WORLDWIDE TOWN MEETING:
ANOTHER LOOK AT UTILIZING COMPUTERS AND
THE INTERNET TO ENABLE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES:

SECOND LIVE TV
WEBCAST ON THE ABLE CHANNEL AT: WWW.TVONTHEWEB.COM
ON FEBRUARY 8TH

Reston, VA _  February 1, 1999 :  The ABLE Channel on the TV
onthe WEBsm Network will host its Second LIVE Town Hall Meeting
on issues concerning Disabilities, entitled: _Another Look at
Utilizing Computers and the Internet to Enable Persons with
Disabilities_.  The webcast and interactive chat will take place
on Monday, February 8th at 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM ET.  Go to
www.tvontheweb.com and click the link for the ABLE webcast to
view the program and interact with the panelists via live chat.
We will also be accepting phone calls at: 800-966-6689.

Topics of discussion will include: the latest Microsoft
technology for visual and hearing impaired, as well as the
physically challenged. We will also demonstrate (and compare and
contrast) webcasting utilizing Windows Media Player and
RealSystem G2, RealNetworks streaming media technology, which
allows for accessible videos to be played (audio described and
closed-captioned) via the web through the Able Channel web site.
On the date of this webcast, we will also have our first program
(from Dec. 29th) , available for on-demand play in text format.

Our guest panelists (to date) include:

- Earl Johnson, the founding member of and Program Manager for
the Sun Systems team working on Java Accessibility. This effort
is currently focused on building the Java Accessibility API into
the user interface components of the Java Foundation Classes. The
Java Accessibility API makes it possible for the assistive
technologies people with disabilities use to obtain information
such as a component's state, role, label, and editable text from
JFC based applications.

- David Bolnick, the Program Manager in the Microsoft
Accessibility & Disabilities Group (ADG). Dr. Bolnick is a key
member of the ADG will be able to give greater detail and
insights into Microsoft's accessibility program. He also
represents Microsoft's technical side of accessibility and will
be able to give the audience a sense of where technology is today
and where it is headed in the near future.

- Gregg C. Vanderheiden, Professor in the Industrial Engineering
Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Director
of the Trace R&D Center at the University.   Dr. Vanderheiden is
the Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on
Access to Computers and Information Systems, and a
co-investigator for the RERC on Telecommunications, (both of
which are funded by the National Institute on Disability and
Rehabilitation Research). He is also the lead investigator for
the National Center for Supercomputing Applications efforts
focused on universal design of computation science and web
infrastructure technologies. At the 6th Annual International
World-Wide-Web Conference, in 1997, Dr. Vanderheiden was
presented with the Yuri Rubinsky Memorial World Wide Web Award.
(He was the third recipient _ the previous two were Vincent Cerf,
the "father of the Internet," and Doug Engelbart, the inventor of
the mouse and graphic user interface.)

- Jeffrey D. Pledger, President, Able Channel
Mr. Pledger currently works as a Sr. System Specialist for Bell
Atlantic Federal Integrated Solutions, INC.  Mr. Pledger served
as the Bell Atlantic representative to the Access Board's
Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee. Mr. Pledger has
been a speaker/presenter on issues concerning disabilities and
their implications within the telecommunication industry.  Mr.
Pledger is blind.

Viewers on the web will be able to speak and comment to the
Panelists via the telephone, email or live chat lines.  There are
a limited number of seats still available on location in our
studio in Reston, VA, outside of Washington, DC.   If you can
attend in person, please contact us as soon as possible to
reserve your seat!  Our studio is located at: 1950 Roland Clarke
Place, Reston, VA.  Tel: 1-800-966-6689.

The ABLE Channel.... Overcoming disabilities with the power of
the human spirit and the tools of science and technology.  The
Able Channel at www.tvontheweb.com brings the activities,
information and assistive  technologies of the differently-abled
community to millions of people worldwide,

Contact: Jeffrey Pledger/Berry Cuffee, ABLE Channel: (301)
890-5944 [log in to unmask]
Howard O_Brien, Vice President of Sales, ABLE Channel: (800)
739-4424
Lisa Amore, Dir. of Marketing, TV onthe WEBsm, 703-620-6000,
[log in to unmask]


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