Members of the University of Colorado community can receive a 30 percent discount on the registration fees for next week鈥檚 Accessing Higher Ground - the 16th听annual Accessible Media, Web and Technology Conference, which will be held Nov. 4-8, 2013 at the Westin Hotel in Westminster, Colorado.
鈥淭he conference offers a unique opportunity to learn from speakers across the country 鈥� and some outside the country, including the keynote speaker 鈥� who are leaders in the field of Universal Design and accessibility. The concepts discussed at the conference are not simply about making information, websites and curricula more accessible, it鈥檚 about making them more usable, which should be a key goal of any course, product or system,鈥� said Howard Kramer, a proponent of the integration of Universal Design into curricula and a lecturer in Continuing Education at CU-Boulder.
This year鈥檚 conference theme is Universal Design in curriculum and the role of Universal Design in other areas of higher education. A full-day pre-conference workshop on Integrating UD into University Curriculum will be offered on Tuesday, Nov. 5, and will be presented by four educators who have been forerunners in teaching Universal Design at their institutions.
This year鈥檚 keynote, Dr. David Sloan, will discuss Teaching Universal Design - the Dundee Approach: A Discussion and Reflection of the University of Dundee Approach to Teaching Students Universal Design. The talk will take place at 1 p.m. on Nov. 6 and will cover how the University of Dundee came to give such focus to the topic of Universal Design, the key people and factors driving this initiative, their approach to implementation and the subjects covered. Dundee鈥檚 comprehensive approach included elements such as web standards and inclusive user experiences.
鈥淎 key take-away will be specific resources and methods for not only making curricula, courses and electronic resources more accessible and usable, but guidance on how to include content about Universal Design into courses and curricula,鈥� said Kramer.
The Universal Design track at Accessing Higher Ground is a project of Promoting the Integration of Universal Design in University Curriculum (UDUC), funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, to promote the integration of Universal Design content in university curriculum.
CU affiliates can register for the conference at a 30 percent discount. A limited number of scholarships are available for faculty, staff and students for the Nov. 5 pre-conference session on Integrating Universal Design into University Curriculum. The deadline to register is Friday, Nov. 1 at 3:00 p.m.
Additional sessions on Universal Design include:
- , Jonathan Lazar, Towson University
- , Kelly Roberts & Robert Stodden, Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii
- , Terrill Thompson, University of Washington
- , Korydon Smith, University at Buffalo
- , Julie Frese, University of the Rockies
- ,听Van Credle
To view the entire Universal Design track, visit:
The conference鈥檚 other areas of focus include the benefits of web standards and Universal Design for digital media along with strategies for making campus information resources accessible for students with disabilities and effective for all audiences.
You can view the entire agenda of over 60 sessions at:
An information and registration page for CU-Boulder and other CU campuses is at:
Please contact Howard Kramer at hkramer@colorado.edu or 303-492-8672 if you have any questions about the conference, the UDUC project or the scholarships for the preconference.
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Image Credit: "Tactile markings for the visually impaired, stairs."