Why can’t I hear your website? Planning, Building and Maintaining Accessible Websites

This seminar includes a general, non-technical overview of accessibility and technical tools and techniques for developers. Cost: $25 for a half day; $45 for a full day.

Program Description
So you’ve got a great website, but can everyone use it? Some web design can create unnecessary barriers for people with vision or hearing impairments or for those who have difficulties grasping objects such as computer mice. Accessible design allows your website to work for all users; it doesn’t require people to see, hear, or use a standard mouse in order to access the information and services provided. Learn about web accessibility issues and specific technological solutions in this two-part, full-day workshop with leading experts in the field.

Who should attend?
Policy-makers, editors, writers, curators, education staff, designers, web designers, and developers. The morning session is geared toward non-technical staff, while the afternoon session focuses on the technical aspects of website accessibility. Staff are encouraged to attend in teams.

Presenters
Justin Obara, Colin Clark, and Jess Mitchell from the Fluid Engage Project

*Fluid Engage http://www.fluidproject.org/projects/fluid-engage/is a Mellon Foundation-funded software development project that that has a primary goal to develop the tools and resources needed for museums to create accessible online experiences, meeting legal commitments while at the same time making the experiences more usable and engaging for all visitors.

Agenda
This seminar will begin with a morning session dedicated to a general, non-technical overview of accessibility. The presenters will provide an overview of accessibility and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, which covers a wide range of recommendations for making Web content more accessible. They will also demonstrate assistive technologies and ways to develop and implement accessibility tests and personalized solutions.

In the afternoon session, the presenters will go into greater depth about technical tools and techniques for developers. They will begin discuss DHTML and accessibility, show some tips for developing keyboard navigation, review ARIA and widgets, survey accessible toolkits, show some of the Fluid solutions, and identify a few accessibility checkers and evaluators.

Schedule

Part I – General, non-technical overview
8:30 a.m.   Part I and full-day registration. Refreshments and networking.
9:00 a.m.   Program overview. What is accessibility?
10:00 a.m. Demonstration of assistive technologies
10:30 a.m. Overview of Accessible Techniques (WCAG 2.0)
11:00 a.m. Techniques for easy accessibility testing
11:30 a.m. Personalization (demo UI Options)

Lunch
12:00 p.m. Lunch and networking; Registration for Part II

Part II – Technical tools
1:00 p.m. Overview of accessible websites, including DHTML, Keyboard navigation, ARIA, and widgets
2:00 p.m. Survey of accessible toolkits
3:00 p.m. Infusion and UI Options
4:00 p.m. Checkers and evaluators

Cost
Special price! $25 for half a day, $45 for a full day. Other cost and payment notes:

• Tuition fees are waived for members of the Balboa Park Online Collaborative; registration is still required. To see if your institution is a member, visit www.bpoc.org/meet/members.
• Please contact bpcp@bpcp.org for information on group rates, student discounts, or, travel.
• Please pay on-site with cash or checks made payable to the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership; we are not able to accept credit card payments at this time.
• Lunch is included in the cost of the program for all participants.

Register by Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at bpcp@bpcp.org; please include your name, title, organization, email address and if you are registering for Part I, Part II, or the full day.  

Presenter Biographies

Jess Mitchell is the Project manager for Fluid (http://fluidproject.org/), a distributed community-source project, working closely with open source projects, museums and cultural institutions to improve visitor and user experience.  Jess works with a large team of distributed Fluid team members to produce accessible, high performance, clean and nimble front-ends using new technologies for the web and beyond.  Jess has worked on a number of large, complex, distributed projects, bridging gaps and fostering innovation.  Those projects have ranged from building the Ghana Internet Exchange Point to serving as co-Project Manager on the Duke Digital Initiative (iPod project +), and co-teaching an open source project course with 4th year students at Duke University.

Justin Obara is both a software developer and Quality Assurance manager for the Fluid Project. When not building JavaScript components for Fluid Infusion and Fluid Engage, he is busy managing product releases, enhancing and maintaining documentation, and assisting Fluid partner communities to get the most out of Fluid products.

Colin Clark is the technical lead for the Fluid community and a contributor to a variety of open source projects including jQuery UI, uPortal, and CollectionSpace. He has worked in the field of inclusive software design at the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre for over ten years. Colin is currently building open source mobile software for visitor engagement at art galleries and museums as part of the Fluid Engage project.

This program is co-presented by the Balboa Park Online Collaborative and the Balboa Park Learning Institute. The Balboa Park Online Collaborative is a collaborative technology project of The Legler Benbough Foundation. The Balboa Park Learning Institute is a collaborative professional development program supported in part by the 24 members of the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.