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Even Grounds Blog
In this blog, I will reflect on issues which effect the accessibility of technology. I would like to bring certain issues to my readers attention which are either interesting, directly effect our lives, or bring issues into our attention which we would have never thought of.
Tom Babinszki, Director of Even Grounds
Accessible Web Conferences
Web conferences provide a convenient option of participating in an event while people are not physically present in the venue. But this technology is more than an option to persons with disabilities. Web conferences present a valuable means for persons with disabilities to join events they might otherwise not be able to attend due to their impairments.
It is therefore a good idea to make sure that the web conferences you would create would be accessible to this group of Internet users. Similarly, if you are acquiring the services of web conference providers, you should also see to it that the service you would get is accessible for persons with disabilities.
Here are some of the major features an accessible web conference should have, and three accessible conferencing solutions to get you started.
Encontro Internacional de Tecnologia: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Greetings from Brazil. I'm currently attending the Encontro Internacional de Tecnologia conference. This conference explores how to obtain and promote assistive technology in Brazil. I was invited to speak about assistive technologies, where I discussed the relation of assistive technologies and accessible mainstream technologies.
Stevie Wonder Becomes UN Messenger of Peace: a personal reflection
On this international day of Persons with Disabilities, Stevie Wonder was named to be a UN Messenger of Peace. So, let this be an unusual post celebrating this event, instead of tearing this event apart, I would like to share a couple of personal memories I have about Stevie.
Accessibility in the Philippines
We are getting ready to teach an accessibility course in the Philippines. To provide more information about the country, read the situation about accessibility. As a developing Asian country, the Philippines realizes the importance of accessibility to its disabled citizen. In this blog post, we will take a look at the present situation of accessibility in this country.
Limitations of Web Accessibility
Many documents have been written about web accessibility. This is only appropriate as web accessibility covers a considerably large amount of topics. However, similar to any principle, web accessibility also has its set of limitations.
Here, we will try to point out those limitations in order for you to better understand web. Accessibility. It is important to note though that experts are presently working on these issues to address or improve them.
Blind People Want to Play, Too
Alexander Stern filed a lawsuit against Sony because according to ADA the company does not make games more accessible. And before we shrug this off by saying that they can't make blind people see anyway, let's look at some of the implications.
Will Section 508 Be Taken More Seriously?
Just recently, the National Federation of the Blind filed the third Section 508 related complaint in a row. Will this change how seriously Section 508 compliance will be taken?
Accessibility Is Not Only for the Technically Knowledgeable
It is true that in order to make technology accessible, you may need to perform
complex procedures and modifications to the technology. But this doesn’t mean that
you can’t do anything if you don’t know how to perform the required standard
procedures and tasks. Even if you do not have much technical knowledge, you can
still help a lot in making technology accessible.
Petition to Google to Develop Accessible Sites
Just recently, Mike Gifford (@mgifford) started a petition to google for developing more accessible sites. Gifford is asking google to create standards compliant, accessible sites, to set an example as google code and design is often copied by developers. But let's see what happened behind the scenes.
Accessibility Conference Reviews
Have you ever found yourself in one of the following situations?
- You wanted to go to a conference, but you weren't sure which is the best one?
- You went to a conference and liked it so much that you want to tell people about it?
- You went to a conference and found out that it was not worth the budget you have devoted to it?
- You went to a conference which was great but something else would have benefited you more?
The new accessibility conference reviews should help you make a better informed decision next time before you decide on a trip.
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