Accessibility of Mirapoint to People with Disabilities

The accessibility of Mirapoint web based e-mail system to people with 
disabilities is an important accessibility problem.  We are looking for higher
education institutions or other organizations using the Mirapoint web 
e-mail system to partner with the University of Illinois to form a 
consortium to
work with the company to improve the accessibility of the Mirapoint 
web interface.

http://www.mirapoint.com/

How do I know if My Campus uses Mirapoint?

The Mirapoint e-mail system is often branded with a different name, 
for example on the UIUC campus Mirapoint web mail is called "CITES 
Express E-mail".
So you may need to check with your e-mail support people on campus to 
determine if your campus uses the Mirapoint system.

The Importance of the Mirapoint Interest Group

The University of Illinois is starting an Mirapoint Accessibility 
Interest Group that will focus on improving the accessibility 
features of the MiraPoint e-mail system.  Participants will work 
collaboratively to identify accessibility problems and solution 
strategies.  The interest group will have regular teleconferences to 
discuss the issues and solution strategies.  This information will be 
communicated directly to Mirapoint representatives through web based 
documentation and teleconferences.  The ultimate goal is to make 
accessibility part of the Mirapoint design and quality assurance 
process so by default everyone could use it more effectively and 
efficiently, including people with disabilities.  This will eliminate 
the need to learn obscure tricks to use in the application to do a 
simple task.  This collaborative approach has worked well with WebCT 
a course management tool.

We have already started the process of analyzing accessibility 
problems, please see the following URL:

http://cita.uiuc.edu/collaborate/mirapoint/evaluations.php

Importance of Joining

It is very important that we have wide support for the interest 
group, even if you are not very technical.  The more people who join 
and participate, the more important the issue will be for 
Mirapoint.  If you are interested in joining  the Mirapoint interest 
group or have more questions please contact Hadi Rangin at 
[log in to unmask] or (217) 244-0518.

More information about the Mirapoint and other Accessibility Interest 
Groups can be found at:

http://cita.uiuc.edu/collaborate/

Look forward to hearing from you,

Hadi

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Hadi Bargi Rangin
Web Design and Accessibility Specialist
Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services
University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
1207 S. Oak Street, Champaign, IL  61820
Voice: (217) 244-0518
Fax: (217) 333-0248
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
WWW: http://disability.uiuc.edu