Accessing Higher Ground Webinar Series 2017 Registration

This registration form will be used to add people to the list of individuals allowed to access recordings as well as track general attendance of the session.
Note: If you are unable to attend the session, but wish to view recordings, you should still complete the form.

Details on session schedule is available at the Virtual Conference page.
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Accessing Higher Ground Virtual Conference 2017

This year Penn State is sponsoring streamed sessions from the Accessing Higher Ground accessibility conference in November. For those at the University Park campus, the following sessions will be hosted at Innovation Park from November 15, 16, & 17.

This year’s conference will offer a wide variety of sessions covering topics like audio description, accessibility in higher ed, web testing and evaluations, and accessible formats for instructional materials. All faculty and staff are welcome to attend any sessions, and recordings will be made available at a later date.

Registration

Please complete the registration form whether you plan to attend in person or view recordings.

Building Times and Location

There will be two tracks of the conference running simultaneously at the following locations:

  • Wed, Nov 15: 329 Building, 115A & 115B
  • Thurs and Fri, Nov 16 and 17: Outreach Building, 121G & 121H

For the specific schedule of tracks and sessions shows with local times, see the AHG Penn State Schedule on Google Docs.

Food and Drink Options

It is possible to bring food and drinks into the scheduled rooms.

Both buildings include “snack shops” where you can purchase soda, water, and various snack foods for cash. You can also bring food and beverages into the rooms. The Penn Stater offers two options for lunch: Legends and the Gardens.

Parking

Both the 329 Building and the Outreach Buildings are Orange lots with free parking at the Penn Stater. The 329 Building also has free visitor parking next to the building and the Outreach Building has metered spaces next to it.

Note: Both buildings are also available on the Red Link bus line.

FAE Webinar Registration (Nov 9, 2017,11 AM – Noon)

We are asking participants in the FAE webinar and other accessibility training sessions to complete registration so that the TLT Accessibility team can track attendance as part of our resolution agreement with the Office of Civil Rights.

Note: The Zoom link to the webinar will be displayed in a confirmation message.

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Mobile Screenreader Testing Registration

About this Session

Anyone using an iPhone or Droid also has access to a screen reader which can be used to test website accessibility. A team of experienced screen reader users and testers will demonstrate how they use their mobile device screen readers to interact with different sites and how navigation differs from the default options most sighted people use. The session will also show how anyone can toggle a screen reader on and off and use it to interact with online content.

Prerequisite(s): None

Objectives

  • Understand how a mobile screen reader is used by individuals with visual disabilities
  • Learn how to activate and use mobile screen reader tools.
  • Briefly review other accessibility settings such as default font size, color adjustments, enable video captions, custom gestures and flashing alerts.

Time and Location

  • Instructors: The A Team
  • Fri Oct 27, 1:30-3:30 PM
  • Paterno Library, 103 Mann Assembly Room

Registration Form

Please register here:

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FAE Webinar Registration (Sep 7, 2017, 10-11AM)

We are asking participants in the FAE webinar and other accessibility training sessions to complete registration so that the TLT Accessibility team can track attendance as part of our resolution agreement with the Office of Civil Rights.

Note: The Zoom link to the webinar will be displayed in a confirmation message.

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Accessing Higher Ground Virtual Conference 2016

This year Penn State is sponsoring streamed sessions from the Accessing Higher Ground accessibility conference in November. If you are at the University Park campus, the following sessions will be hosted at University Libraries from November 16-18.

Registration

Registration Form

The cost for this event is free ($0) for anyone at Penn State.

Food and Drink Options

It is possible to bring food and drinks into the scheduled rooms. Depending on your schedule, you can purchase food and drinks from Mackinnon’s Café (West Patee Basement), Au Bon Pain (Kern Building) or other nearby locations.

Parking (Not NLI Deck)

The NLI deck will not be available Wed. or Thurs. until 4:00 PM. However, you may be able to park at the East Halls Deck and the Hub Deck unless your parking pass provides you additional options. The Link/Loop services will also be available.

Wednesday, November 16

Note: Sessions, locations and times may be subject to change.

Wednesday Sessions
Time Pattee W315 Mann Assembly Room
10 to 11 am Effectively Accommodating Low Vision Students Automated Testing Tools Crash Course (double session)
11:15 am to 12:15 pm Promoting the Universal Design Paradigm on Campus – Everywhere Automated Testing Tools Crash Course (continued)
1:15 to 2:15 pm GrackleDocs: Google Docs Acccessibility Checker and PDF/UA An Introduction to Accessibility Testing for Mobile apps
2:50 to 4 pm No Session Keynote Talk: Tommy Edison, the Blind Film Critic
4:15 to 5:15 pm DIY Captioning – Using Camptasia & YouTube to create caption files Generating and Using Accessible Math on the Web (goes to 5:30)
5:30 to 6:30 pm Talking to Faculty about Accessibility No Session

Thursday, November 17

Note: Sessions, locations and times may be subject to change.

Thursday Sessions
Time Pattee W315 Paterno E403
10 to 11 am A Review of Apps & Strategies for Converting and Accessing Print and Digitall Material Open Source Tools for Evaluating and Inspecting Web Accessibility
11:15 am to 12:15 pm No session PDFs and Professors: What is Reasonable to Ask of Instructors
1:15 to 2:15 pm Translating Visual Information into Tactile Information No session
2:50 to 4 pm Plenary Panel: Sorting out certifications for Accessibility Professionals, Application Designers & Developers, Hadi Rangin, University of Washington, moderator Plenary Panel (Same as Patee W315): Sorting out certifications for Accessibility Professionals, Application Designers & Developers, Hadi Rangin, University of Washington, moderator
4:15 to 5:15 pm LaTeX and MathML – What Content Creators Need to Know When to test or trust vendor accessibility evaluations
5:15 to 6 Break – No Session Break – No Session
6 to 7 pm Interactive maps: how do you make them accessible? Building an Accessibility Procurement Process in Higher Education

Friday, November 18

Note: Sessions, locations and times may be subject to change.

Friday Sessions
Time Pattee W315 Paterno E403
11:15 am to 12:15 pm Accessibility and the California Community Colleges Online Education Initiative – Lessons Learned Advanced Techniques for PDF Accessibility (double session)
12:30 to 1:30 pm A Little Means a Lot: Simple Ways to Improve Online Course Accessibility Advanced Techniques for PDF Accessibility (continued)
1:45 to 2:45 WordPress & ATAG Compliance The Universal College Campus – Accessible Technology for All

edX to Improve Access to MOOCs for People With Disabilities

Sent in by Christian Johansen

Description

Under a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday, edX, the nonprofit MOOC provider created by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has agreed to make its offerings more accessible to people with disabilities.

The settlement agreement, which marks the department’s first effort to challenge the accessibility of massive open online courses, affects the colleges that are members of edX as well as the nonprofit consortium itself.

Full Story

3PlayMedia offering timely free webinars on various accessibility topics

Sent in by Elizabeth J. Pyatt

Description

3PlayMedia is offering some timely free webinars on captioning including Copyright and Captioning (April 2, 2-2:45 PM) and Captioning Quickstart (May 7, 2-2:45). They also have some nice (captioned) recorded webinars focusing on workflow issues in particular. Web accessibility is a hot topic right now, with lawsuits, a Section 508 refresh, and the impending requirements of WCAG 2.0 fresh on people’s minds. There are also some recorded webinars to check out.

Full List and Registration links

At Museo del Prado, Blind Visitors Can Touch Masterpieces

Sent in by Alexa Schriempf

Description

A small, highly unusual exhibition, “Touching the Prado,” designed to give the blind or those with limited sight an
opportunity to create a mental image of a painting by feeling it. The show, which runs through June 28, occupies a side passage of the museum, near a room that contains an original of another work copied for the blind: a version
of the Mona Lisa by a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci. Altogether, six 3D copies are on display, all of them rendering famous works in the Prado. They include Goya’s “The Parasol”; a still life by van der Hamen; “Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan” by Velázquez; and “Noli Me Tangere,” Correggio’s painting of Christ meeting Mary Magdalene.

The exhibition is one of the most sophisticated yet in efforts to unlock the beauty of the visual arts for those unable to see them. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery in London are among several museums that organize activities for blind visitors, including special guided tours, drawing classes, and “touch” workshops, in which blind people can feel sculptures. The Louvre in Paris also has a Tactile Gallery that contains
copies of some of its sculptures.

Full Story