Three Webinar Reviews on Useful Books on Accessibility EASI friends are some of the best informed people I know on accessibility for information technology. Some of them are also authors. This summer, EASI is sponsoring 3 Webinars by 3 of our friends reviewing books that they have written. This is an opportunity to get a preview of some useful books and also to chat with the actual athors: Webinar Book Review Free Webinar: Universal Design in Higher Education: From Principles to Practice Presenter: Sheryl Bergstahler, Ph.D. DO-IT, University of Washington Tuesday June 14, 11 AM Pacific, Noon Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern This presentation will provide an overview of the history of universal design, back to its origins in architecture and product development. The presenter will share examples of applications of universal design in higher education - to technology, instruction, services, and physical spaces. She will also discuss various approaches that have been taken to apply universal design to learning environments, with a focus on practical applications that instructors can employ to make their courses more welcoming and accessible to all students. The Webinar is based on the book: Universal Design in Higher Education: From Principles to Practice edited by Sheryl Burgstahler which is accessible at Bookshare. Free Webinar: Book Review: Managing the Assistive Technology Process: The Nontech Guide for Disability Service Providers. Presenter James Bailey, MS, Adaptive Technology Adviser, University of Oregon. When? Tue. August 23: 11 AM Pacific, Noon Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern Bailey has had long experiencing managing adaptive technology at the university level and has presented on the topic at AHEAD and other conferences. The book can be obtained from LRP. What makes James advice so useful is that he demonstrates that creating plans and implimenting policies is far less daunting than many imagine. Not only does it enable staff to explain what they do for the budget process, it helps them work more intelligently. Free Webinar: Book Review: Driving MS Office From the Keyboard Presenter: Karen McCall When? Thur. Aug. 25: 11 AM Pacific, Noon Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern Karen has written several books providing detailed and practical tips on how to use the Office suite of products more efficiently using the keyboard rather than the mouse. Even some mouse users find the keyboard more efficient in some situations. Karen brings 3 experiences to make these books accurate and useful. First she is a Microsoft certified tester. Second she also does testing for Freedom Scientific screen magnification and screen reader software. Third, Karen, herself, is a user of both screen magnification and screen reader software. Her insights are not those of a technician but of someone who is a genuine user. 2 Webinars on free software to play DAISY books and to author DAISY books yourself Free Webinar: AMIS: the Free, Open Source Software DAISY Player Presenter: Marisa DeMeglio, Software Developer for the DAISY Consortium June 21 at 11 AM Pacific, Noon Mountain, 1 PM Central and 2 PM Eastern "This webinar will present how to use the AMIS DAISY player software which is a self-voicing program that plays DAISY books on your computer and which is available in several languages. AMIS is an open source program and is freely available from http://daisy.org/amis." This Webinar is tied closely to the following Webinar which deals with the free software add-in for Word to let anyone create DAISY books. Both the player and the authoring environment are free. Free Webinar: Word to DAISY Add-in Thur. June 30 Times: 11 AM Pacific, Noon Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 Eastern and 8 in Barcelona (all Daylight) Presenters: Professor Mireia Ribera, PhD in Library Science from Universitat de Barcelona Afra Pascual, BS in Computer Human Interaction from Universitat de Lleida DAISY is gaining adoption at a fast pace, it is part of Epub standard, NIMAS simplified version is compulsory for textbooks in USA, and it is useful for blind people, people with low vision, people with dyslexia, among other users as language learners or frequent mobile users. Everyone can make DAISY now, as Microsoft and Daisy Consortium are offering a free tool, the DAISY Word Add-in, to create DAISY books (text or text plus audio) from MS Word documents. In this seminar we will review the possibilities and limits of the DAISY Word Add-in, we will set the minimum infrastructure you need to make it work, and we'll comment on aspects you must be aware to avoid common pitfalls. Free Webinar: Accessible Apps for Android for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Presenter: Steve Jacobs of Apps for Android When? Tue. July 26 at 11 AM Pacific, Noon Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern Smart phones are getting smarter and bringing more and more tools to their users. STEM content has been slow to become accessible, but this is changing. Now Android phones can even become useful STEM tools. To read more on EASI Webinars and to register for any of these free Webinars this summer, go to: http://easi.cc/clinic.htm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Once you choose hope, anything's possible. Christopher Reeve Norman Coombs [log in to unmask] Making Online Teaching Accessible: Inclusive Course Design for Students with Disabilities by Norman Coombs published by Jossey-Bass Oct 10,2010 http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470499044.html --------------------------- Check out EASI New Synchronous Clinics: http://easi.cc/clinic.htm EASI Home Page http://www.rit.edu/~easi Online courses and Clinics http://easi.cc/workshop.htm Check the EASI Library Web http://www.rit.edu/~easi/lib.htm >>> Error in line 8 of AXSLIB-L.MAILTPL: unknown formatting command <<< -> . . . . . . . . . <-