Editors: Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend this event without charge.
A playwright who uses wit and humor to describe his Minnesota boyhood and other adventures will be the keynote speaker at an assistive technology conference co-sponsored by the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Kevin Kling, a frequent National Public Radio commentator, will speak at the ninth annual Accessing Higher Ground Conference on Assistive Technology and Accessible Media in Higher Education, which will focus on the latest advancements in high-tech applications for people living with disabilities.
The conference will take place Nov. 7-10 at the Millennium Harvest House and feature national assistive technology experts. Sponsors include the Coleman Institute, Dolphin Computer Access, the Colorado/Wyoming Consortium of Support Programs for Students With Disabilities and several CU-Boulder departments, including the assistive technology lab and disability services office.
"We're bringing together experts who can educate students, staff, faculty and the general public on the availability and potential benefits of assistive technology in business and education," said Howard Kramer, coordinator of both the conference and the university's assistive technology lab. "Participants will learn about -- and test drive -- the latest software and other technologies that enable equal access to the Internet and other communication tools."
Participating organizations will include the National Center for Accessible Media, Web Accessibility in Mind, Equal Access to Software and Information, the Association on Higher Education and Disability, and Access Technologists Higher Education Network.
More than 40 workshops and hands-on labs will be presented on topics such as Web and media access, Americans With Disabilities Act compliance, legal requirements and policy issues, and accommodations for students with learning, visual and physical disabilities.
Keynote speaker Kling built a reputation in the 1990s with his groundbreaking plays "21A" and "Fear and Loving in Minneapolis." His NPR pieces include "Acting the Swan to Overcome the Duck," an essay in which he discusses how Shakespeare's "Richard III" helped him come to terms with a disability.
"When I get discouraged, I just look at our two wiener dogs because they are the best example of a can-do attitude in a can't-do body," Kling wrote four months after an Aug. 11, 2001, motorcycle accident forced him to undergo extensive medical treatments, including reconstructive plastic surgery.
Other conference events will include a screening of "Sound and Fury," followed by a question-and-answer session with the film's director, Josh Aronson, and a final lunchtime panel on the issues of deaf cultural identity, technology and the concept of disability raised by Aronson's film about cochlear implants and their affect on two families.
For a complete agenda, workshop listing and registration form visit the conference Web site at or call CU Conference Services at (303) 492-5151.