An annual assistive technology conference co-sponsored by the University of Colorado at Boulder will highlight Web and media access in higher education and business as well as cutting-edge tools for people living with sensory, physical and learning disabilities.
The 10th annual Accessing Higher Ground Conference on Assistive Technology and Accessible Media in Higher Education will take place Nov. 6 to Nov. 9 at the Millennium Harvest House in Boulder. Several national leaders in the field of assistive technology and media will unite at the event to educate CU-Boulder students, staff, faculty and the general public on the availability and potential benefits of assistive technology in education and business.
Conference coordinators said the event would feature hands-on labs and more than 50 other workshops on topics that include Web and media access; compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act; legal requirements and policy issues; and accommodations for students with visual impairments and/or physical and learning disabilities.
This year聮s keynote speaker will be E.A. Draffan, a British speech-and-language therapist who specializes in dyslexia and assistive technology. Draffan, who works with a University of Southampton research group, has worked with disabled college students, set up an assistive technology center and has developed an assistive technologies database.
Participating organizations will include Web Accessibility in Mind, or WebAIM; Equal Access to Software and Information, or EASI; the Association on Higher Education and Disability, or AHEAD; Access Technologists Higher Education Network, or ATHEN; and the National Braille Association.
CU-Boulder聮s Disability Services Office, Assistive Technology Lab, Office of Diversity and Equity and Information Technology Council are co-sponsoring the event. Other partners include Dolphin Computer Access and the Colorado/Wyoming Consortium of Support Programs for Students with Disabilities.
Conference activities will include:
-- A full day of hands-on preconference workshops by WebAIM on Web accessibility titled 聯Web Accessibility Evaluation with WAVE 4.0 and Advanced Applications of Basic Accessibility Principles.聰 The organization also will present labs and lectures on Web accessibility during the main conference.
-- The National Braille Association will present a full day of sessions on topics related to Braille conversion of math and science material, the creation of tactile graphics and the use of programs such as Word to create Nemeth and standard Braille.
-- Jan Carroll of the American Printing House for the Blind will present a hands-on session on 聯Word for Braille Translation聰 and Lucia Hasty of the National Braille Association will give a lecture on the 聯Design of Tactile Graphics.聰
A full conference agenda, workshop listings and registration forms can be accessed at .
For more information, call CU Conference Services at (303) 492-5151. For more program information, call Howard Kramer at (303) 492-8672. Except for meals and some special events, the conference is free for the CU-Boulder campus.