D models that may enhance access and understanding of graphics for students who are blind or have low vision (BLV). However, the potential usefulness of a new technology does not guarantee its adoption. This paper presents a case study in the adoption of 3D printing as an accessible format for BLV education in Australia and New Zealand. Over the last six years, a community-driven research project engaged in awareness raising, created a community of practice and developed guidelines for the use of 3D printing in education. We evaluate the success of the project using an Implementation Science lens with the RE-AIM framework and identify the key factors for successful adoption. We hope this work will guide the adoption of 3D printing for BLV students and serve as an exemplar for the adoption of other assistive technologies.

AB - 3D printing is a mainstream technology enabling the affordable production of 3D models that may enhance access and understanding of graphics for students who are blind or have low vision (BLV). However, the potential usefulness of a new technology does not guarantee its adoption. This paper presents a case study in the adoption of 3D printing as an accessible format for BLV education in Australia and New Zealand. Over the last six years, a community-driven research project engaged in awareness raising, created a community of practice and developed guidelines for the use of 3D printing in education. We evaluate the success of the project using an Implementation Science lens with the RE-AIM framework and identify the key factors for successful adoption. We hope this work will guide the adoption of 3D printing for BLV students and serve as an exemplar for the adoption of other assistive technologies.

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KW - assistive technology

KW - blind

KW - Implementation Science

KW - low vision

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M3 - Conference Paper

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BT - Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

A2 - Lee, Bongshin

A2 - Chetty, Marshini

A2 - Toups-Dugas, Phoebe

PB - Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

CY - New York NY USA

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ER -

3D Printing for Accessible Education: A Case Study in Assistive Technology Adoption

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Using 3D Printing to Improve Access to Graphics by Vision Impaired People

Cite this

3D Printing for Accessible Education: A Case Study in Assistive Technology Adoption

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Projects

Using 3D Printing to Improve Access to Graphics by Vision Impaired People

Cite this