Joy Smiley Zabala was a leading expert on the use of assistive technology (AT) to improve education for people with disabilities. As a technologist, special educator, teacher trainer, and conference speaker, Dr. Zabala earned international recognition for her work on AT and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).<\/p>\n
Dr. Zabala was Senior Technical Assistance Advisor, Co-Director of the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (AEM Center; 2010-2017), Director of Technical Assistance for the AIM Consortium (2007-2009) and Co-Director of the National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials (2009-2014).<\/p>\n
Dr. Zabala developed the SETT Framework<\/a>,\u00a0a model that is widely used by families and educators for collaborative decision-making in all phases of assistive technology service design and delivery. She was a founding member of the QIAT Community<\/a>, a co-author of the Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology<\/a>, and Education Program Chair for the international conference of the Assistive Technology Industry Association<\/a>. She also served on the faculty of the Center on Technology and Disability<\/a>, the editorial board of the Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits (ATOB) Journal, and the advisory board of the National Accessible Materials Access Center (NIMAC)<\/a>.<\/p>\n In August 2021, CAST established The Joy Zabala Fellowship in Assistive Technology & Accessible Educational Materials to celebrate her life and work.<\/p>\n