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Special Interest Group (SIG)SIG #6: Advocating for Accessible Design from Within Software OrganizationsWednesday, 6:30 - 7:30SIG outline and descriptionThis SIG is designed to allow participants to discuss how to advocate for accessibility from within a software organization or company. The meeting will be designed so participants will be able to share techniques and best practices for:
Relevance to the usability professionals' communitySince 1996, US Federal law has become increasingly direct with regard to accessibility -- software applications, Web sites and other electronic & information technologies should be accessible to people with disabilities. The 1996 US Dept. of Justice opinion defining Web sites as "public accommodations" (and thus under the purview of the Americans with Disabilities Act), Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act are all examples of this increased focus on providing equal access to electronic and information technologies (E&IT). Many other nations also require that software be accessible to people with disabilities. It's becoming increasingly clear that the average usability professional needs to be cognizant of accessibility considerations during the normal course of her work. Organization and schedule: The organizer will set the stage by introducing the purpose and goals for the SIG. The participants will then be probed to elicit additional or alternate goals. Any additional/alternate topics that are deemed worthy of discussion by the participant group will be added to the discussion item list. The organizer will then ask participants to decide whether they prefer to tackle the discussion items in breakout groups or as a single large group. The schedule for the SIG will depend on the participants' preferences. If participants prefer a single discussion group, the schedule will be organized as follows:
Facilitator's Backgrounds:Anthony Zablocki's background:Anthony Zablocki is a Human Factors Specialist with Intuit, Inc. He works on interaction design and usability validation for one of Intuit's professional tax preparation applications. Previously, Anthony was a user experience consultant with Luminant Worldwide and Idea Integration. He worked on large Web applications and E-learning projects for I2 Technologies, American Airlines, Compaq Computers, and The Associates. Anthony received his Master of Science in 1998 from the University of North Texas. His degree is in Computer Education and Cognitive Systems, with a focus on software design. Paul Sherman's background: Paul Sherman is Manager of Intuit's User-Centered Design group based in Plano, Texas. His group works with the development organization for one of Intuit's high-end professional tax preparation software applications. The group is also responsible for the usability of the product's website. Previously, Paul was a usability professional with Austin Usability. Some of the projects he worked on included usability testing and interface design for IT application providers, ecommerce businesses, financial planning and portfolio management software providers, and telecommunications hardware and software vendors. Before relocating to Texas, he was at Lucent Technologies in New Jersey, where he supervised the user interface design of several telecommunications management applications, and led efforts to develop cross-product user interface standards. Paul received his Ph.D. in 1997 from the University of Texas at Austin. His research focused on how pilots use of computers and automated systems on the flight deck affected their individual and team performance. As part of this work, Paul logged over 145 flights observing pilots in the cockpit during commercial airline flight operations. |
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