@ Irvine Ca. 2025 ✦
// researcher + maker

Josahandi
Cisneros

Hi ✨ I'm a PhD student in HCI. My current work focuses on the accessibility of STEM education in informal learning spaces. Through research and community engagement, I explore how educational environments, technology and digital practices shape computing, education and thus society.

—Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences · UC Irvine
accessibility HCI AI literacy STEM education
say hello ♡ read my papers ↓ scroll
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01 / about
who I am
The Researcher — Vol. 1
My research sits at the intersection of accessibility, human-computer interaction and AI.

Beyond my interests in adaptive learning technologies and the emerging role of agentic AI in reshaping how we exist digitally — new infrastructures of attention, knowledge, connection, and access — I am fascinated by unique notions of being with AI.

What does it mean to exist alongside intelligence that cannot hold the cyclical, the ceremonial, the deeply human?
accessible AI + technology design
computing + STEM education
community engagement + outreach
creative coding + making
@ the lab ✦
@ the Lab 🔬
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in community 🌸
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✨ Being ✨
02 / fellowships
grants + funding
2024
Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship
The most prestigious diversity fellowship offered at the University of California, Irvine. Designed to place students on the fast-track toward completing their doctoral degree and increasing the number of qualified candidates for faculty positions within the UC system.
2024
Chair's Award Fellowship
Awarded to incoming graduate students holding exceptional promise in making strong contributions to Informatics research and the university community at UC Irvine.
2025
Elliott Family Graduate Student Endowed Award
Recipient of the Elliott Family Graduate Student Endowed Award in recognition of outstanding academic achievement and research potential.
2025–2026
Faculty Mentor Program (FMP) Fellowship
FMP Fellowship recipient, supporting graduate students through mentorship, professional development, and a commitment to inclusive excellence in academia.
2022
OUR Spring Undergraduate Research Award
Research grant awarded by the Office of Undergraduate Research at Cal State Dominguez Hills in recognition of outstanding undergraduate research contributions.
03 / publications
selected papers
P.1
Informing Accessible Design of AI Literacy Apps through Practices of Blind Parents Reading with Sighted Children
Isabela Figueira, Josahandi M Cisneros, Molly Leachman, Elizabeth D Peña, and Stacy M Branham
ASSETS '24 — 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility · Article 75 · 2024
publishedACM SIGACCESS
P.2
Inspiring Blind and Low Vision High School Students and their Teachers to Access STEM in College
Isabela Figueira, Josahandi M Cisneros, Julieta Lindo, Vinh H. Luong, and Stacy M Branham
RESPECT 2025 — ACM · 9 pages · 2025
publishedACM
P.3
Accessibility Challenges in Children's Learning Technologies: Evaluating the Screen Reader Accessibility of Early Literacy Apps for Blind Parents
Molly Leachman, Josahandi M Cisneros, Isabela Figueira, Cameron Tyler Cassidy, Elizabeth D Peña, and Stacy M Branham
Journal of Educational Technology · Impact Factor 4.9 · 2025
in preparation
P.4
Becoming a Computer Scientist as a Disabled College Student with Multiple Marginalized Identities
Isabela Figueira, Josahandi M. Cisneros and Stacy M. Branham
ASSETS '25 — 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference · 2025
in preparationACM SIGACCESS
P.5
04 / projects
about research
🤖
Bestie-Bot Lab
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A "Clay-to-Code" Workshop
AI literacy + accessibility ed + STEAM
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AIHCIEdTech
Paper ↗
[ click to flip ]
📱
ai literacy
[app]
|blv|
[app]
AI Literacy Apps
blind parents + kids
AI Literacy Apps
Researching how blind parents read with sighted children to inform accessible design of AI literacy apps.
AccessibilityHCIAI
Paper ↗
[ click to flip ]
🎓
stem access
<stem>
~blv~
</stem>
STEM Access
BLV high schoolers
STEM Access
Inspiring blind and low vision high school students and teachers to access STEM pathways in college.
EducationBLVSTEM
Paper ↗
[ click to flip ]
💻
identity
/~who~\
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Identity in CS
computing + identity
Identity in CS
Exploring what it means to become a computer scientist as a screen reader user.
IdentityCS EdHCI
Paper ↗
[ click to flip ]
05 / awards + accomplishments
milestones + recognition
2023
1st Place Session Winner — CSUDH 18th Annual Student Research Conference
"Higher Education and the Automation of Inequality: Survey Study"
2022
OUR Spring Undergraduate Student Research Award
Research Grant · Cal State Dominguez Hills
2021–22
DRM Scholarship Recipient
2021–22
CSUDH GEN Scholarship Recipient
2019
National Cyber League — Cyber Skyline Competition Participant
2013
Hispanic Education Endowment Fund Scholarship Recipient
06 / service
in community
🎓
Access STEM
[ add image: access-stem.jpg ]
Access STEM
Outreach program supporting blind and low vision high school students and their teachers in accessing STEM pathways in higher education. Through workshops, mentorship, and curriculum development, we work to open doors to computing.
🌸
Girls Inc.
[ add image: girls-inc.jpg ]
Girls Inc.
Ongoing involvement with Girls Inc., inspiring young women to be strong, smart, and bold. Contributing to programming that builds confidence, curiosity, and community among the next generation of women in STEM.
other involvement
📝Paper reviewer — ACM SIGACCESS / ASSETS Conference
🔬 -
🎤Conference reviwer RESPECT 2025
🤝NSF Mentor-Connect & KickStarter Joint HSI Initiative Mentor - July 2024
🏫 IGSA Graduate student representative — 2025
💡 Co-Host: Braille Institute of America (BIA) Writing Personal Statement Workshop - May - Oct 2024
07 / blog
writing + thinking + making
personal blog
Náhui Ollín: Indigenous Philosophy, Consciousness, and the Humanization of AI
Can Mexica cosmological understanding of essence, dynamic balance, ethics, and co-being guide Human-AI interaction through the process of "reflection, action, reconciliation, and transformation" in high-stake theoretical contexts.
// coming soon
personal blog
On Being "neither""Or"
// coming soon
08 / contact
say hello
✉jmcisner@uci.edu
◈github.com/yourhandle
inlinkedin.com
𝕏@y
♡Donald Bren Hall · UC Irvine