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The Northeast ADA & IT Center at Cornell University provides training, technical assistance and materials on the ADA and accessible information technology throughout New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This monthly technical bulletin is part of our dissemination efforts and if you do not want to receive this document or would like others from your organization added to our list, please call 1-800-949-4232 or reply to this message. Thank you SAVE THE DATE: ADA Symposiums in New York and New Jersey ADA & 15 Years: Where Do We Go From Here? Tuesday, October 25th Syracuse, NY Oncenter Complex, 800 South State Street, Syracuse, NY 8:30 am - 3:30 pm (VESID Town Meeting is being held from 3:30-5) Tuesday, November 1st, Edison, NJ 2085 Route 27, Edison, NJ 8:30 am - 3:30 pm Who Should Attend?
Disaster Relief for Independent Living Centers in the Gulf Coast area From: ILRU "As you may know, the Centers for Independent Living in Biloxi, Mississippi and New Orleans have been gravely affected by the hurricane. In fact the Biloxi, MS center was totally destroyed. Many of you are asking how you can help. Here is what we have learned from colleagues in those states. Sending money is the first priority. Sending supplies to those centers is helpful too but NOT RIGHT NOW, because they can't get through the water. Here are the suggested options for right now: 1) Send a check or credit card payment to the Red Cross and designate it for Hurricane Relief, or designate it for people with disabilities in the Biloxi/Hattiesburg or New Orleans areas. 2) If you want to send money for the CILs that are dealing with this disaster directly, here are your options: For the Biloxi Center, mail the check (payable to LIFE of Central MS and designated for the Biloxi Center) to: LIFE of Central Mississippi 754 North President Street, Suite 1 Jackson, MS 39202 For the centers in Louisiana (make checks payable to Resources for Independent Living - this is a branch of the N.O. center - and designate for the New Orleans center)and mail to: Resources for IL 11931 Industriplex Blvd. Suite 200 Baton Rouge, LA 70809 We have also learned from Mack Marsh of the Shreveport Center that centers in Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and Lake Charles are assisting evacuees. Mack says they would also appreciate supplies if there is any way to get those supplies to the centers. His list includes: manual wheelchairs, hospital beds, adult diapers, bed pads, catheters and other supplies. The address for the Baton Rouge center is shown above, addresses for the Shreveport and Lake Charles centers follow. Southwest LA Independence Center, Inc. Mitch Granger 1202 Kirkman, Suite C Lake Charles, LA 70601 New Horizons, Inc. Jerry Kidwell 9300 Mansfield Road, Suite 204 Shreveport, LA 71118 We will keep you informed of any additional ways that you can help. Feel free to forward this information to other people interested in the needs of people with disabilities affected by this disaster." New Resources for Creating Accessible PDF documents 1. BOOK: Accessible and Useable PDF Documents: Techniques for Document Authors ISBN 0-9738246-1-1 Author: Karen McCall, M.Ed. This 175 page book will be an invaluable reference tool for anyone working with PDF documents who wants to ensure their documents are accessible and usable. With the inclusion of 75 support documents to work through and examine, you will already have many of the solutions you need. Tips and techniques you work through will also help in making legacy PDF documents more accessible and usable. This book is only available through IRTI, Innovative Rehabilitation Technology, Inc.. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Catalogue web site: http://www.irti-cat.peachhost.com/ct_CGdaisytalkingbookproducts.htm The author, Karen McCall, provides on-site training and workshops on creating more accessible and usable PDF documents. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more information on training sessions. 2. WEB CONFERENCES: EASI 4-part Live, Web Conference on Creating PDF Documents Accessible and Usable PDF Documents: Techniques for Document Authors Presenter: Karen McCall November 1, 8, 15 and 29 The four Web conferences in the series are: Week One: Getting Our Bearings Week Two: Tagging and Repair Tools Week three: Intermediate Techniques Week Four: The Next Step This PDF series is another in EASI's series of hands-on, online, instructional Web conferences. These fee-based series are $150 for each 4-part series. When you register for the live series, you will also have access to the recording of the presentation. Read more details and locate online registration at: http://easi.cc/clinic.htm 3. ARTICLE: Facts and Opinions About PDF Accessibility Written by Joe Clark Published in: A List Apart's Accessibility Section ( http://alistapart.com/topics/userscience/accessibility/) Contrary to popular opinion - and also contrary to quasi-judicial claims in some places - PDF documents can be no less accessible than HTML. While this may be a shocking revelation, it is nonetheless true. This article will explain how PDF does and does not support accessibility. IBM DONATES ACCESSIBILITY CODE TO FIREFOX By Dinesh C. Sharma, CNET News.com Published on ZDNet News: August 15, 2005 ( http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5833354.html) IBM will donate code to the Firefox browser that will make the application more usable for people with visual or other types of disabilities. According to the World Health Organization, as many as one billion people worldwide have a speech, vision, hearing, mobility, or cognitive disability, and legislation in at least some countries sets requirements for accessibility of information for individuals with disabilities. Expected in the 1.5 release of Firefox, the code from IBM will allow Firefox users to manipulate and navigate Web pages without a mouse or with reduced numbers of keystrokes. The code also facilitates "rich Internet applications," which are designed for individuals with specific disabilities. Previously, IBM has helped the Mozilla Foundation, the maker of Firefox, make the browser compatible with Microsoft Active Accessibility, a widely used standard for accessibility tools such as screen readers. A Guide to Disability Statistics The Cornell StatsRRTC (Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Demographics and Statistics) is pleased to announce the release of A Guide to Disability Statistics from the American Community Survey (ACS), which may be downloaded at http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/edicollect/123/ . This guide describes the ACS -- a Census Bureau survey -- and the capacity of the ACS to generate statistics on the demographic characteristics, employment status, and economic well-being of people with disabilities. The ACS Guide is the first in a series of data source guides to be released by the Cornell StatsRRTC , which is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). For more information about the ACS Guide and the StatsRRTC or disability statistics in general, please feel free to email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or call us at (607)255-9605. Self-paced Web Course for Braille Transcription The American Federation for the Blind Solutions Forum, in conjunction with AFB's National Education Program, National Literacy Center and National Web Department took a lead role in offering new skills to braille transcribers in offering a self-paced web course. The goals of the course are to achieve improved and more efficient braille production from publishers' source files and to provide a training opportunity for braille transcribers who are not experienced in working with the source files, but who are knowledgeable with braille translation software. The AFB Textbooks and Instructional Materials Solutions Forum would like to contact specific individuals within educational systems to inform them about this web course for braille transcribers. If you or someone else in your organization is interested in knowing more about the Braille transcription online course, contact: Marie Amerson Communications and Collaboration Work Group Leader AFB Accessible Textbooks and Instructional Materials Solutions Forum 2210 Plantation Drive Macon, Georgia 478-746-5697 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 201 ILR Extension Building Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 1-800-949-4232 (TTY and voice) NY, NJ, PR, USVI www.northeastada.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
