Knowbility News
Winter 2006 Issue of Knowbility News:
In this issue:
Welcome from Molly Holzchlag
With the skies somewhat overcast but the weather delightfully warm, Austin welcomed An Event Apart this past November 6th. Jeffrey Zeldman, Eric Meyer, Jason Santa Maria and myself gave a series of presentations to an enthusiastic, savvy audience in the charmingly funky and historic Alamo Draft House. Read more about Molly and An Event Apart.
What's Up with Accessibility in 2007: by Sharron Rush
Access to the web for people with disabilities is a topic that has gained a lot of attention in the years since 1999, when Knowbility was founded. At that time, the WCAG 1.0 Guidelines were still in Draft versions. Section 508 had been reauthorized, but the standards that would define web accessibility for US government agencies had yet to be adopted. It was not at all uncommon to receive blank stares from highly experienced programs and web developers if the subject of "web accessibility" was introduced. As 2006 draws to a close, that has changed dramatically. Read about YouTube, Flicker, AJAX and more.
Knowbility partners with The University of Texas at Austin Electrical and Computer Engineering Department for the all-new Universal by Design Competition (UDC): by Annie Hudson
Knowbility and The University of Texas at Austin Electrical and Computer Engineering Department are partnering to sponsor UDC - a contest in which teams of senior engineering and computer science students from the University of Texas at Austin will be challenged to extend the idea of accessibility beyond the web using concepts of digital convergence. This contest will further close the digital divide by training students to answer the call to simplify products to the point of eliminating any learning curve, hence "no training needed." Read more about the new Universal By Design contest.
The First AIR for Texas High School Students
The Accessibility Internet Rally for High Schools (AIR- High) 2006: by Annie Hudson
Based on Knowbility's award-winning Accessibility Internet Rally for Austin (AIR-Austin), AIR-High 2006 was a first-ever statewide web design competition for Texas high schools. The AIR-High program includes web accessibility training for tech educators, web casts and listserves to support the effort and a contest that encourages webmaster students to apply the techniques of accessible web design and submit their best sites to compete for awards and scholarships prizes. More about AIR-High .
AIR Houston: by Becky Myers
AIR-Houston wrapped up its third successful year with 12 new Web sites and some tough competition. More Web professionals joined in this year's program, coming from agencies, academia and government entities. This year's competitors raised the bar on accessible design, with the final points standing coming within one-half of a point between the top teams. Learn more and view these new sites .
AIR Austin: by Teenya Franklin
It all began on October 3rd, 2006 at 6 pm as Scholz Beer Garden became alive with energy, electricity and the enthusiastic exchange of thoughts and plans as over 150 AIR-Austin 2006 participants met each other for the first time. Hugh Forrest our friend (and 2006 AIR-Austin Chair) from SXSW - acted as our Emcee and began the evening by asking each nonprofit to step forward and tell us about their mission. As each nonprofit completed their speech Hugh announced their team and the two were brought together as one. For the next 18 days the teams and their nonprofit partners planned and envisioned the sites to soon be created. Find out more about AIR-Austin and view the sites .
ATSTAR: by Beth Watson
Knowbility's ATSTAR — Assistive Technology Strategies, Tools, Accommodations and Resources, continues to gain momentum in the K-12 school systems. Our pilot programs are complete, with positive comments and lots of encouragement from the users. We've helped many teams implement this effective way of communicating, aiding, and improving a disabled student's learning experience. Read the latest news about ATSTAR .