SXSW Accessibility Panels

I’m headed to Austin tomorrow, here is a list of some of the presentations specifically on accessibility:

• Catching up with Accessibility: The Basics QuicklyShawn Henry.
• Accessible Rich Media by Sharron Rush, Susan Gerhart, Becky Gibson and Lisa Pappas
• Everything I Know About Accessibility I Learned From Star Wars by Derek Featherstone
• Cooking up Accessible Video for the Web by Pat Ramsey
• Core Conversation: How Accessible Should Your Site Be? by Jeff Beckham
• Targeting Your Web Site: Accessibility Litigation Update by Anitra Pavka and Michael Wasylik

In addition there are sessions on internationalization, web standards and the ongoing browser wars. Audio from each of the sessions will be recorded and at some point made available on the website.

Any sessions that I missed? I hope to see some of you there, you can get in touch with me here.

Mobile Education and Access for Students with Disabilities Webcast

The National Center on Disability and Access to Education is hosting a free audio Webcast titled Mobile Education and Access for Students with Disabilities on Wednesday, April 26th at 1pm Mountain Time (3:00PM Eastern). A description of the Webcast from the NCDAE website:

As technologies become smaller, sleeker and easier to carry can they be developed and used so that no child is left behind? That is the question we will address during NCDAE’s April 26, 2006 webcast entitled, “Mobile Education and Access for Students with Disabilities.” Join us at 1 PM Mountain Time (3 PM EDT) for a discussion of technologies, practices and standards related to this increasingly popular education delivery method.

The discussion will be moderated by Marty Blair and will include a panel of John Peifer, Ed Price and Paul Baker. Registration is not necessary. If you miss the Webcast then check back later at their page of archived Webcasts where you can access previous Webcasts such as:

• Student Information Systems and Individuals with Disabilities,
• Accessible Distance Education Technologies and Techniques and
• Accessible Education Policy: Points of Possible Influence.

If you haven’t visited the National Center on Disability & Access to Education website it is a great resource, with sections on Tools and Technology, Community and Partners and News and Activities.

World Usability Day

From the newly designed Accessify.com, comes a great link to the upcoming Accessibility Channel being held on November 2nd and 3rd to celebrate World Usability Day. There look to be some great sessions, including A Broader View of Web Accessibility and Usability and Accessibility: Twin Foster Children. Unfortunately (and ironically), the page states, “you will be able to see and hear these presenters on any Windows PC with a broadband connection.” Maybe they are assuming that PC users are the ones who need the most help in this area…

On a side note, I found this great list of usability demonstrations at the IDEAL Group, Inc., one of the hosts of the Accessibiltiy Channel.

Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust (POUR) Free Webcast from WebAIM

Paul Bohman from WebAIM is hosting a free webcast on “the next generation of Web accessibility work in which principles, rather than techniques, take the center stage” this Thursday, July 14. They have also published Part 1 of a great article on Constructing a POUR website. You can register for the webcast here.

Research and Development of Accessible Technologies Webcast

From the NCDAE site…

Join us on Wednesday, December 1, 2004, for a live audio webcast entitled, “Research and Development of Accessible Technologies”. The webcast will include presentations from national leaders in this area and will focus on research and development processes for accessible technologies, including the motivations for developing accessible products, the costs of including accessibility features, and the marketplace for accessible technologies. Panelists will be announced soon. Participant comments and questions will be welcome via email. The one hour webcast will begin at 2PM Mountain Standard Time (1:00PM Pacific; 3:00PM Central; 4:00PM Eastern). You can tune in to the broadcast free of charge. You will be able to tune in using your computer using either Windows Media Player or Quicktime. Archives (transcript and audio) will be available shortly after the conclusion of the broadcast. The broadcast will be captioned for the Deaf and hard of hearing.

ILRU Webcast: Making the GRADE: Improving Access to E-Learning

This is late notice, but it looks to be an informative webcast tomorrow on Improving Access to E-Learning from a couple of fellows who appear to know what they’re talking about. The presentation is happening tomorrow, June 9 at 3pm Eastern time and you can submit questions beforehand. It looks like they will be talking about their excellent curriculum that that have made available for free at www.accesselearning.net.

Kolabora Live! Web Conferencing Demonstrations

This Kolabora Live! Buyer’s Review is going to be a monthly event where software will be demonstrated followed by a question and answer period. The first event will be on Thursday April 22nd at 12pm EST. The event will be recorded and made available for a fee. Kolabora also has an event coming up titled The Competitive Edge, I’ve already signed up for both.

Also a reminder of the PBS Event, Untangling the Web: Making Online Teaching and Learning Accessible happening on the 22nd as well.

Free Clinic: Design and Implementation of Web-Enabled Teaching Tools

The Equal Access to Software and Information (EASI) website offers monthly training in the form of online courses and clinics on various aspects of accessible information technology. This month they are offerring a free a free clinic titled Design and Implementation of Web-Enabled Teaching Tools. The clinic will be offered on February 26th and Mary Hricko will be the presenter. Mary has written a book with the same title as her presentation that addresses accessibility in distance education. You can sign up for the clinic online, hope to see some of you there!

I have not yet taken any of their courses, so buyer beware, but they also have some interesting tuition-based clinics and courses coming up. Barrier-free E-learning begins today taught by Professor Norm Coombs and a clinic on How to Maximize Accessibility While Using Synchronous Video and Audio Instruction from some folks at WebAIM. I’d love to hear from any of you who have taken one of these courses.

Lastly, they also have archives of some of their past presentations available, enjoy!

Making Online Teaching and Learning Accessible Satellite Event

I’m back among the living and came across what looks to be an exciting event on the Disabled Student Services in Higher Education Listserv yesterday. Working with the PBS Adult Learning Service, the University of Maryland University College is producing a live telecast titled:

Untangling the Web: Making Online Teaching and Learning Accessible

From the description, the areas that the telecast plans to cover are:

• How students with disabilities are navigating the Web, and how
  inaccessible course content impacts the work of faculty and staff
• How to address accessibility problems posed by courseware, course
  management systems, multimedia, and use of audio and video in online
  courses
• What kind of collaborative models have been developed to help faculty
  and staff meet the challenge of online accessibility
• How to develop institutional coordination policies in your campus or
  organization
• What faculty and staff development programs can do to enhance
  understanding of disability and technology
• What role good teaching plays in improving online accessibility
• How Universal Design and Universal Design for Instruction can inform
  the process of ensuring online accessibility

It is still 3 months away, but looks to be an exciting event.

On another note, I have recruited Jeff Coburn to share with us some of his accessibility wisdom on Curb Cut Learning. Jeff is our web specialist at the Institute for Community Inclusion and he is the guy I go to when I’m stumped with an accessibility question or am trying to figure out a new technology. Welcome Jeff.