a note to all, I still have the accessible UML application source code and information for a discontinued project that was working on graph accessibility, any one want it, I think it could be applied to this type of thing?
elf proprietor, The Grab Bag, for blind computer users and programmers http://grabbag.alacorncomputer.com Owner: Alacorn Computer Enterprises "own the might and majesty of a Alacorn!" www.alacorncomputer.com----- Original Message ----- From: "David Farough" <David.Farough@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 10:01 AM
Subject: Re: What's the market for accessible books on programming?
I just received the following today.
Maybe these standards could be used to describe figures and screens
etc.
WGBH Releases Guidelines for Describing STEM Images Within Digital
Talking Books and on Web Sites
September 24, 2009
WGBH's National Center for Accessible Media Publishes Free
Guidelines for Describing STEM Images for Use within Digital Talking
Books and on Web Sites
Free Webinars Scheduled
A significant amount of Science, Technology, Engineering and
Math (STEM) information is presented visually, from graphs and tables
to
diagrams and math equations. Students and professionals in the STEM
fields who are blind or have low vision must find methods of accessing
this data. In many cases, they rely on assistants to read and describe
images in order to stay current with content in their fields of study.
This creates a dependence that is inefficient, expensive and time
consuming. Access to text through electronic files and digital talking
books (DTBs) has created a great deal of independence for these users.
NCAM's publication of these new guidelines means that presenting
meaningful information about the images accompanying text can be more
readily achieved.
"Effective Practices for Description of Science Content within
Digital Talking Books" is the result of a seminal 4-year effort
encompassing multiple surveys with describers and with students and
scientists with vision loss to research preferred practices for
description of visual information in textbooks and journals. WGBH's
Carl
and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM)
undertook this research thanks to a grant (# 04535663) from the
National
Science Foundation (NSF).
WGBH worked in close collaboration with the American
Foundation
for the Blind (AFB), and together they assembled a broader network of
researchers and experts including Recording for the Blind and
Dyslexic,
Inc. (RFB&D); the American Printing House for the Blind (APH);
scientist
and former NSF program officer Lawrence Scadden, and DAISY (Digital
Accessible Information System) Consortium Secretary General George
Kerscher. The DAISY Consortium is the world-wide network of libraries,
publishers and service organizations that developed the DTB standard.
All project partners contributed to the DAISY/NISO standard and all
partners were among the 40 members of the National File Format Panel,
which produced the National Instructional Materials Accessibility
Standard (NIMAS).
Chapters of the new guidelines cover description of a variety
of
information types, including bar charts, line graphs, Venn diagrams,
tables, pie charts, flow charts and complex diagrams and
illustrations.
A resource section is also included, providing links to many
organizations, tools and standards which all contribute to generating
more accessible STEM materials. The guidelines are available online
at:
http://ncam.wgbh.org/publications/stemdx/intro.html
NCAM staff will provide training for implementing these STEM
Description Guidelines through free webinars. The dates and times for
the webinars, which last an hour and a half, appear below. The same
training is offered at each webinar; you can register for the time
most
convenient for you by sending an email to stemdescription@xxxxxxxx
Wednesday, September 30 at 10:00 a.m. EST
Monday, October 20 at 1:30 p.m. EST
Thursday, December 3 at Noon EST
Additional dates will be offered in 2010. These sessions are
available at no cost thanks to funding from the National Science
Foundation (grant # 0833608).
Comment from a recent webinar participant:
"It was an excellent program and very helpful. I will be using
what I learned to train my students to create more accessible image
descriptions. Thank you."
Donna M. Kachlic
Disability Support Services Specialist
The University of Texas at Tyler
"Effective Practices for Description of Science Content within
Digital Talking Books" joins several other NCAM publications and tools
that enable and promote access to media for all users. Among them:
* "Accessible Digital Media: Design Guidelines for Electronic
Publications, Multimedia and the Web"
* "A Developer's Guide to Creating Talking Menus for Set-top
Boxes and DVDs"
* "IMS Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning
Applications"
* MAGpie, the Media Access Generator (free, do-it-yourself
software for creating captions and descriptions for multimedia)
Links to all these resources are available at NCAM's site,
<http://ncam.wgbh.org>
About NCAM
The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for
Accessible
Media at WGBH is a research, development and advocacy entity that
works
to make existing and emerging technologies accessible to all
audiences.
NCAM is part of the Media Access Group at WGBH, which also includes
The
Caption Center (est. 1972) and Descriptive Video Service(r) (est.
1990).
Follow the Media Access Group on Facebook.
About WGBH
WGBH Boston <http://www.wgbh.org> is America's preeminent
public
broadcaster, producing such celebrated national PBS series as
Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, American Experience,
Arthur, Curious George and more than a dozen other award-winning
primetime, lifestyle and children's series. WGBH is the leading
producer
of online content for pbs.org-- one of the most-visited dot-org sites
on
the Internet-- a major producer for public radio and a pioneer in
developing educational multimedia and new technologies that make media
accessible for people with disabilities. For its efforts, WGBH has
been
recognized with hundreds of honors, including Oscars, Emmys, Peabodys
and duPont-Columbia Journalism Awards.
Contact:
Mary Watkins, WGBH
mary_watkins@xxxxxxxx
617 300-3700 voice
617 300-2589 TTY
http://access.wgbh.org
David Farough
Application Accessibility Coordinator/coordonateur de l'accessibilité
Information Technology Services Directorate /
Direction des services d'information technologiques
Public Service Commission / Commission de la fonction publique
Email / Courriel: David.Farough@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tel. / Tél: (613) 992-2779
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