Greetings from the Accessing Higher Ground Conference (AHG) in Boulder, Colorado. The weather out here has been amazing at 65-70 degrees during the day (but I have been inside at sessions!) and a bit cooler in the evening. Not a bad place to hang out a learn a few new things.
AHG is a great conference in that it tends to have very knowledgable speakers while not having a huge number of sessions. Additionally, the AHG conference tends to have excellent sessions targeted specifically to access technologists in the higher education field. In any case, I am sure you are more interested in what has gone on over the last two days, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer.
Thursday, Nov. 10
The User Experience: Accessibility and Usability in the Online Environment - Robert Todd and Marsha Allen, Georgia Tech/CATEA
Some interesting research is going on right now at CATEA regarding the usability of content that has been designed to be accessible. In part, they are focusing on not only making Web page content accessible, but also attempting to make the Web pages usable by individuals using assistive technology. Specifically, they are attempting to narrow down best practices regarding what strategies should be considered when creating Web pages in order to make content more usable. Creating Web content that passes the W3C guidelines or Section 508 Standards is a necessary step, but creating Web content that can actually be used by individuals with assistive technology is important. Check out their projects at: http://www.catea.org/projects.php
From Grassroots to Policy: Web Accessiblity policy at Colorado State University - Marla Roll and Kevin Nolan, CSU
A good presentation on what has been happening at Colorado State University regarding the development and implementation of a Web accessibility policy at the institution. Some key points:
- seek out other institutions that are of similar size and function and review their policies for a starting point
- have a champion that will be willing to support the process
- need to be flexible in the final draft of the document - it may not be the strongest language that you want
You can find more information on their policy at: http://accessibility.colstate.edu/policy/webaccesspolicy.html
Friday, Nov. 11
What you need to know about Web standards - Daniel Frommelt, Univ. of Wisconsin, Platteville
A real in-depth session on the use of XHTML and CSS at the university level. What was perhaps most interesting was the information on how much bandwidth/server processing can be saved by moving to a XHTML/CSS type design. Also in this session, there were several techniques identified such that you could still support your Netscape 4.x users while still utilizing the latest CSS techniques (hint: use the @import function). More information (and the server details) can be found at: http://www.uwplatt.edu/web/webstandards
Aural CSS and Voice XML: Improving Access while Maintaining Web Standards - Daniel Frommelt, Univ. of Wisconsin, Platteville
Fantastic session on Voice XML and Aural CSS and where the technology is headed. So far, Opera is the only web browser to support this technology. The presentation can be accessed at: http://www.uwplatt.edu/web/AuralCSS/