November 29 – December 1 2006 at La Trobe University,
Bundoora, Victoria (near Melbourne), Australia.
Keynote Speakers
- Madeleine Rothberg
- Madeleine Rothberg is the Director of Research and Development for the WGBH National Center for Accessible Media. She focuses on providing access to multimedia and educational technology for users with disabilities, both through directly accessible solutions such as captions, talking software, and audio description, and with improvements in infrastructure through standards. Madeleine established the IMS Global Learning Consortium’s Accessibility Working Group, creating the Access For All specifications for accessible distance learning systems. She also served on the technical panel that developed the NIMAS standard for accessible textbooks. Previously she directed an NSF-funded research project developing prototypes and guidelines to make science, engineering and mathematics multimedia software accessible to blind and visually impaired students. Before joining WGBH, Madeleine developed educational software at Learningways, a division of Davidson and Associates. She has an Ed.M. in Technology in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education.
- Andrew Arch
- Andrew is a world-renowned Australian expert in accessible Web design. Through the W3C, Andrew works with colleagues around the world in promoting Web accessibility and is an active member of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative’s Education & Outreach Working Group. In Australia, Andrew provides strategic and technical consultancy and training in design of accessible online services. Andrew has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Hons) and a PhD in Natural Resource Economics.
- Johann de Boer
- Johann completed a Bachelor of Engineering, majoring in Computer Systems Engineering, at Massey University, New Zealand. While studying, he was an Adaptive Technology Advisor for Disability Support Services within Student Services. Some other projects include: Research for Pulse Data International (Humanware) in the development of the BrailleNote web-browser; a usability evaluation and design refinement of Nomad – a tactile, touch and speech learning device from Quantum Technology to assist students with blindness. At ANZ, Johann is Technology Accessibility Manager within Enterprise and Staff Technologies. He founded and chairs the ANZ Disability Network, and is a staff representative on the ANZ Diversity Council.
Remote participation
Remote participants should be able to follow the activities by connecting to the IRC channel:
irc://irc.freenode.net#accessibility
The channel is logged at http://acc-logs.jibbering.com/
The wiki is at http://www.ozewai.org/pmwiki/pmwiki-1.0.11/pmwiki.php
Main themes
Adaptability is about ensuring that everyone who wants to access digital content can do so if they have appropriate devices and telecommunications. Currently this is not the case – large Web pages rarely fit on small hand-held device screens, let alone phone screens, and most interesting sites are not accessible to people with adaptive tchnologies because the resources are not well-formed.
A networked community is not a networked community unless everyone can participate. This conference provides a forum for considering all issues related to adaptability with the aim of making the Web universally accessible and including everyone in the networked world.
Special Topics for 2006:
Worldwide, there have been significant steps towards a more inclusive online environment. New applications for improving the accessibility of content and services are adopting revised guidelines from W3C; new quality certification standards have been developed, and interactive accessibility services are emerging. Learn about these developments at OZeWAI 2006.
The following topics are very relevant:
- making resources suitably adaptable
- auditing Websites and resources for adaptability and standards compliance
- repairing inaccessible content
- discovering accessible content
- matching resources to users needs and preferences
- and more.
Who should attend OZeWAI?
We always try to plan for the participants we expect to join us. The following list is not exhaustive but should be indicative:
- techies
- We always like to support the techie folk. Adaptability depends upon the expertise of technical people and we are keen to ensure that OZeWAI is a good forum for exchange between members of this class.
- exhibitors
- Yes – we especially like our trade partners – we cannot solve the adaptability problems without the tools and expertise they offer and we would like to see more participation on the part of those who can offer solutions to those with the problems.
- educators
- A significant number of people working in the field of adaptability are also within the educational domain. This year we will continue the practice of having a stream of events designed especially for this community. We will be encouraging senior administrators, managers, designers and the technical teams to join us.
- internationalisation and multi-lingual content developers and managers
- Providing resources in multiple languages, and resources that are suitable for international use, is not as easy as it might be. experts and novices can work together on this topic.
- symbolic language resource developers
- Using the Web to distribute maths, science, music and other symbolically represented content in a standard way is essential if eveyone is to be able to access it.
- information managers
- A significant new group of professionals who are able to make a difference to the accessibility of resources using metadata are especially welcome at OZeWAI in 2006.
- researchers
- Adaptability is a lively field. There is some exciting research being done and the results are sometimes surprising. Papers that report this research are welcomed. Where papers have already been published elsewhere, presenters might like to submit a short paper to present their work in this forum.
- managers
- Just how critical is good management to adaptability? We appreciate that it is crucial but also that often managing the associated activities means working in a new domain for those responsible. This stream is designed to help managers and those responding to managers’ concerns. Managers often want to know what they should know, what they should do, what they should expect others to do, and how much it will all cost.
- users and ideas people!
- Without both these, nothing would happen!
For up-to-date information about the conference, please join the OZeWAI mailing list. This list is used for announcements only. The names and addresses of those on the list are not available for any purposes other than OZeWAI information and postings.
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Programme Committee
All papers and other proposals are reviewed by the OZeWAI international review panel. They look for new, interesting and useful contributions in a range of forms that will be appealing and satisfying to OZeWAI participants. Full papers are refereed according to Australian DEST standards, with the authors not being told the identity of their referees.
Conference format
OZeWAI conferences offer hands-on workshops, plenary presentations, informal work sessions, research reports, and time for discussion. The venue is ideal for small group discussion and the program, with lunches and dinners included, will provide opportunities for participants to interact with presenters informally. La Trobe University has on-campus accommodation (see below).
Conference costs
We offer one, two or three full days with presentations, workshops, including hands-on workshops, a reception, a formal dinner and a wind-up cocktail – as well as lunches and coffee/tea etc.
Costs: $400 for full registration, $300 for student registration, and $150 for daily registration (incl GST.). These costs include all activities of the day of registration, even the reception, dinner, etc. Early birds will register for $25 less than their later friends.
Accommodation
Menzies College at La Trobe University is offering specially priced, on-campus accommodation for OZeWAI participants. Rydges On Bell Street also offers specially priced accommodation in a fully equipped hotel. See details.
Important dates for 2006
- October 1 – proposals due
- October 23 – early bird registration opens (special rates)
- November 23 – early bird registration rates end
- November 29 – December 1 – attend OZeWAI 2006
Sponsors:
