Alan Scott Email & Phone Number

The leadership team of Accessible Design for the Blind - Alan Scott, President; Beezy Bentzen, Director of Research; Linda Myers, Research Associate; Jennifer Graham, Research Associate - is committed to making travel safer for pedestrians with disabilities through research, consultation, education, and advocacy. Current projects involve research on crossing treatments at roundabouts and at protected and other alternative intersections; research on treatments for separated bike lanes at sidewalk level, and for pedestrian crossings of bike lanes of various designs; and research on the design, installation, and usability of tactile walking surface indicators for a number of purposes.

Chapel Hill, Nc

Working with the President (Janet Barlow; deceased) and Director of Research (Beezy Bentzen), I contributed to numerous human factors research projects. Either independently or in collaboration with additional colleagues who are practitioners in the field (i.e., Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialists), researchers in the field of blindness and low vision studies, and/or professionals in the field of transportation engineering, research, and education, we designed and conducted human factors research in order to promote a built environment that is accessible to pedestrians and travelers with disabilities. These efforts have focused most specifically on pedestrians who are blind or who have low vision, but have additionally included investigation of accessibility issues for those with cognitive, mobility, and/or hearing impairments.

Chestnut Hill, Ma

Under the supervision of Dr. Billie Louise (Beezy) Bentzen, Director of Research, I engaged in research and other activities to investigate the effects of design and environmental features on the usability of visual pedestrian signals by individuals with low vision, to assess methodologies for evaluating wayfinding-assistance technologies in indoor and outdoor applications, and to study the effectiveness of Accessible Pedestrian Signals for beaconing by pedestrians with visual impairments.

Chestnut Hill, Ma

In 2003, I began what has become a long-standing collaborative research relationship with Billie Louise (Beezy) Bentzen and Janet Barlow (deceased) of Accessible Design for the Blind. Under their tutelage and that of my primary doctoral advisor, Randy Easton, I acquired new skills and developed others pertaining to experimental human factors research, data analysis, and blindness and low vision studies.

Elon, Nc

In addition to various teaching and service roles within the department and university, I maintained an active program of human factors research (see roles with Accessible Design for the Blind).Courses Taught: Introduction to Psychology; Cognitive Psychology; Experimental Research Methods and Statistics; Sensation and Perception

Elon, Nc

For 7.5 years, I led one of the largest departments and programs at Elon University. I led and facilitated strategic planning work; provided project management and oversight; engaged in recruitment, development, and evaluation of full-time and adjunct faculty; created annual course schedules and performed scheduling regarding teaching assignments; oversaw the departmental budget; oversaw curricular programming, planning, and assessment; and served to address various student concerns and provide advising. The department employed 17 full-time, permanent faculty engaged as teacher/scholars when I assumed leadership of the department, and the department then grew to 22 full-time faculty during my years as chair. Additionally, the department served approx. 300 student majors at the time when I became department chair, and the major grew to serve approx. 430 students by the time I transitioned out of the role.

Elon, Nc

In addition to various teaching and service roles within the department and university, I maintained an active program of research which included mentoring of undergraduate researchers.

Chestnut Hill, Ma

Under the guidance of Dr. Randolph Easton, I developed as a teacher and scholar while en route to earning my doctoral degree. I engaged in experimental research on visual and haptic perception using behavioral methods, served as a teaching assistant for multiple courses, and twice served as a teaching fellow (instructor of record) for a year-long research methods and statistics course sequence.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Experimental Psychology (Cognitive & Human Factors)

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Psychology