[Chapter-delegates] Once again: accessibility and ISOC's website [was: Happy new year!]

Sun Jan 11 16:30:40 PST 2015

All,

I could not agree more with Gunela.  I will also mention that I have
attended the M-enabling conference and it is excellent~!

Sincerely,

Michael Burks
919 349 6661

On Sun, Jan 11, 2015 at 7:22 PM, Gunela Astbrink <g.astbrink at gsa.com.au>
wrote:

> Thank you, Kathy for your positive response. The Australian Chapter joins
> with the Disability and Special Needs Chapter in welcoming this interaction
> and offering assistance.
>
> It's good to hear that Lia Kiessling will be the main point of contact. I
> had some good discussions with Lia a few years ago about making disability
> awareness videos. Maybe ISOC can develop some videos relevant for different
> regions?
>
> As we know, Internet accessibility goes beyond web accessibility. ISOC may
> also wish to consider setting up an Accessibility Action Plan with key
> focus areas, responsibilities and timeframes.
>
> Accessibility for people with disability has become a mainstream issue
> with companies such as Google (http://www.google.com/
> accessibility/index.html), Apple (http://www.apple.com/
> accessibility/resources/) and Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/enable/)
> to just name three that have dedicated resources on accessibility with most
> of them embedding accessibility into their products to a greater or lesser
> extent. There's still a way to go though.
>
> The UK-based Business Technology Taskforce also provides resources for
> business on accessibility: http://technologytaskforce.org/  Companies
> such as Cisco are members. There is an Accessibility Maturity Model for use
> as a self-assessment tool designed for business but it could also be a
> useful indicator for ISOC as well.
>
> Thanks to Christian for highlighting the annual eAccess conference in the
> UK.
>
> Another excellent conference close to one of ISOC's head offices is
> mEnabling held annually in Washington DC: http://www.m-enabling.com/ This
> year it's on 1-2 June.
> I suggested a few years that an ISOC staff member participate in this but
> unfortunately the timing wasn't right. Maybe this year...
>
> There is plenty of information and guidance out there. Now it's a matter
> of harnessing it in a way that will be suitable for ISOC moving forwards on
> the Internet is for Everyone.
>
> I remain hopeful...
>
> Gunela
> Director, Internet Society of Australia
>
>
> Christian de Larrinaga said the following on 10/01/15 02:52 :
>
>  ditto -- Kathy's response is a welcome breath of fresh air.
>>
>> It may be worth pointing out that everybody has a challenge with
>> accessibility. Even with the best will in the world and tons of
>> experience it takes thought,effort and keeping all the many dependencies
>> in a row.
>>
>> A long time supporter of open web Dan Jellinek of Headstar
>> coincidentally wrote to me today about another of his eAccess events
>> coming up in February.
>>
>> " Are you excluding disabled people from websites, apps and other
>> digital services?
>>
>> Could you improve your accessibility and usability?
>>
>> eAccess 15: UK’s top event on access to digital services by disabled
>> people
>>
>> 24 February, Government Conference Centre, Westminster
>> www.eaccess-event.com
>>
>> In the digital age all public, private and third sector bodies must
>> ensure their websites, apps and other digital services are accessible to
>> disabled and older people for cost, efficiency, ethical and legal
>> reasons. eAccess 15 is the UK’s leading event on this topic.
>>
>> If there are any UK based contractors to ISOC web services this might be
>> a useful and timely resource.
>>
>> best
>>
>>
>> Christian
>>
>> Klaus Birkenbihl wrote:
>>
>>> Kathy,
>>>
>>> thanks for your answer and for providing me with a surprise, and
>>> apologies for the sarcasm in my mail - which I know is annoying but
>>> also expresses frustration and annoyance over endless, fruitless
>>> discussions. The surprise is: as reply to a concrete complain about an
>>> issue the issue was addressed and a concrete action was taken
>>> immediately - instead of the usual "we have big plans that will solve
>>> everything. Go away with your tiny issue, come back next year."
>>> (Plans, that cost time and money - and mostly produced more issues
>>> than solved.)
>>>
>>> So I'm inclined share Gunela's hope for improvements. We have these
>>> technologies developed and standardized by IETF and W3C, there are the
>>> tools that the community developed on base of these standards for
>>> supporting communication and work on the net. While the world picks
>>> them up, we should not be shy and also make best use of them. Would be
>>> better than installing expensive products that violate the standards
>>> and hardly do the job.
>>>
>>> Thanks for triggering the change,
>>> Klaus
>>>
>>> .
>>> Kathy Brown schrieb am 09.01.2015 um 13:00:
>>>
>>>> Klaus and all,
>>>>
>>>> We did, indeed, pick up your message --I meant to reply yesterday but
>>>> the day got away from me. We take time, though, to talk through your very
>>>> helpful intervention and to make some immediate improvements as per your
>>>> recommendations.
>>>>
>>>> As you rightly point out, we need to bake accessibility into our design
>>>> and initial planning for all communication. I agree that it is a quality
>>>> issue. It is also a "principle" issue. If we say that the Internet is for
>>>> everyone, we better mean everyone.
>>>>
>>>> We are about to begin an upgrade for the ISOC site. Now is the time to
>>>> set the design and quality standards for all aspects of our communications.
>>>> The BY THE NUMBERs piece was an attempt to make data alive--something I
>>>> think that is very important. Help us think through and perfect how to make
>>>> these type of design experiments work for everyone.
>>>>
>>>> Lia Kiessling will be point on this for Staff. Expert input is key to
>>>> the process so I asked her to reach out to you. There's also the Disability
>>>> and Special Needs Chapter that both you and Lia can coordinate with.  I
>>>> believe you have Lia's Skype details so I'll leave it with the two of you
>>>> to start this needed process.
>>>>
>>>> Thank you, again, for your quick, thorough and helpful contribution. We
>>>> all, together, need to continue to build the Internet and the Internet
>>>> Society for everyone.
>>>> Kathy Brown
>>>>
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
>>> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
>>> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>>>
>>
>>
> --
> Gunela Astbrink
> GSA InfoComm
> PO Box 600
> Ballina NSW 2478
> Australia
> Mobile: +61 417 715738
> Email: g.astbrink at gsa.com.au
> www.gsa.com.au
>
> _______________________________________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>
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