Archive of News and Announcements

Spring 2005 -- Accessible Design in Practice. Looking for specific methods for making your site accessible? Check out Access Matters: Seeking Best Practices -- a site dedicated to testing various coding solutions to common design questions, such has how to make text visible only to screen readers or whether or not skip navigation links should be visible to all.

Spring 2005 -- Web Access Award Winners Announced! On April 15, 2005, the WAC was pleased to present the 4th annual Web Access Awards to:

1. Glenn Donaldson, Rich Graham, Carol Larrimer, and Peter McMeen, the web design team for the OSU Buckeye Link (Student Services).
2. David Sugar, webmaster of the OSU Graduate School.
3. Robyn Ness, webmaster of the Ohio Watershed Network.

Winners were announced at the annual Office for Disability Services Recognition Reception. Want to find out what made these sites winners? Review the Award Presentation given by Lori Bailey at the Reception that features the winning aspects of each site.

Know a site that might deserve recognition? Learn more about the awards and nominate a site online at the ADA Coordinator's web site: About the Web Access Awards.

Spring 2005 -- Multiple Perspectives On Access Inclusion& Disability (April 11-13). Date: April 11-13, 2005. Location: Pfahl Executive Education and Conference Center on The Ohio State University Campus -- Choose between 30 pre-conference and concurrent sessions ranging from presentations on compliance by the Access Board and the EEOC to explorations of the role of disability in culture, history, politics and art. For a full program and on line registration visit: http://ada.osu.edu/conferences.htm

Spring 2005 -- Get recognized for your dedication to accessible design. Nominate your site today! The Web Access Awards were initiated as a way to recognize faculty, departments, colleges and programs that meet the university's standards for accessible web design (The Ohio State University Web Accessibility Policy) while demonstrating excellence in design and communication. Hurry, nominations must be received by April 8, 2005. Winners will be announced April 15, 2005 at the ODS Recognition Reception.

Spring 2005 -- Interested in Distance Learning and Accessibility? The Technology in Education International Conference and Exposition (TechEd) employs the promising practice of including a presentation strand dedicated to the topic of technology and people with disabilities. [from ACCESSIT]. The WAC will be there. How about you?

Spring 2005 -- Audism Unveiled: Screening and discussion with Prof. Dirksen Bauman, Deaf Studies, Gallaudet University. Date: Thursday, March 31 TIme: 4:30-6:00 p.m. Location: 1000 McPherson Lab, 140 West 18th Street. Free and Open to the public. Audism Unveiled is a collaborative production among students and faculty in the graduate and undergraduate programs in Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University. It will be presented by Dr. H-Dirksen L. Bauman, Associate Professor of Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University, and Ben Jarashow, Deaf Studies major and ASL storyteller. "Twenty-five years ago, the phrase "Audism" was coined by Thomas Humphries, a deaf scholar, to give name to the prejudice and bias that deaf and hard of hearing people have experienced based solely on hearing status…. " "[This film] explores the presence of audism in the lives and stories of deaf people…" -On The Green May, 16 2003 33(7). Sponsored By The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences; The ASL Program; The Disability Studies Initiative and the Office of the ADA Coordinator. The film is in ASL (American Sign Language); voice interpreting and CART (Computer Assisted Real Time Captioning) will be provided. For more information, contact Brenda Brueggemann at brueggemann.1@osu.edu .

Spring 2005 -- "Deaf Theory: New Perspectives on Spatial Form in Literature" Date: Friday, April 1. TIme: 11:30am-1:00pm. Location: Ohio State University Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities George Wells Knight House, 104 East 15th Ave. A talk with Professor Dirksen Bauman, Deaf Studies, Gallaudet University. Free and Open to the public. Light refreshments provided. ASL interpreted.Some Works by Prof. Bauman include:"A 'Voicing' Deaf Identity: Through the I's and Ears of an Other." In Getting a Life: Everyday Uses of Autobiography, eds. Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996: 47-62.Audism: Exploring the Metaphysics of Oppression. Redesigning Literature: Poetics of American Sign Language Poetry. Book Review: A Mighty Change: An Anthology of Deaf American Writing 1816-1864.Sponsored by OSU College of Arts and Sciences: The ASL Program; the Disability Studies Initiative; and the Office of the ADA Coordinator. For more information, contact Brenda Brueggemann at brueggemann.1@osu.edu.

Winter 2005 -- GAA Position Available at the WAC. Interested in issues of accessibility and technology in education? Have solid web design experience and excellent communication skills? The WAC is now accepting applications for our new Graduate Administrative Associate. Find out more and apply today: visit our detailed GAA job description.

Winter 2005 -- Bringing Accessibility to Your Campus. From our presentation at the OPEC-D/Ohio Ahead Annual Conference, February 24, 2005. Find out how to develop a web accessibility policy and standards for your campus. View the conference presentation and resources.

Winter 2005 -- Who is Responsible for Accessibility? From the National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE): "University of California at Berkeley and at Davis recently reached an out-of-court settlement in a class-action lawsuit that has potentially far reaching implications for how a university provides accommodations to students who are deaf or hard of hearing. "What is a university's responsibility to students with a disability? Should university programs be accessible from the outset, or should they make accommodations as needed?" [15 Feb 2005].

Winter 2005 -- More Options for Accessibility Testing. Connect Outloud ($249): from Freedom Scientific (makers of JAWS), this pared-down version of Internet-browsing only screen-reader technology offers a cheaper alternative to the full version of JAWS. As suggested in the WebAIM discussion forum (see discussion), Connect Outloud is also a less expensive alternative to consider for evaluating your site's accessibility. Free DEMO version available. Also, check out the WAC's list of assistive technology tools for web site testing.

Winter 2005 -- More PDF workshops! We've planned another great quarter of workshops to help you learn about and apply your accessible design skills. This quarter, we're focusing on creating accessible PDF documents from a variety of sources. Check out the upcoming workshop schedule and reserve your space today!

August 2004 -- Accessible Design Tips & Tricks. The WAC is currently collecting articles and resources to help you negotiate those difficult accessible design issues. Check out our current selection and send us your suggestions for additions. Featured Article: Accessible Javascript (from WebAIM).

August 2004 -- New product for accessible web publishing of mathematic formulas. We haven't tested it out yet, but this new product looks promising for those needing to publish complex formulas on the web. Check it out and send us your feedback:

June 2004 -- WAC Recommends: Easily create accessible PowerPoint. Web Publishing Accessibility Wizard for Microsoft ® Office Supporting PowerPoint, Word, and Excel: "This Accessibility Wizard simplifies the task of converting PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, and (in the future) Excel spreadsheets to accessible HTML through an easy-to-use user interface and automation of many of the details of conversion." Want to see a sample of the results? View the accessible PowerPoint presentations from our WAC workshops.

April 2004 -- Stay up-to-date! -- Join the WAC Listserv. Get news about accessibility policies and standards that affect you. Receive updated information on upcoming WAC events and workshops. Join the WAC listserv and stay informed about accessibility resources you can use. The listserv distributes announcements 1-3 times per month.

April 2004 -- Work at the WAC! -- Student employee needed. The WAC has an immediate opening for a student employee to work with the WAC Graduate Administrative Associate and support the mission of the WAC. Find out more: visit the WAC Job Openings page [note: position filled May 2004].

April 2004 -- WAC Workshops and Presentations: Beginning Spring 2004, the WAC will be offering a number of informational and hands-on workshops to help you explore, develop, and implement strategies for accessible web design and development. A different workshop will be offered roughly bi-weekly (check the Events page for an updated workshop schedule) and will be open to OSU faculty and staff.

April 2004 -- Revised Web Accessibility Standards: OSU announces its revised Web Accessibility Policy and Minimum Web Accessibility Standards. These standards go into effect June 30, 2004.

March 2004 -- Call for nominations! 2004 Web Access Awards. Nominate your favorite accessible site (including your own)! Deadline for nominations -- March 31, 2004.

February 2004 -- Check it out! WAC Tutorial: Best Practices. Confused by the difference between Section 508 and W.C.A.G. guidelines? This tutorial brings the guidelines together and helps you identify the top-priority guidelines for your web site. Included in this tutorial are detailed explanations and plenty of examples.