[Web4lib] NISO December Webinar: Unprecedented Access: Improving the User Experience for People with Print Disabilities

[Cynthia Hodgson]

NISO December Webinar: Unprecedented Access: Improving the User Experience
for People with Print Disabilities
 
Digital texts are often not fully accessible to people with any of a range
of print disabilities. As e books become more mainstream, in part because of
the improvements in digital reader technology, this information needs to be
equally available to the print-disabled. Librarians who provide either
full-text or abstracting and indexing systems to their communities of
scholars, students, and the general public must ensure that these complex
and rapidly-evolving resources are equitably accessible to everyone they
serve. Publishers need to either provide this accessibility with their
content or enable the libraries and end users to create this accessibility. 
 
NISO will be holding a webinar on December 8, 2010 from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
(Eastern Time) on Unprecedented Access: Improving the User Experience for
People with Print Disabilities that will cover the current state of print
accessibility standards, how standards are adopted and translated into
action, and how publishers are responding to increasing customer demand for
accessible information products.
 
SPEAKERS AND TOPICS
 
*         The State of Information Resource Accessibility Standards: DAISY
and WCAG
George Kerscher, Secretary General, DAISY Consortium <http://www.daisy.org/>

Learn about two of the major standards for making information resources
accessible: the NISO/DAISY Digital Talking Book (DTB) standard (ANSI/NISO
Z39.86 <http://www.niso.org/standards/z39-86-2005/> ) known as DAISY 3 and
the W3C Web Content <http://www.w3.org/WAI/>  Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) 2.0. The DTB standard is currently undergoing revision
<http://www.daisy.org/zw/Main_Page>  and expansion to two parts; Part A will
address authoring and interchange and Part B will focus on distribution.
 
*         Collaboration with Publishers: The Institutional Response to
Accessibility
Jon R. Gunderson <https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/jongund/www/> , Coordinator of
Assistive Communication and Information Technology Accessibility, University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Institutions need to collaborate and partner with publishers of
externally-acquired information to ensure it is accessible to the
print-disabled in their community. The Illinois <http://www.cita.uiuc.edu/>
Center for Information Technology and Web Accessibility (iCITA) has
successfully worked with publishers such as Ebsco and Elsevier to improve
the accessibility of their content that the university has licensed for
their students and faculty.
 
*         Opportunities and Challenges in Serving Customers with Print
Disabilities: The Publisher's Response to Accessibility
Alicia Wise, Director of Universal
<http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/intro.cws_home/access_dissemination>
Access, Elsevier 
Publishers around the world are waking up to the opportunities, and
challenges, of better serving their customers who are blind, dyslexic, or
who have other viewing- or reading-related disabilities. Find out what
initiatives are underway and the steps to take to begin ensuring that more
of your publications are accessible.
 
REGISTRATION
 
Registration is per site (defined as access for one computer). NISO and
NASIG members may register at a discounted rate. A student discount is also
available. Can't make it on the scheduled date or time? Registrants receive
access to the recorded version for one year, which can be viewed at your
convenience. 
 
For more information or to register, visit the event webpage:
http://www.niso.org/news/events/2010/accessibility