Hi everyone!

Thanks for your information, Alan. As one who was "on the inside" at
ALA Headquarters when the redesign first started, I know that
accessibility was indeed a goal that was a "given." As a member now of
the ALA Web Site Committee, I know that accessibility has been
discussed and the commitment on the part of ALA is still very much
there. Numerous people of good faith and intent on the internal
redesign team have reassured me that this is so.

I think it's wise to wait until we can evaluate the web site when it
goes live on April 7, as Axel suggests. I also think that we should
educate ourselves and acknowledge the efforts that have been made. Only
then should we offer suggestions for any improvements that are needed.
Web accessibility is as much art as science, still. Even sites that
think they comply based on quick evaluations frequently don't actually
achieve real accessibility and usability.

Civil and positive collaboration has worked with ALA Conference
Services in steadily improving accessibility issues at conferences and
information in the conference program. I think the same approach will
work concerning the web site. It may not happen overnight, but we will
succeed.

Looking forward to seeing many of you in Toronto. I don't have the
booth number yet, but the AccessInfo System will be debuting in the
exhibits at Annual. Alas, the tiny spot designated as
the "Accessibility Pavilion" (3 or 4 booths, from what I can find out)
is already sold out in the Level 300 Exhibit Hall, so we'll be in the
Level 800 Hall. We'll have textHELP!, ScanSoft and possibly the
Benetech bookshare.org folks right around us. We'd appreciate your help
in letting people know about "Accessibility Pavilion II"! I'll send out
more information as we get closer to Annual.

FYI, I've attached a short piece about our first public installation of
the system, at the Naperville (IL) Public Library. We will be
installing an AccessInfo System in another Illinois library toward the
end of next month too!

Best,
Audrey

Audrey J. Gorman
Access for All
Naperville, IL USA
[log in to unmask]
1-630-661-9062
1-630-865-7009
http://www.accessall.net