dGreater communities rely on greater democracy. Greater democracies rely on greater participation. Greater participation demands better access for everyone.
Improving access to all people is more than just a challenge for website designers. A larger overview of the entire issue is required to find other ways to improve access and participation. What other mediums / channels can be used to access people? How can all channels be integrated? How can all channels be provided without bias towards or against any one channel? What are some examples and experiences?
This presentation was placed within the context of conducting elections.
Ian Coombe
Technical Director, election.com
Ian Coombe has a Bachelor of Science, a Masters of Information Science and a Masters of Management Economics. While working with Defence, Ian was the Applications Architect for Army, and the Author of the Information Management Manual (which included plans, budgets, standards and protocols). Ian facilitated the design of the Media application used for the Sydney Olympics and has researched and developed numerous interactive internet applications in his own profitable "dot-com" company. Ian has led teams of several hundred, but is currently contracted with a more modest team as the Technical Director of election.com in Australia. In this role, he is keenly involved in the development of election and survey applications to be more easily accessible to the entire community - part of that strategy is delivery through web access. Ian has spoken formally on his research and experiences in Europe, America and Asia/Pacific and is currently actively involved in University, Association and Commercial research teams investigating remote meetings, realistic web interfaces and the efficient use of information. Ian has just conducted the first Australian Internet-only election for the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) Board of Directors.