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Job Programs for Blind
http://www.accessibilityblog.com/2005/10/12/job-programs-for-blind/
From Matt Bailey 's Accessibility Outlook Blog:The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) announced an expanded CareerConnect program to assist people with vision loss in their employment. The additional features are intended to help those with vision loss gain employment, learn of assistive technologies and interviewing skills. The site showcases the types of employment and diversity of jobs help by people with vision loss. The site focuses on employers and rehabilitation counselors in educating them about how businesses can accommodate low vision employees with assistive technology, ADA requirements and interviewing tips.
Contributed on Mon, 24 Oct 2005 22:19:27 GMT.
Dundee Uses Theatre To Improve Accessibility
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article2736.asp
A creative writer and theatre director has been appointed as artist-in-residence with the Department of Applied Computing at the University of Dundee as part of making new communication and information technology more easily accessible for older people. Maggie Morgan's appointment has been funded by a 12,000 pound grant from the Leverhulme Trust, with the post to last for ten months. She joins a department with a purpose-built theatre space, newly completed to further person-centred design work. 'I have already done some work with the department on addressing the issues that face older people as they try to adapt to new technology, and this grant gives us a wonderful opportunity to build further on that,' said Morgan. Working in collaboration with the Foxtrot Theatre in Education Company and the department at Dundee, Morgan has previously produced two series of videos that illustrated some of the problems that occur (see UN story: Tools of Inspiration). She will help develop theatrical performances to be used in research into the needs and wants of older people.
Contributed on Tue, 18 Oct 2005 22:32:48 GMT.
IBM's Accessibility, Part 2
http://www.accessibilityblog.com/2005/10/11/ibm%e2%80%99s-accessibility-part-2/
From Matt Bailey 's Accessibility Outlook Blog: This must be IBM's week. Starting on October 3, 2005, IBM is giving away accessibility software on its website. While some are 90-day trials, and the license cost is certainly affordable. The offerings include: Keyboard Optimizer: An application that monitors a user's typing patterns and optimizes for mistakes. This is geared for those situations where users may not be able to lift fingers quickly from the keys. Mouse Smoothing Software: for users with hand tremors or difficulty moving a mouse. In addition to these user technologies, IBM is also offering applications ands software for programmers, These are designed to allow development companies increase their accessibility reach by using some very unique products.
Contributed on Tue, 18 Oct 2005 22:30:42 GMT.
Students with Disabilities Discovering Key to Academic Success is an Online Degree
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&ne...
Vida Sanchez grew up in a tropical paradise - but it did not seem that way to her. She remembers squinting a lot as a child. Her mother had to shoo her outside to play. The glorious, sun-drenched days of her island home were something Vida did her best to avoid. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Vida had no idea she had a degenerative eye condition called progressive cone dystrophy. She just knew her eyes hurt in the sunlight. And unfortunately, after she came to the United States at the age of 14, her situation did not improve. But Vida persevered. She wanted to become a teacher, and that is just what she did, earning a teaching degree from Georgetown University with a specialization in languages and linguistics. Over the years, she did her best to manage her condition in the classroom, but by the time she was in her early 40s, her condition had worsened to the point where she was forced to make a difficult decision. "It just became more and more of an issue and so, by 2001, it was clear I could not function in the classroom anymore. I mean, kids do need light to see what they're doing," she says with a laugh. "And I couldn't work with light." Not one to let life's adversities dictate her fate, Vida decided to go back to school. She had earned a master's degree in cultural studies from American University in Washington DC, and now she wanted a PhD. "I always wanted to continue with my education, because I've always seen a natural progression from my preparation as a teacher to going into social services," she says. But Vida knew her blindness would make attending a traditional university extremely difficult, and she knew she would require some accommodations in order to attend any university. For her disability is as unique as she is, just as every person's situation is distinctly their own.
Contributed on Tue, 18 Oct 2005 22:29:33 GMT.
Accessibility's New Face
http://blueflavor.com/ed/accessibility/accessibilitys_new_face.php
Designers: Here's a reason to look forward to your next accessibility review: Nearly every designer I've talked with about accessibility gets this look on their face like they're waiting in line for the dentist. A little history will show that accessibility advocates have always been working to enable them to do their best, to the benefit of everyone. Here's a reason to look forward to your next accessibility review.
Contributed on Tue, 18 Oct 2005 22:28:29 GMT.
IBM's Accessibility Agenda
http://www.accessibilityblog.com/2005/10/09/ibm%e2%80%99s-accessibility-agenda/
From Matt Bailey 's Accessibility Outlook Blog: IBM is making significant news in the accessibility world. A few weeks ago they gave FireFox code for additional accessibility features. In reading some background information in a recent article in TechWeb, IBM hired their first employee with disabilities in 1914. IBM has also been in advance of the times by offering programs for veterans with disabilities - long before the US Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In TechWeb, IBM is working on a number of assistive technology products. One of the most anticipated product targets Graphical User Interfaces (GUI's) as a means of pushing the envelope of assistive technology. The most recent offerings, Home Page Reader, WebAdapt2Me and ViaScribe are all serving aging-related conditions and elderly workers in addition to the typical assistive technology audience.
Contributed on Mon, 17 Oct 2005 23:48:20 GMT.
Chalk One Up To The Whiteboard
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,16376,1585290,00.html
In the 1960s it was science labs, in the 1980s microcomputers. Today, when government ministers want to talk up their efforts to modernise education, the symbol is the whiteboard. Tony Blair last week repeated the government's ambition to put whiteboards in every school. In his budget speech this year, Gordon Brown boasted of a 1.67 pound investment enabling schools to be "no longer blackboard and chalk". Interactive whiteboards are large touch-sensitive panels connected to a digital projector and a computer. In schools, their big attraction is that they can display video and graphic material directly from the web - and that everyone can join in. "The whiteboard creates a big space for collaboration around ideas, which transcends what small screens can offer," says Martin Owen of Nesta Futurelab, the lottery-funded endowment organisation. "It makes the blackboard much more lively and effective." How accessible is this technology? Does it have the potential to assist students with disabilities in participating and learning in the classroom or will it create greater challenges?
Contributed on Mon, 17 Oct 2005 23:47:06 GMT.
When Life Depends on Clear Instructions
http://www-306.ibm.com/ibm/easy/eou_ext.nsf/publish/2093
You are in a 25th floor hotel room and the fire alarm goes off in the middle of the night. You study the "you are here" diagram on the back of the door to find out where the nearest exit is. If it is like most of these diagrams, it looks more like a maze than an escape map. Just as your panic rises, the all-clear signal rings and disaster is averted, but no thanks to the information card. Still anxious on your trip home, you examine the escape procedures card in the seatback of the airplane and realize that it too is useless. And how about your last doctor's visit? Unless you are quite young or remarkably healthy, you probably can't accurately recall the medications you take regularly pronounce them, recite the dosage, describe what they are treating, remember their contra-indications. Certainly not if you are among the half of the US population who is either functionally illiterate or marginally illiterate. Don't feel too smug if you are better educated; education alone won't insulate you from the arcane language of certain fields. Did you really understand that medical consent form you signed for your recent surgery? One study showed that patients with average reading levels were unable to understand most of the consent forms used for research studies of cancer drugs. Don't think old age will bring relief. When you turn age 65, you have the Medicare Handbook to read. "Today's Medicare is about choice" according to the official, 90-page "Medicare & You,", but they might as well say today's Medicare is about confusion. Critical information also needs to be accessible to everyone. Statistics indicate that 1 in 5 Americans will experience a disability at some point - if emergency information is not made accessible, it puts a large chunk of the population at unnecessary risk.
Contributed on Mon, 17 Oct 2005 23:45:56 GMT.
Interview with Matt May
http://www.accessify.com/2005/10/interview-with-matt-may.asp
From the Accessify Weblog: An interview with Matt May known for his work with the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative. The interview covers his achievements, triumphs and frustrations with the W3C project as well as his work with WaSP:and his new venture Blue Flavor
Contributed on Tue, 11 Oct 2005 23:24:56 GMT.
EC Says Accessibility Must Be Key Factor In IT Buying
http://www.supplymanagement.co.uk/EDIT/SM_topstories_item.asp?id=13875
The European Commission has called on EU member states to change public procurement rules to make accessibility a criterion for buying IT goods and services. An EC spokesman said accessibility could become mandatory if too few states adopt the changes on a voluntary basis. However, a spokesman for the UK's Office of Government Commerce said the UK takes a more "pragmatic" approach. He said the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requires public-sector bodies to make "reasonable adjustments" where relevant for disabled or elderly people, and in the drafting of ICT contracts. He added that the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, that is scheduled to come into force in December 2006, goes further by placing a duty on public-sector organisations to promote equality and ensure their "functions, policies and services do not discriminate against certain groups".
Contributed on Tue, 11 Oct 2005 23:24:22 GMT.
Yahoo Works With 2 Academic Libraries and Other Archives on Project to Digitize Collections
http://chronicle.com/free/2005/10/2005100301t.htm
Another search engine company has joined with academic libraries to digitize large collections of books to make them easily searchable online. Yahoo Inc. has teamed up with the University of California, the University of Toronto, and several archives and technology companies on a project that could potentially bring the complete texts of millions of volumes into digital form. Yahoo officials say that the project is not a response to Google's partnership with five major research libraries to scan millions of books, and that some planning for the Yahoo project was under way before Google announced its plans last December. The new archive is called the Open Content Alliance, and it was conceived in part by Brewster Kahle, director of the Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library. The archive will be doing much of the actual scanning for the project, using a process it has developed in recent years. Libraries involved in the project can have their books scanned by the Internet Archive for 10 cents per page, which leaders of the project say is far below the standard price of scanning. In similar news: EU to follow Google's lead with online library. Digitizing books can be of great value for students with disabilities, giving them the option to access the material in a format that best suits their needs. However, care must be taken to ensure that the materials are scanned to be accessible.
Contributed on Tue, 11 Oct 2005 23:23:04 GMT.
Texas Company Hopes to Sell Recordings of Professors' Lectures
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i07/07a03701.htm
It may cost only 99 cents to download the latest Kanye West song onto an iPod, but a recording of your marketing professor's most recent lecture could run you $5. Pick-A-Prof, a company that publishes online reviews of faculty members so students know whose courses to avoid, is testing a new service that allows students to download MP3 files of their professors' lectures for $5 each. The money is split between the professors and the company. So far, only four faculty members are participating in the test of the service, which began this semester. One is at Texas A&M University at College Station, and the other three are at the University of Texas at Austin, including William H. Cunningham, a former chancellor of the university system, whose son is president of Pick-A-Prof. William Cunningham now teaches marketing at Austin. His son, John Cunningham, has a degree in marketing from Texas A&M. Karen Bragg, director of university relations for Pick-A-Prof, said the company hoped to expand the service to more professors and more colleges in coming semesters. Some institutions, such as Purdue University at West Lafayette, provide a similar service for students free (The Chronicle, September 9). Ms. Bragg said the idea was for students to use the audio recordings, called "coursecasts," as study aids, not as an excuse to skip class. "We wanted to make sure they weren't going to abuse it," she said. "We're not looking to cheat students out of getting an education." Podcasts could be of great use for some students with disabilities - allowing them an alternate to traditional note taking and a way to easily review a lecture at a pace suits their needs. However, students with hearing impairments may be left out unless the courses are also available in transcript form.
Contributed on Tue, 11 Oct 2005 23:18:43 GMT.
Government Web Standards Usage: USA
http://standards-schmandards.com/index.php?2005/10/03/27-government-web-standard...
From the Standards Schmandards Blog: This is the first in a series of articles where we look at how government organisations use the W3C recommendations. Using the mass validation tool from a previous article, Validating an entire site, we have a look at our first contestant: USA. The result: only 14 of 546 government web sites use valid HTML. In a previous article I wrote about how you can script a local installtaion of the W3C validator tool using Python. I have since modified the validator to do more checks apart from making sure the HTML is valid. Links to US government web sites were obtained from FirstGov.gov: the U.S. Government's Official Web Portal. Only the first page of the web site was checked. The test was carried out on September 25. Please note that usage of the W3C recommendations is only an indication of accessibility. A site that does not validate may still be more accessible than one that does. I have not tested every site manually and you may find that some of the valid ones have a valid splash page but fail miserably for the rest of the site. If you find errors, please post them below and I will update the table.
Contributed on Mon, 10 Oct 2005 18:12:15 GMT.
How Do You Get Your Client To Pay For Accessibility?
http://juicystudio.com/article/client-pay-for-accessibility.php
From Juicy Studio: Scenario: You're talking to your client, and you present them with two quotes. One for a standard website, and another for an accessible website. The client looks at the difference in costs, and asks for the standard website. What do you do? One of the most difficult aspects of making professional websites is getting clients to pay for accessibility. In the world of business, issues such as accessibility are usually low down on the agenda, and it's difficult to convince clients that they should stretch their budget to pay that little extra for an accessible website. Legislation has helped, but there are still companies out there that just don't get it. This article discusses ways of ensuring that your clients are prepared to pay that little extra. You've learnt your craft; it's now time to reap the rewards.
Contributed on Mon, 10 Oct 2005 18:11:21 GMT.
Quiz 1.1.8: ALT Text or Title Text?
http://www.access-matters.com/2005/10/01/quiz-118-alt-text-or-title-text/
From Access Matters: A few months ago we looked at a test case which presented the various ways of providing text alternatives to an image using ALT text. Modern assistive technology handles most methods well. Even in cases where the ALT text was completely missing, assistive technology remained silent. Older screen readers would annoyingly read out the path names of images without ALT text. They've learned not to do that. The current best practice for a purely decorative image, an image that adds no material value to those listening to the page with assistive technology, ALT coded as two quotes with no intervening space: alt=". Of course, we all know that the current best practice for an image that conveys information is ALT text that accurately describes the image. That is exactly why ALT exists.
Contributed on Mon, 10 Oct 2005 18:10:42 GMT.
Navy Knowledge Online Surpasses 500,000 User Mark
http://www.navycompass.com/news/newsview.asp?c=169397
PENSACOLA, Fla. Navy Knowledge Online (NKO) moved over the half-million mark in registered users in August, with nearly 96 percent of active-duty personnel and 90 percent of the Reserve force now enrolled. NKO is the Navy's Sea Warrior Web portal for education and training management and life-long learning. "Registering a half-million users is certainly a milestone for NKO," said Peg David, NKO program manager for the Naval Education and Training Command. "The milestone we're really interested in, however, is ensuring that users have a quality experience and can readily access the content, training courses and other applications that make up the NKO Sea Warrior portal, such as Navy E-Learning, the JCMS (JASS Career Management System) and the 5 Vector Model (5VM). Access to these applications, and many more that constitute the portal, are vital to Sailors' personal and professional growth in the Navy, and applicable to civilians, Reservists and other NKO users." Online education can be of particular benefit to soldiers and veterans with disabilities, providing options for training and new skill development - as long as the courses are designed to be accessible.
Contributed on Mon, 10 Oct 2005 18:09:57 GMT.
Classroom Revolution
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/051010/10edit.htm
Students of almost every age are far ahead of their teachers in computer literacy. This is especially true of younger kids with younger parents. So how is this digital revolution affecting education? A binary answer: Not enough. According to a federal study, most schools are essentially unchanged today despite reforms and increased investment in computers. The general pattern is for computers to be in a computer lab--something separate and apart like a Bunsen burner. Why? Students who have mastered the wonders of the Internet at home know that with a desktop computer they can do everything faster--take and save notes, write and do research. With guidance, kids can learn these skills at home, especially when high-quality interactive programming becomes more widely available in science, history, math, geography, and languages. There is much work to be done in creating these electronic assets, however. And it is critical for teachers to join the revolution--to adapt information technology to the methods and content of their instruction. Goodbye, Mr. Chips--hello, Mr. Chip! There is no limit to the possibilities. Distance learning can include Advanced Placement courses and special tutoring for students with learning disabilities whose talents are not developed in regular classes. With electronic links, textbooks will morph into digital versions with interactive sections, videoconferencing, and dramatic television sequences. What excitement! And all this can be kept as fresh as milk. In the language of Marshall McLuhan, video is a "cool medium" ; that is to say, it lends itself to high audience participation. Parents can also benefit by viewing their children's work online, exchanging E-mails with teachers, and watching webcasts from distance schooling. This is the 21st-century version of distance learning. What it offers is much more flexibility in time, place, and pace of instruction, an opportunity to create a superb instructional environment adapted to each school's particular needs.
Contributed on Mon, 10 Oct 2005 18:07:53 GMT.
Students Skeptical About Digital Textbooks
http://wiredcampus.chronicle.com/2005/09/students_skepti.html
College students may flock to online reserves and chat on Internet discussion boards, but they aren't ready to trade their bulky course books in for digital texts. The University of Oregon, one of 10 institutions that has begun to sell e-books through a company called MBS Textbook Exchange Inc., hasn't sold too many of the high-tech texts yet, and some bookstore officials say it might take a while for the new medium to catch on. Digital books may offer a better alternative for students with disabilities - allowing them to access the material in a format best suited to their needs.
Contributed on Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:46:02 GMT.
Accessibility, Usability and Web Standards International Meeting
http://www.fundamentosweb.org/introduccion.html.en
What is it? This is an event that will bring together international experts on Web accessibility and usability to talk about accessibility, usability and Web standards. The experts' point of view will be the starting point of a discussion on the necessity to develop accessible and usable Web sites. Where and when? The main event will be held on November 22 - 23, 2005, at Centro Municipal Gijon-Sur, in Gijon, Asturias, Spain. The 24th of November an additional event will take place to offer a tutorial on XHTML2/XForms, at Escuela Universitaria de Ingenieria Tecnica Informatica, in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. Who is it for? Business, organizations and institutions interested in Web accessibility and usability, and also project managers and Web developers interested in improving the user experience through a Web design focused on accessibility and usability.
Contributed on Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:45:16 GMT.
University Websites Come Of Age
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2005/nt-2005-10-03-university-websites.htm
University websites have matured significantly over the last 2-3 years. There are fewer pictures of buildings and smiling faces, and greater focus on helping students decide why they should enroll. Has web accessibility improved as well - are universities designing for both usability and accessibility?
Contributed on Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:43:52 GMT.
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