Where It's AT – Assistive Technology Blog

Manually testing a web page for accessibility is an important part of making sure your site is accessible to as many people as possible. Nonvisual Desktop Access (NVDA) is a freely available screen reader that works very well for testing web sites. Join the National Federation of the Blind Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access on Tuesday, September 28, 2021 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. Eastern via Zoom to learn the basics of conducting a manual accessibility test using NVDA. Topics to be covered:

• Configuring NVDA for ease of testing
• Common keystrokes for browsing the web
• Strategies for testing web pages
• Strategies for effective testing for sighted users

Take advantage of this free opportunity. Register today!

Come join experts tackling the biggest practice issues facing accessibility professionals from both the plaintiff and defendant legal sides at the premier event for digital accessibility legal practitioners!

When:   

• Summit: October 7-8 (two afternoons, EST)
• Optional Half-Day Workshop: September 30 (afternoon EST)
  Guidelines Development Project: Best practices for plaintiffs’ Attorneys, Defense and Compliance Attorneys, and Accessibility practitioners.  

• Optional CLE approved course: November 10  & 17 and December 1  & 8 (2:30pm-4:30pm EST)
  Organizational Risk Assessments and Risk Mitigation Tools  

Where: An online virtual conference. (Note: given most current/ongoing business travel restrictions, in-person attendance is only a slim possibility. For more information visit the travel page.)

Venue Host:  American University Washington College of Law, Washington D.C.  

Why attend?  

• Have access to compiled best practices and look at what you should do to respond to legal issues  
• Engage with experts though presentations, workshops, guidance, and resources that you could use in your organizational accessibility program  
• Get perspectives from both plaintiff and defendant side of the legal landscape as experts discuss and present on digital accessibility  

Who should attend?  

• digital accessibility professionals,   
• legal practitioners and council,   
• legal resource providers,   
• enterprise IT managers,   
• accessibility program managers,   

• diversity program managers,   
• government personnel, and  
• academics and students.  

Topics:  Digital accessibility, legal, accessibility overlays, organizational risk, reporting standards, disability inclusion, tackling ableism  

Program: An overview of each session is available in the Summit Program.  

Shared Resources: Speakers and Sponsors have shared their resources relating to the Summit, in the Shared Resources Page.

Click Here to Register

Twitter: @A11yLegalSummit  

LinkedIn: Digital Accessibility Legal Summit

Twitter announced at the end of August that they have improved their captioning system.  There will now be a dedicated space for captions, where they are typically located.  Their system now also accepts iOS device settings, which means your personal captions settings will be applied to any videos you view through Twitter.  Lastly, you now have the ability to scroll back through captions in case you missed something or need to double check a word. 

If you’re adding captions, you’ll still need a .SRT file.  If you need a way to generate this file, there is a free program called CADET made available by the National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH.  You can find it here: https://www.wgbh.org/foundation/what-we-do/ncam/cadet.  It takes a bit of setup to make it work but once you’ve got it installed, it’s quite simple to use.  Instructions for installation and use can be found here: http://ncamftp.wgbh.org/cadet/help/install.html.  It can be run on Mac, Windows, or Linux. 

To keep an eye on Twitter accessibility improvements, follow their A11y account!  It can be found here: https://twitter.com/twittera11y?lang=en or log in and look for @TwitterA11y.  The account also collects feedback on features and problems encountered, so it’s a good way to report issues you may be experiencing. 

The Maryland Assistive Technology Loan Program (ATLP) is seeking candidates with significant experience in finance, accounting, investment management, consumer lending, or who have disabilities or assist individuals with disabilities to serve on its volunteer Board of Directors appointed by the Governor. 

As of October 1, 2021, the ATLP Board has 2 open positions – one (1) to be filled by consumers with disabilities, or those who support individuals with disabilities; and one (1) to be filled by consumers with finance, lending, and/or accounting experience. 

The purpose of the Assistive Technology Loan Program Board is to support the ATLP in its function to provide low-interest financial loans to people with disabilities in order to purchase assistive technologies, home modifications, and adapted and non-adapted vehicles.The ATLP Board of Directors establishes and reviews policies and procedures, issues weekly decisions on applications for loan guarantees and interest or principle subsidies, and advises on fiscal and budgetary matters. 

If you are interested in serving on the ATLP Board of Directors, please contact Tanya Goodman at 410-554-9244 or at tanya.goodman1@maryland.gov.