oct. 12 Conference to look at accessibility
Fri., Oct 12
On Fri., Oct. 12, from 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m., the Disability Resource Center and the Access Computing Team (ACT) at Southern Connecticut State University will hold a conference on "Technology Accessibility in Higher Education: Facilitating Learning for All Students -- A Day for Exploring the Possibilities." To be held in the Michael J. Adanti Student Center Ballroom, the conference is designed primarily for those who work in higher education: faculty, IT staff, librarians, student services providers, and college administrators.
The program will consist of workshops, keynote addresses by two leaders in the technology accessibility field, and a demonstration of the SCSU Center for Adaptive Technology. Workshops will cover a range of topics, including making campus and instructional technology accessible to all; meeting legal requirements for technology accessibility; solving common problems to ensure access to technology; fostering a campus climate that respects and celebrates diversity; and discovering free tools that assist in addressing access needs of persons with disabilities.
The morning keynote will be delivered by Terry Thompson, senior computer specialist with the University of Washington (UW) and technology specialist with AccessComputing, a collaborative project led by the UW's Department of Computer Science and Engineering and DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology), funded by The National Science Foundation.
Virginia W. Stern, who directs the Project on Science, Technology, and Disability at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), will deliver a second keynote address. Stern has expertise in science and engineering education for students with disabilities at all levels and has served on the advisory boards of government agencies and NGOs, including the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, and the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing.
The registration deadline is October 5, 2007. A conference brochure and online registration form are available at: http://www.southernct.edu/drc/upcomingevents/
The $100 dollar registration fee for the first 60 registrations is being underwritten with funding from Southern Connecticut Sate University and the University of Washington's Project DO-IT. For more information about the conference, contact Suzanne Tucker at tuckers1@southernct.edu or Jaime Toth at tothj1@southernct.edu.
