NetSquared, an initiative of TechSoup.org - accessibility

Results of Huge Experiment

Sharron Rush — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:55:53 -0400

Net2 called it a "huge experiment," and we took it in that spirit when we posted our ATSTAR program as a candidate - thanks for the opportunity to jump in with you! I am sharing results so far and would love to hear from others who posted projects.

ATSTAR - helping teachers use tech for kids with disabilities

Sharron Rush — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:58:52 -0400

Project Screenshot

Supporting organization

Knowbility

URL

www.atstar.org

Location

Texas, Colorado, Montana

Project Description

Assistive technology (AT) can be a lifeline for students with disabilities. As more students with learning differences, physical impairments, and cognitive and emotional disorders are educated in general education classrooms, teachers are challenged to meet the needs of those students. Kids with disabilities do better in school when they have access to the right technology supports.

ATSTAR brings AT expertise directly into the classroom. Using a series of online training modules, an online community of AT experts to mentor teachers, and fully accessible captioned video case studies to guide teachers through the process of AT assessment and implementation, ATSTAR pilots have demonstrated that teachers gain expertise and kids benefit.

A teacher in a rural Montana school house, teaching grades K-8 in one classroom, used the ATSTAR program to find a technology solution for a second grader with cerebral palsy. The student is bright and because of mobility and speech impairments needs alternative input and output devices for communication of lessons. The ATSTAR method guided the teacher and parents to the right solution so that the student has the support she needs to succeed in school.

Recent technology improvements have made the ATSTAR program ready for national dissemination. Contact Kathy carmain for more information: kathy at knowbility dot org .

United Nations takes a crack at online accessibility issues

Katie Laird — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 09:58:06 -0500

I ran across information on a recent United Nations accessibility review of 100 different Web sites from 20 countries around the world. Their grade? Big Fat F for Failure

Only 3 of those 100 actually made a decent score, which is just pathetic. Specifically:

German chancellor's site: http://www.bundeskanzlerin.de
British prime minister's site: http://www.primeminister.gov.uk
Spanish government site: http://www.la-moncloa.es/default.htm

Benetech founder Jim Fruchterman honored as MacArthur Fellow for using technology for social change

Celeste W of studio 501c — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:09:43 -0400

Jim Fruchterman was named a MacArthur genius yesterday. You can find links to his blog and to a couple of bloggers who know him at my blog, studio 501c.

Tuesday at the Pub with NetSquared Houston

Michael Martinez — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 21:34:03 -0400

I have only recently become aware of NetSquared Houston through their Meetup page. Last Tuesday I attended my second meeting with the NetSquared group. Ed Schipul asked me to share my thoughts here, based on a post I made on my blog. You can read the longer, original post there.

The NetSquared Houston events are organized/hosted by Ed Schipul of Schipul Web Marketing. I'm still learning about what NetSquared really is all about. So far, it's made a much better impression upon me than Wikipedia. I've come to feel that NetSquared is about putting the influencing powers of Web mongers like me to work for the greater good -- online, offline, wherever.

Google Labs explores accessibility

Sharron Rush — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:24:11 -0400

Disabled computer users often regard their browsers as a lifeline to the world. But during last year's natural disasters, it became very clear that the lifeline was tenuous - perhaps broken entirely - as so many relief sites were not accessible to those who need them most. To help people with disabilities find what they need more easily, Google Labs released a new product yesterday. Called Accessible Search, it optimizes pages based on some key accessibility features, including alt text, keyboard navigation, simple language and so forth. The idea is to save blind users the wasted time and frustration of trying to get information from inaccessible sites. To see how your standard search stacks up against the accessible searc, try out this comparison tool

EasyJournal makes blogging accessible

Sharron Rush — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:51:28 -0400

We saw a bunch of cool new tools at the conference. It seemed like blogging was a very big deal for attendees thinking in new ways about communicating their mission-based work. I was inspired to become hyper-alert to identifying accessible, equivalent tools and communication methods. In that spirit, I offer EasyJournal as a tool that meets accessibility standards, but more importantly that opens up the blogging experience for millions. The most well-known blogging tools may create accessible pages - usually mostly text, after all. The problem comes when someone - the student at the school for the blind, perhaps or the personnel administrator with quadriplegia - who can't use a mouse tries to post a blog. It doesn’t work well. It is difficult, perhaps impossible for the person with a disability to have the blogging experience using well-known tools because thecontent creation interface is not accessible. The interface for EasyJournal was designed with accessibility in mind, however and you might consider trying it. It’s free, it’s accessible, and it requires no additional software.

Accessibility - make it happen!

Sharron Rush — Wed, 31 May 2006 12:54:49 -0400

If you are trying to solve accessibility barriers for your software and / or Web 2.0 site, we will host a round table during the 3:15 sessions. Anyone having accessibility interest, expertise or phobia...come join me and Glenda the Goodwitch for a lively problem solving session.

Jayne Cravens Introduction

jcravens — Mon, 22 May 2006 10:36:01 -0400

So sorry to be joining the discussion so late! I'm Jayne Cravens (http://www.coyotecommunications.com), and I'll be coming from Germany to attend the NetSquared conference. I was one of the first people to create a web site to help nonprofits with technology many years ago, but most of you probably know me from my work in the last 10 years regarding online volunteering, first with the Virtual Volunteering Project (http://www.serviceleader.org/old/vv), and then at the United Nations Development Programme/UN Volunteers (http://www.onlinevolunteering.org). I'm now more focused on broader nonprofit management issues, particularly in the developing world and particularly regarding volunteer/community involvement (http://www.coyotecommunications.com/volunteer), but I still have a strong passion regarding nonprofits and technology, promoting accessibility for people with disabilities, as well as for people using "old" or "vintage" technology, and helping to provide a reality check for the tech world regarding nonprofit resources.

Mobilizing communities around tech access for disabled

Sharron Rush — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:17:30 -0400

Project Screenshot

Supporting organization

Knowbility.org

URL

http://www.knowbility.org/air/?content=home

Location

Austin, Houston, Boston, Indianapolis, other citeis

Project Description

Since 1998, Knowbility's AIR (Accessibility Internet Rally) program has introduced tech professionals to the concept of making applications accessible to everyone - including people with disabilities. Using tech sector networks and listserves, Knowbility issues a challenge to the local technology community in cities throughout the country:

Create a team of 4 - 6 people. Come take our classes about how and why technology can and must be made accessible. Then, have the chance to win glory for your team when you demonstrate your new skills in a web design contest.

While this challenging message is distributed in the community, the AIR program teaches small local nonprofit organziations how to think about putting relevant parts of their mission-based work online. NPOs are prepared to be effective clients and to communicate their needs to their tech team. After Web 101 training for the NPOs and successive accessibility training for the tech pros, each team is assigned to their NPO "client" for one high-energy work day in a local tech center.

The result:

Dozens of nonprofit organziations that serve the arts, health, human service, environmental needs of local communities receive professionally designed web sites that they could otherwise not afford;
People with disabilities experience improved access to online resources and nonprofit servics, because the sites are designed to be accessible.
Tech pros learn useful accessible design techniques that they can incorporate into their daily work, improving accessibility throughout the greater Web
Everyone understands more about how and why to make technology accessible
Relationships are forged throughout the city between the tech sector and the nonprofit community.
Everyone has a meaningful volunteer experience, using skills in which they are expert.

AIR is a unique community collaboration that produces benefits far beyond the basic goal of raising awareness of technology access issues for people with disabilities. It has been recognized for excellence and innovation by the Peter Drucker Foundation, the US Department of Labor and many, many others. To bring AIR to your city, contact Knowbility at knowbility.org.