Thanks to everyone who came out to the meeting last night. If you didn’t make it, you missed a great presentation on accessibility!

Watching how a screen reader user navigates a website was “eye opening”. Great discussion and lots of interaction by people who attended, including many “I didn’t know that” moments made this one of our best meetings ever.

Some highlights from the meeting:

• 85% of the population has a disability that affects computer use
• There is slow progress toward making sites accessible - Newspaper websites are “getting it”, laying out their sites in a more linear fashion
• When your website is not accessible, it’s not just affecting a blind user, it’s affecting a blind business person
• TEITAC recommendations for Section 508 (thanks to Mike Paciello of The Paciello Group)
• Google has accessible search, with no ads
• Web Accessibility Resource List (Word) from Cathy McAdam
• Web Accessibility Presentation Summary and Resources (Word) from Mary Donnelly

Thanks to Nick DeNardis and EduCheckUp for spreading the news about our meeting.

It was our first meeting at Washtenaw Community College, which meant we had plentiful, free parking, signage for the event, a fantastic meeting room, with projector and a computer. Small things, I know, but it meant I didn’t have to coordinate getting a laptop and projector or worry about other meeting logistics.

Video courtesy of VC Web Services