Knowbility is thrilled to announce the evening activity for its annual AccessU conference. The May 14th event will be a mixed ability dance performance with full audio description and sign language interpretation. The Way You Move Your Body was part of the 2013 Cohen New Works Festival presented by the University Co-op of the University of Texas. The piece was created, directed, and is choreographed by Lucy Kerr.

About the dance piece

This mixed-ability dance/theatre piece exposes and dissolves disability prejudices. Both abled-bodied and disabled dancers guide the audience from a dark world of freaks to a joyful world where difference is celebrated. It is an unsettling but eye-opening journey, leaving the audience cringing, laughing, crying, smiling, and questioning the way we conventionally perceive differently-abled people.

Fierce, dynamic, and unconventional movement will emerge from the unique rhythms and capabilities of differently-abled dancers. The journey is augmented by both audacious and touching monologues told by a diverse group of people of various ages, identities, abilities and personal experiences. The group is tied together by a shared passion for dance and a strong bond that has formed over the past eight months of rehearsals. The Way You Move Your Body on tumblr.com

ASL interpreted and audio described

Audio description by VSA Texas and sign language interpretation by LotuSIGNS will add to the full experience for viewers as well as performers of all abilities. We can’t wait! Hope you will join us at AccessU and for this amazing and dynamic performance! There will be an appetizer buffet and cash bar.

Where and when

Date and Time:  Tuesday May 14, 7:00 PM
Location: Wyndham Garden Hotel, located at Woodward and I-35.

AccessU attendees are encouraged to participate in this creative expression of human experience.  The public is also invited with a suggested $10 donation at the door.

Want to know more?

For more information, call Mike Rush at 512 305-0201

I am Robbi Cooper and I want to share my sons first trip to advocate in DC.

As a 6th grade student my son just finished another round of inaccessible reading tests that will be used to make invalid educational decisions about his reading comprehension level. He comprehends text above a 12th grade level, he will score in the bottom third in our state. Access to text is vital to his future and we decided that nothing would change for him if we do nothing about it. At 12 he already get it, this is his future and if he does not want to be beholden to outdated policies of the past, he must do his part.

Creating awareness of what digital access is was our first step. Generation Tech needs to advocate for their own future and there is no one better to do this than those that live it. We need to support them, they have known the digital world since birth, yet boundaries still exist imposed by policies rooted in a time before digital and in fear of change. A world open to access is this generations right and worth all of our fight. I hope my sons passion to share knowledge with strangers encourages others to press these issues with the same fearlessness as a 12 year old showed on his visit to Washington DC.

My son spent last week lobbying congress for digital access on high stakes tests, an issue we hope many of you will help us pursue. These tests remain gatekeepers to the educational opportunities which will shape students into a productive adults. Reading, we want to redefine as “Text Comprehension” which would open books and literature studies to other methods of text interaction, voice over being one of those. With out true digital access many bright students are marginalized by the effects of their disability. They are not able to show mastery, knowledge or skill when tests refuse to allow them the digital access they use to thrive with in class. Walking the halls of the Senate and House office buildings with my son gave me a renewed sense of urgency, these kids deserve all that we can do to open the world up to accessibility.

I had set up 5 appointments prior to our arrival for day one. But he did not stick our scripted meeting schedule, he used every minute between meetings to cold call offices and get his digital access message out. Every single office with a flag was an opportunity for him to show off his screen reader. He conveyed to me that behind one of 50 offices that he entered in his two days, was waiting the staffer or congressman willing to help him.

Our trip was successful and we are returning in June to do this again simply because it needs to be done. The issue of accessibility is a daily one for us, until accessibility is the norm we have no plans to rest. We went to DC out of desperation and we left with hope. We know this is a large issue and will take many visits but we are determined not to sit back and watch from the sidelines any longer. If we want a different future for our son, if he wants digital access to be accepted, our only choice is to advocate for change. Some day we will be tourists in this town full of history but for now we will walk the halls of congress making history of our own.

Link to the video on YouTube

Highlight Dyslexia DC advocacy for digital reading – Audio transcript (txt file format)

DC_advocacy_for_digital_reading (mp3 file format)

Good news first – people are loving this year’s AccessU lineup of accessibility topics and instructors. Classes are beginning to fill  up, and the excitement is building about our upcoming gathering in Austin in May. The teaching schedule is just great this year and we are looking forward to a vibrant three days of teaching and learning from one another.

But there is a downside. Not everyone can get to Austin in May and we will miss some of you!  Looking for a way to include everyone – we are all about inclusion after all – we have an idea, but we need your help.

Below you will find class descriptions of some of the most popular classes. Some have filled up for the in-person training and some are only available in post-conference sessions.  You can help! Please read the following descriptions and then take the on-line survey to tell us which classes you would like to see in a one-day, online version of AccessU.

We have included twelve courses in our short list, but we can only broadcast six. And we may have left out one or two that you are especially interested in. So feel free to checkout the full list of AccessU classes and request that we include any of those in our broadcast webinar day of AccessU at Your Desk.

The survey will also ask which day you prefer.  If we have sufficient interest, we will produce one day of remote training. AccessU at Your Desk would present six courses in an elearning format and make the archives available to all. Thanks for your input!

What to do next

You have a few choices, you can choose form the list below, look at all of the AccessU course offered and finally, vote for the classes you would like to see included in AccessU at Your Desk.

1. See Knowbility’s Short List of suggested classes for AccessU (just below)
2. and/Or see all of the AccessU classes and choose your own
3. Vote for your Top Six!

Knowbility’s Short List

Basic HTML Accessibility Techniques

Basic HTML Forms & Tables

Captioning and Audio Description Strategies

Cultural Shifts and Enterprise Accessibility

E-Learning for All

Google: Taking on Accessibility Challenges in Complex Web Applications

Mobile Accessibility Clinic

Open Source Tools for Building Accessible Websites

Principles of Accessible Documents

Strategic Accessibility

The 508 Refresh is Coming – How Will Federal Compliance Testing Change?

Walk through WAI Resources

and, a reminder that you are also free to choose other classes from the full list of courses offered at the in-person AccessU.

Vote now and win a free seat at the virtual conference

Your vote puts your name into a drawing for a free seat at AccessU At Your Desk. Even if you are attending, your free ticket is fully transferable.  So  vote today and thanks again!

We had so many fantastic sites submitted that it was incredibly difficult to narrow the results down to just six. These six sites will be allowed to make updates to their sites and resubmit for another round of judging, and the final winners will be announced at the Dewey Winburne Awards and Open AIR Awards Ceremony on March 11, 2013, at SXSW.

AIR sites are judged by a panel of accessibility experts, including Jim Thatcher, Preety Kumar (CEO at Deque), and Knowbility’s own Geri Druckman. Thanks to the judges for all their hard work and to Deque for sharing use of their excellent WorldSpace tool with us!

Without any further ado, here are the Round One winners and their non-profit organizations!

Basic Category

1. Headspring Hurwitzes: Texas ROSE
2. Team Canada: Black Creek Community Health Centre
3. Team Web-able: Council on At-Risk Youth

Advanced Category

1. Basic Semantics: The Virginia Home
2. The Green Team: ASPIRE
3. EZXS_ibility: HaShem’s House

Stay tuned for more news on the Open AIR winners!

Best of all, we’re giving you the opportunity to support Knowbility and win a chance for one of two tickets to this year’s conference. Simply donate $40 or more via PayPal, and we’ll send you a raffle ticket. We’ll conduct the drawing on January 31st, and winners will be notified February 1st.

Why attend CSUN?

Fresh viewpoints. Representatives from all over the world who work in and/or with assistive technology share information and perspectives.

Unique opportunities. Attendees and presenters at CSUN have the chance to give their input on and influence legislation and policy-making around disability issues.

Networking. Get to know new contacts and network both on an individual and B2B level. There is ample time and places for gathering in smaller groups, meeting for drinks and dinner, and general social network building and gathering.

Educational rewards. Attendees learn about emerging assistive technology in educational sessions for subject matter students and experts.

Why support Knowbility?

Knowbility is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that depends on your support. You can help by giving generously. All contributions are fully tax deductible and you can designate that your gift support any of our fantastic programs. Just indicate on your check or your PayPal donation form that you would like your gift to support any of the following:

• Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) community training for nonprofits and web development professionals
• ATSTAR, helping teachers understand and implement assistive technology for K-12 students
• AccessWorks, employing and training veterans and others with disabilities in accessible information technology
• Staff participation in W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Working Groups
• Be used wherever the need is greatest