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----- Please let me know if you find this info
helpful, if not I shall stop sending it. please reply to me
only so we do not clog the "box".
Thank you,
liz
The Northeast ADA & IT Center at Cornell University provides training, technical assistance and materials on the ADA and accessible information technology throughout New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This monthly technical bulletin is part of our dissemination efforts and if you do not want to receive this document or would like others from your organization added to our list, please call 1-800-949-4232 or reply to this message. Thank you SAVE THE DATE: November 16 or 18, 2004 New Jersey Statewide Conference on Assistive and Accessible Technology in Education Informational sessions will be held throughout the day on topics including reading and writing tools for main-streamed students, differentiated instruction, grants and funding for assistive and accessible technology and creating accessible web content. To make it convenient for everyone to attend, this one-day conference is being held in two locations in New Jersey; Edison in the north and West Atlantic City in the south. The conference will run from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm for those attending the day session and from 3:30 pm to 8 pm for those wishing to attend the evening session. Exhibitor information is now available. Please contact the Northeast ADA&IT Center at 800-949-4232 or email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for further information on this. Webinar on NYS Web Accessibility Policy - An Explanation and Discussion Date: October 5th, 2004 Time: 3 - 4 pm Effective June 21, 2004 a new NYS Mandatory Technology Standard S04-001 and Statewide Technology Policy P04-002 took effect. The purpose of the policy and standards is to make State agency web-based intranet and internet information and applications accessible to persons with disabilities. Patrick DeCastro, Strategic and Executive Services, from the NYS Office for Technology will conduct an online discussion of the Accessibility Policy. For more information about the topics to be discussed and to register, visit http://www.peopleware.net/2754/index.cfm?eventDisp=WEBINAR&subeventDisp=ACCESS001. Precedent-setting Decision: Two commercial websites were asked to improve their accessibility As reported by CNN.com on August 19, 2004, "In one of the first enforcement actions of the Americans with Disabilities Act on the Internet, two major travel services have agreed to make sites more accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Priceline.com and Ramada.com have agreed to changes that will allow users with "screen reader software" and other technology to navigate and listen to the text throughout their Web sites", according to New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Visit the NY Attorney General's website, http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2004/aug/aug19a_04.html for a copy of the press release about this settlement. This decision reinforces what web accessibility proponents have been emphasizing. If commercial websites that offer online services are expected to meet accessibility standards, then schools and colleges who offer goods and services online (such as distance learning courses and online registration) must make that content accessible to individuals with disabilities. Additionally, it will be important for instructors who are teaching website design and development to include the topic of accessibility in their training and education programs. Students with Disabilities Gain from Improved Access to Learning Students with blindness, low vision and other print-related disabilities are expected to gain improved access to textbooks under a voluntary standardized format for electronic files. The US Department of Education has endorsed this voluntary national publishing standard known as the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). A forty member expert panel which included educators, publishers, technology specialists and advocacy groups, was convened to establish the new standard. The standard will make it easier to convert traditional textbooks into alternative accessible formats such as Braille, large print or electronic format which can be read using text-to-speech software. For more information on the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard, visit http://www.cast.org/NFF/NIMAS/. Teleconference on Accessible Textbooks PACER Simon Technology Center and Great Lakes ADA & IT Center invite you to a free teleconference event: Accessible Textbooks in Schools: A State and National Progress Report Thursday, September 23, 2004 at 1-2:15pm ET, 12noon-1:15pm CT, 10am-11:15am PT This teleconference will focus on current state and national initiatives to improve access to instructional materials for students with print disabilities. Guest presenters, Steve Noble with the Kentucky Assistive Technology Service Network and Linnie Lee from the Kentucky Department of Education, will discuss Kentucky's roadmap to implementation of state legislation mandating the availability of accessible instructional materials in K-12 and post-secondary education settings. They will also touch on the differences between the Kentucky accessible materials legislation and that of other states around the country. Guest presenter Skip Stahl with the National Center for Accessing the General Curriculum at CAST will comment on the recent landmark endorsement of the National Instructional Materials accessibility Standard (NIMAS) by the U.S. Department of Education. The voluntary standard will guide the production and electronic distribution of flexible digital instructional materials such as textbooks so they can be more easily converted to a variety of accessible formats, including Braille and text-to-speech. The teleconference is free, but space is limited. Pre-registration for the teleconference is required by September 21, 2004. Register online at www.pacer.org/workshops or call the PACER Center at 952-838-9000 (voice); 952-838-0190 (TTY). Registered participants will be contacted via email or telephone with the teleconference call-in number and other necessary information. Captioning services will be provided by Caption Colorado. Please make accommodation requests at the time of registration. How Can I Select a Web Accessibility Software Tool? This new article from AccessIT provides some guidance for anyone trying to sift through the myriad of automated accessibility testing tools that are now available. The article provides a list of questions to consider when planning ahead for the purchase of web accessibility evaluation software. View this article on the AccessIT site at http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?244. P.O.V.'s "Freedom Machines"Looks at Disability Through the Lens of Technology, Tuesday, Sept. 14 on PBS Taken from the press release (scroll down the page to locate Freedom Machines - http://www.pbs.org/pov/utils/pressroom/2004/index.html) For the nation's 54 million citizens with disabilities, this film challenges society's basic notions about disability. This poignant and thought-provoking film tells the stories of people typically labeled (and dismissed) as disabled, whose determination and access to inventive new technologies are transforming their lives and their communities. Freedom Machines shows what is now possible and what will soon be possible. But, as the film demonstrates, the existence of the technology is not enough to ensure its use&Liberating new technologies remain out of reach for many of Americas 54 million disabled people. Narrated by actor Peter Dinklage, star of the acclaimed film The Station Agent, Freedom Machines is a timely and dramatic look at technology's new enabling wonders, and at the contradictions in social policy and attitudes that prevent their full employment by all those who need or can benefit from them. Jamie Stobie and Janet Coles Freedom Machines is part of the 17th season of PBSs acclaimed P.O.V. series. P.O.V. continues on Tuesdays, 10 p.m., through Sept. 28 on PBS. Visit the above link for the full press release and local broadcast information. 201 ILR Extension Building Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 1-800-949-4232 (TTY and voice) NY, NJ, PR, USVI www.northeastada.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
