Web Accessibility - Bridging the Digital Divide Conference

Introduction

The National Council for the Blind Malaysia (NCBM) presents a Web Accessibility Conference to bridge the digital divide on access to technology for people who are blind and visual impaired, as well as people with different disabilities and people with accessibility needs due to ageing.

NCBM acknowledges that ICT (information and communications technology) has become very important and powerful in this modern age; in fact, it is an indispensable tool for all who want to be successful. This, too, applies to people who have visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive/intellectual, and neurological disabilities. Unfortunately, due to many accessibility barriers in web sites, there is danger that people with disabilities will be left behind. One of the barriers is when websites do not follow international standards and instead create web sites that do not work for people who are blind and use speech software.

For this reason, NCBM is organizing the conference to highlight such problems being faced by people with disabilities using the Web, and to create public awareness, especially among Government and private sector bodies, to make their websites more accessible to everyone. We have speakers from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Adobe ? an industry leader for accessibility and E-business specialist Skali to contribute their expertise and experiences to a feasible development scenario in our Malaysian context.

Program

The first day of the conference is designed for everyone involved in websites, including website managers, business owners, government officials, policy makers, project managers, and administrators, as well as web designers, developers, and testers. It covers:

• Designing the Web for All of Society Benefits Us All
• International Web Accessibility Guidelines, Standards, and Policies
• How People with Disabilities Use the Web
• Web Accessibility Basics
• Web Accessibility in Malaysia

The second day of the conference builds on the information from the first day and is focused for web designers, developers, testers, and project managers. It covers:

• Integrating Accessibility throughout the Development Process
• Accessibility Features of Dreamweaver
• Designing Accessible Flash
• Accessible Ajax

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Speakers

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

Shawn Lawton Henry leads worldwide education and outreach promoting web accessibility for people with disabilities at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Shawn focuses her personal passion for accessibility on bringing together the needs of individuals and the goals of organizations in designing human-computer interfaces.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. W3C primarily pursues its mission through the creation of Web standards and guidelines designed to ensure long-term growth for the Web. Over 400 organizations are Members of the Consortium. W3C is jointly run by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) in the USA, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) headquartered in France and Keio University in Japan, and has additional Offices worldwide.

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is a group within the W3C that works with organizations around the world to develop strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.

SKALI Group

SKALI is an e-Business Specialist with strong presence in ASEAN and Middle East countries. SKALI was given the responsibility by the Malaysian Government to undertake the Managed Portal Services (MPS) project, a national ICT agenda which was derived from the needs of best practices towards consolidation and consistency in standards and processes for government websites and the importance for them to be managed strategically.

SKALI would also train 4,000 unemployed graduates in new fields of technology such as design and project management leadership. NCBM now partners with SKALI in achieving its objective of creating a level playing field where blind people can function normally in this ICT age.

Aristotle Training & Mentoring Centre Sdn Bhd (ATMC)

Lee Da Qing is an instructor and a consultant attached to Aristotle Training & Mentoring Centre Sdn Bhd (ATMC), also a Project Manager cum Analyst Programmer in Pentasoft Malaysia Sdn Bhd. ATMC is an Adobe Authorized Training Partner (AATP), which specialized in Training and Mentoring services with the mission to produce and equip people with knowledge - making them "Fit 2 Work".

Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU)

Khairil Yusof - Currently working as a Manager at MAMPU's Open Source Competency Centre.
Initially introduced to Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) when trying to get them running on OS/2 an operating system by IBM. He has been using FOSS for personal use and development whenever possible since. His technical areas of interest include Python, Zope and FreeBSD. Also an interest in applying the best aspects of Unified Process to software development projects.

MAMPU, is the central agency responsible for leading change and modernisation in the public service. MAMPU's Open Source Competency Centre is first and single point of reference for support and guidance in the implementation of Open Source Software in the Public Sector.

The Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB)

Encik Silatul Rahim will present how a Blind or Visual impaired person uses a screen reader to work with your PC to provide access to today's software applications and the Internet. MAB is the premier voluntary organization in Malaysia serving visually impaired persons. It provides services that help the blind and prevent the tragedy of avoidable blindness.

Displays

Alongside the conference is a display of products, services and solutions from relevant vendors. The display is open to all participants from 3 - 4 April 2008 at the Auditorium of the National Institute of Ophthalmology, Lorong Utara B, Petaling Jaya. Shawn Henry's most recent book, Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design, offering an approach for developing products that are more usable for everyone, will also be available.

Sponsoring Organization

National Council for the Blind Malaysia (NCBM)
NCBM Member Organizations:

• Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB, based in Kuala Lumpur)
• Society of the Blind in Malaysia (SBM, based in Kuala Lumpur)
• St. Nicholas Home (based In Penang)
• Sabah Society for the Blind (based in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah)
• Sarawak Society for the Blind (based in Kuching, Sarawak)

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