Where: Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor, Michigan. We will be meeting in Room 103 at the Morris Lawrence Building (map). Plenty of free parking is available adjacent to the building.

When: Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Speaker: Mary Donnelly, Senior User Experience Consultant at Evantage Consulting and Cathy McAdam, ACSW

Abstract

Making the web usable for all visitors is the primary goal of creating an accessible website. The W3C estimates that close to 20% of all website visitors have some form of disability, whether cognitive, visual, hearing, or physical. These disabilities affect how visitors access a website, whether on a computer with assistive technology, laptop, or cell phone.

Learn what website accessibility is, why it is important, and what you as a web professional can do to provide a more accessible website for all website visitors. See how a screen reader views a web page and discover the different methods for testing website accessibility.

Mary Donnelly is a senior user experience consultant with Evantage Consulting. Her extensive experience includes user needs analysis, low and high fidelity prototyping, usability testing, research study design, and heuristic evaluation and assessment.

At the March 2008 EKU Web Accessibility Conference, Mary presented “An accessibility study of an online resource directory geared towards people with disabilities and seniors.”

Mary is an HFI Certified Usability Analyst, a member of the Usability Professionals’ Association, and the Society of Technical Communication.

Cathy McAdam, ACSW, has 20 years experience in rehabilitation medicine as a medical social worker at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan.

In 1999, Cathy started her own company as a consultant focused on advocacy for assistive technology, and provision of career development services. She runs a tutor program for libraries for basic computer skills for Greater Detroit Agency For The Blind and Visually Impaired.

She leads grants focused on assistive technology for people with disabilities to drive systemic change that will permanently improve access to assistive technology devices and services, check out Cathy’s website.

Her focus on career development is closely linked to her drive to impact the availability and use of assistive technology to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities. She is a primary consultant for DiverseAbility.

Please comment if you plan on attending. Thanks!

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