10th Annual Accessing Higher Ground:
Accessible Media, Web and Technology Conference
for Education, for Businesses, for Web and Media Designers
In Collaboration with AHEAD, EASI, ATHEN and CSUN ATACP
November 6 - 9, 2007
I have written a few short notes on some presentations and used yellow
highlighter for the ones that have useful links.
Index table
End the Angst: Universally Designed Word to accessible PDF, HTML, and simple PPT, 2
Web Accessibility Evaluation with WAVE 4.0, ................................................................... 2
Accessible PDF From the Ground Up ................................................................................ 2
Automated Tactile Graphics ............................................................................................... 2
The AHEAD Institute on E-Text Production ....................................................................... 2
Advanced Applications of Basic Accessibility Principles.................................................... 2
Hardware and Software Players for Digital Talking Books ................................................ 3
The AHEAD Institute on E-Text Production ....................................................................... 3
Concepts & Techniques for Accessible, Closed Captioned Web based Video,................ 3
Implementing an IT Accessibility Program - From Soup to Nuts ....................................... 3
The ROI of Accessibility ...................................................................................................... 3
Accessible Podcasting ........................................................................................................ 3
Legal Issues – Part 1: Section 508 and Higher Education ................................................ 3
Planting Textbooks and Harvesting DAISY: A Model Program for E Text Production ...... 3
The Next Generation of Web Applications and Access for People with Disabilities, Jared
Smith ................................................................................................................................... 4
Microsoft OneNote 2007 and People with Disabilities ....................................................... 4
Achieving Accessible PDFs ................................................................................................ 4
Using JAWS to test for web accessibility ........................................................................... 4
Legal Issues – Part 2: The Practicalities of Implementing a 508 Program in Higher Ed,.. 4
Innovative AT Research at the University of Washington .................................................. 4
Strategies and Resources for Supporting Faculty in Creating Accessible Web Materials 4
LecShare – LecShare Pro .................................................................................................. 5
Caption First – CART: See What They Are Saying ........................................................... 5
Building Accessibility into Higher Ed Software ................................................................... 5
Three National Efforts to Standardize E-text: Synergy or Confusion ................................ 5
From Principles to Practice: faculty implementation of UDL .............................................. 5
Demonstration of Creating and Editing Audio by Designers who are using a Screen
Reader................................................................................................................................. 5
Designing Accessible PDF Forms through Adobe’s LiveCycle Designer .......................... 5
Open Source Initiatives from DAISY .................................................................................. 5
The Future of Interpreting Services .................................................................................... 6
STEM and Blind Students: A Survey and Analysis of Current tools, Strategies and
Solutions ............................................................................................................................. 6
Overview of Techniques for Making Mathematics Accessible ........................................... 6
Functional Accessibility Evaluation of Web 2.0 Applications ............................................. 6
Tutored Today, Empowered Tomorrow.............................................................................. 6
Accessibility Consortiums: a New Approach to Resolve IT Accessibility Issues ............... 6
Using the Duxbury Braille Translation Software................................................................. 6
Captioning Flash Video ....................................................................................................... 6
End the Angst: Universally Designed Word to accessible PDF, HTML, and
simple PPT, Cath Stager-Kilcommons, ATRC, CSU – The notes from this talk
may be available at http://www.colostate.edu/dept/ATRC/resource.htm where
there are some useful web accessibility guideline and checks.
Web Accessibility Evaluation with WAVE 4.0, Jon Whiting & Jared Smith,
WebAIM - This was a very useful practical session that I attended related to all
the latest issues arising when evaluating websites for accessibility.
http://www.webaim.org/resources/quickref/ WAVE 4.0 was shown but is still a
beta version.
A similar presentation was given at CSUN 2007
http://www.webaim.org/presentations/2007/CSUN/evaluation.html The
workshop notes for the AHG handout are available at
http://www.webaim.org/presentations/2007/ahg/
The use of accessibility and web developers menu bars for Firefox
http://webaim.org/articles/firefox/
http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Accessibility were discussed and HTML
validation (based on Tidy and OpenSP
http://users.skynet.be/mgueury/mozilla/index.html )
The AIS accessibility toolbar
http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=619 offers simulations of
certain visually related disabilities/difficulties.
http://www.webaim.org/resources/ais/#about_ais
Accessible PDF From the Ground Up (part 1), Karen McCall, Karlen
Communications – the notes from this presentation are available in .PDF
http://www.iprimus.ca/~martha/adobe/PDF-Handout-2007.pdf
Automated Tactile Graphics, Dan Comden, U. Of Washington. This talk
covered the use of specialised software and generally available packages to
produce accessible science graphs, diagrams and graphics.
http://tactilegraphics.cs.washington.edu/ A pre-print version of a paper
presented at the ASSETS conference is available at
http://tactilegraphics.cs.washington.edu/pubs/assets073-jayant.pdf
The AHEAD Institute on E-Text Production -Ron Stewart, Dolphin, & Gaeir
Dietrich, HTCTU - This was a very practical session and Dan Berkowitz has
described much of the content on his blog
http://athenpro.blogspot.com/2005/11/ahg-day-2-ahead-etext-production.html
The official information can be found at
http://www.ahead.org/etext/etext_main.htm Ron Stewart has been heading up
a series of training sessions and the processes used to speed the work of
making alternative formats. He is hoping that he will be able to offer sessions in
the UK and presented at Techshare. The manuals etc can be found on the
AHEAD e-text web pages mentioned above.
Advanced Applications of Basic Accessibility Principles, Jon Whiting &
Jared Smith, WebAIM - http://www.webaim.org/articles/process/ This was a
continuation of the previous days work with a deeper look at Web 2.0
applications with attention paid to spam free accessible forms
http://webaim.org/blog/?s=spam+free+accessible+forms
Active X issues (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/912945) in Explorer when
using Flash and accessibility were also mentioned
http://www.webaim.org/techniques/flash/
Hardware and Software Players for Digital Talking Books (DAISY), Robert
Beach, KCCC - Information about daisy software and hardware is available
from ATRC (2005) www.colostate.edu/Depts/ATRC/daisy.rtf
Altformat web pages about Daisy
http://www.altformat.com/daisy.asp?section=1
EASI are running two free Webinars by Robert Beach on this subject on
Thursday November 15 and 29 - 2PM EASTERN TIME
http://easi.cc/forms/players.htm
The AHEAD Institute on E-Text Production, Ron Stewart, Dolphin, & Gaeir
Dietrich, HTCTU - as above
Concepts & Techniques for Accessible, Closed Captioned Web based
Video, David Klein, Ph.D. & Kenneth "Fritz" Thompson – this was a session that
went through the stages of using Magpie with videos, compression techniques,
podcasts etc. The presentation is available on this webpage:
http://disability.law.uiowa.edu/lhpdc/publications/kleinpubs.html
On average it can take 8 hours work to make one hour of video accessible.
Implementing an IT Accessibility Program - From Soup to Nuts (with
emphasis on legal and regulatory issues) , Debra Buck, ATAP, Ken Nakata &
Fred Difiore, Bayfirst Solutions, LLC
Ken Nakata has a blog at http://itaccessibilitytoolkit.blogspot.com/
Their presentation for CSUN 2007 can be found at
http://home.comcast.net/~ken.nakata/files/Ken_27s_20CSUN_20Presentation.p
pt
The ROI of Accessibility, Debra Ruh, TecAccess (vendor session)
http://www.tecaccess.net/content/speakers.shtml
Accessible Podcasting, Jayme Johnson , HTCTU (ends at 9:45) Many of the
training material manuals can be found at:
http://www.htctu.net/trainings/manuals/tutmain.htm
Another useful document from HTCTU “Container, Content, and Capability: The
Three C's of Accessibility and Distance Education.”
http://www.htctu.net/publications/articles/three_Cs_111804.pdf
Legal Issues – Part 1: Section 508 and Higher Education, Debra Buck,
Executive Director, ATAP & Ken Nakata, Bayfirst Solutions, LLC (ends at 9:30)
Planting Textbooks and Harvesting DAISY: A Model Program for E Text
Production, Daniel Berkowitz & Adam Randazzo, Boston University (Ends at
10:15) - Boston University Office of Disability Services DAISY Production
Training Module http://people.bu.edu/access/
The Next Generation of Web Applications and Access for People with
Disabilities, Jared Smith, WebAIM - CSUN 2007 version
http://www.webaim.org/presentations/2007/CSUN/evaluation.html
Whilst looking for this presentation I found another called “The effect of Web 2.0
technology on e-learning” by John Morris and it is an interesting set of slides on
the subject. http://www.drexel.edu/irt/eLearningConf2007/present/eLearning2.0-DU-Conf.ppt
Microsoft OneNote 2007 and People with Disabilities, Karen McCall, Karlen
Communications - http://www.iprimus.ca/~martha/new-technology.htm
Achieving Accessible PDFs, Greg Pisocky, Adobe Systems, Inc. A
PowerPoint with the same title given in December 2006
http://www.nysforum.org/documents/pdf/2006/wmg/AcroAccessibility.pdf
PDF Universal Accessibility Committee. This committee is developing a
specification for accessible PDF. http://pdf.editme.com/PDFUA
Creating Accessible PDF Files – A guide for document authors
http://www.adobe.com/enterprise/accessibility/pdfs/acro6_pg_ue.pdf
Using JAWS to test for web accessibility, Jon Whiting, WebAIM
Jaws, Window Eyes, Parallels, and Boot Camp (Jaws on a Mac), June 29, 2007
by Jared Smith http://webaim.org/blog/screenreaders_on_mac/
Testing with Screen Readers: Questions and Answers
http://www.webaim.org/articles/screenreader_testing/
Legal Issues – Part 2: The Practicalities of Implementing a 508 Program in
Higher Ed, Fred Difiore, Bayfirst Solutions, LLC
Innovative AT Research at the University of Washington, Dan Comden,
University of Washington – This was an interesting talk with all the latest
research happening at the university – links were provided for each project and
Dan showed working examples of the products.
Tactile Graphics Project – http://tactilegraphics.cs.washington.edu
AIM Research Group: BarrierPointing, Suppl++, VoiceDraw, TrueKeys
http://faculty,washington.edu/wobbrock/proj/index.html
Vocal Joystick http://ssli.ee.washington.edu/vj/
WebinSight: AccessMonkey, WebAnywhere, WebinSitu research
http://webinsight.cs.washington.edu/
MobileASL http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/MobileASL/
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Summer Academy
http://www.washington.edu/accesscomputing/dhh/academy/
Strategies and Resources for Supporting Faculty in Creating Accessible
Web Materials, Lisa Fiedor, NC State University
http://delta.ncsu.edu/accessibility/
“Concepts and Techniques of Universal Web Design” 2007
http://delta.ncsu.edu/docs/learn/courses/accessibility/universaldesign/universal_design.pdf
LecShare – LecShare Pro http://www.lecshare.com/
Caption First – CART: See What They Are Saying
http://www.captionfirst.com/
Building Accessibility into Higher Ed Software: The Fluid Project, Clayton
Lewis, CU http://fluidproject.org/
Fluid is a worldwide collaborative project to help improve the usability
and accessibility of community open source projects with a focus on
academic software for universities.
The Fluid project is led by the University of Toronto, represented by
the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, with core participation
from the University of California, Berkeley, the University of
Cambridge, the University of British Columbia and York University.
Many other universities are contributing resources and expertise.
Corporations participating in the project include IBM, Sun
Microsystems, and Mozilla Foundation.
http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Fluid+Project+Wiki
The Fluid component library is a growing collection of reusable, rich, and
accessible user interface components that can be used across web applications
http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Components
Three National Efforts to Standardize E-text: Synergy or Confusion? Ron
Stewart, Dolphin Computer Access http://easi.cc/archive/etext/
From Principles to Practice: faculty implementation of UDL, Craig Spooner
& Catherine Schelly, The ACCESS Project, CSU There is a video presentation
available http://accessproject.colostate.edu/udl/
Demonstration of Creating and Editing Audio by Designers who are using
a Screen Reader, Norm Coombs, EASI
Software Players and Digital Talking Books (DAISY), Robert Beach, KC Kansas
CC – see above
Accessibility in Postsecondary Classrooms: Learning from Faculty Attitudes,
Ellen Perlow, Texas Woman’s University
Designing Accessible PDF Forms through Adobe’s LiveCycle Designer,
Sean Keegan, HTCTU
This was a wonderfully practical session using Adobe’s LiveCycle
http://www.htctu.fhda.edu/publications/conferences/ahg/2007/PDFfrm07.html
Sean has a PDF about creating accessible documents using Adobe Acrobat 8
as well
http://www.htctu.fhda.edu/trainings/manuals/web/CreatingAccessibleAA8.pdf
Open Source Initiatives from DAISY, George Kerscher, DAISY
ConsortiumPowerPoint taken from South African Library of the Blind conference
on Daisy strategy for 2008 -2011
www.blindlib.org.za/conf/word/2008DAISYSTRATEGYV3.ppt
Case Study Collaboration as an Effective Way of Achieving Accessibility: A
Consortium's Work with the EBSCO Library Research Database, Hadi Rangin &
Jon Gunderson, UIUC, Khalilah Gambrell & Ron Burns, EBSCO Publishing,
Ken Petri, OSU
The Future of Interpreting Services: Using Video Interpreters to Combat the
Interpreter Shortage, Liz Keyser, Sign Language Associates
http://www.signlanguage.com/clients/video.php
STEM and Blind Students: A Survey and Analysis of Current tools,
Strategies and Solutions, Saroj Primlani, NC State University
“t's About Saroj Primlani Not Technology”
Norm visits with Saroj Primlani from North Carolina State University and her
journey into the field of computing and people with disabilities.
http://easi.cc/podcasts/people/ple4907/ple4907.mp3
Transcription
Overview of Techniques for Making Mathematics Accessible, John Gardner
& Carolyn Gardner, ViewPlus Technologies
It's About Access to STEM, Not Technology
Dr. Norman Coombs talks to leaders in the field of making science,technology,
engineering and mathematics accessible to people with disabilities. Listen to
Dave Schleppenbach and Dr. John Gardner talk about the world of access to
these disciplines and how technology has made the future a brighter place for
users with disabilities.
http://easi.cc/podcasts/people/ple42806/ple42806.mp3
Functional Accessibility Evaluation of Web 2.0 Applications, Jon
Gunderson, UIUC http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/html-best-practices/testing/


Firefox Accessibility Extension
http://firefox.cita.uiuc.edu
Functional Web Accessibility Evaluator
http://fae.cita.uiuc.edu
Tutored Today, Empowered Tomorrow, Paul Thompson, Dolphin Computer
Access
http://atiaew.prod.web.sba.com/displaymod/detailevent.cfm?conference_id=9&e
vent_id=1496
Accessibility Consortiums: a New Approach to Resolve IT Accessibility
Issues, Jon Gunderson, Hadi Bargi Rangin, UIUC
Using the Duxbury Braille Translation Software, Gaeir Dietrich, High Tech
Center Training Unit http://www.htctu.fhda.edu/trainings/manuals/tutmain.htm
Captioning Flash Video, Andrew Kirkpatrick, Adobe Systems, Inc.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/video_captionate.html
Sadly I had to miss the last afternoon sessions to fly home.