Ellen (and everybody else too),
Thanks for your kind words about the Accessibility Pavillion at the 2001 Conference. It was a success because of you, Dick Banks, Judy Dixon, Doug Wakefield, our terrific vendors and all of us who believed in the dream and made it happen. And thanks too for your wonderful photos that capture some of the excitement!
There is indeed going to be an Accessibility Pavillion at the 2002 Annual in Atlanta! A short description is included in the 2002 exhibitor prospectus, which is in production. In addition, Deidre Ross agrees that the Pavillion needs better placement on the floor. And we've been discussing other improvements, based on feedback from the vendors and conference attendees. Additional feedback would help keep the momentum and strengthen ALA's commitment to the Pavillion.
This will be especially important since I will be leaving ALA. We received the last grant installment from the Tremaine Foundation and have no other funding to support the full scope of the work I've been doing. My current rough estimate is that I will be at ALA until sometime in November. We're processing recent expenditures, so the dollar amounts and timing aren't exact yet. I've chosen to continue in the areas of universal design and accessibility, so I'm exploring other work options. Some of them are very exciting. I'll let you know more when I do!
ALA has not yet been able to create either the disability officer or the accessibility officer positions that I've recommended, though the intention to do so is clear. The ALA web developers have been trained in the basics of accessible web sites and are working toward the goal of gradually making all ALA sites accessible. A special internal task force, working with a member committee, is guiding a complete redesign of the main ALA web site and including WAI Priority Level 2 compliance in the specifications. OLOS has agreed to take over the Roads To Learning web site and some of the information dissemination. In a number of other ways, accessibility work and commitment at ALA won't go away just because I leave.
Still, there's much work yet to do with the new policy "Library Services for People with Disabilities," most pressingly in the areas of accessible Web pages and accessible library workstations. We have a long way to go. I'll continue to be a member of ALA and work toward an accessible future in libraries, along with all of you.
And of course I'll continue to be a part of this discussion list, which is one of the most valuable ones I know. Access for All @ your library!
Regards,
Audrey
Audrey J. Gorman
Director
Roads To Learning
ASCLA/The American Library Association
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611
1-800-545-2433 Ext. 4027
Fax: 312-944-8085
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Web page: www.ala.org/roads
>>> [log in to unmask] 09/27/01 22:14 PM >>>
Dear Accessibility Advocates:
If you missed ALA 2001, or did not hear the great news, ALA 2001 had a
stupendous ACCESSIBILITY PAVILION, in large part due to the stupendous efforts
of ASCLA's Audrey Gorman.
Unfortunately, the Accessibility Pavilion did not make a big splash among the
editors of library journals visiting the ALA exhibits (I still am unable to
comprehend why), but you can see for yourselves how stupendous the first ever
ALA Accessibility Pavilion at ALA San Francisco 2001 was on MY website - with
photos of actual live people utilizing the super duper technology - at
http://twu.edu/~s_perlow/accessibilitypavilion.html
We must advocate strongly for an even better, larger, much better publicized,
super-duper ACCESSIBILITY PAVILION at ALA 2002, right up front and center of
the Exhibit Hall where it belongs, and also WELL-PUBLICIZED with photos of
real live people using the technology (not just people's hands; publicized
far in advance by ALA (are you listening American Libraries?).
And Y'ALL (= us Accessibility Advocates) can make it happen. Accessibility is
NOT just for "the accessibility market" - whatever that is (as was indicated in
the Sept. 2001 American Libraries issue), Accessibility is about Everyone -
especially as we learned so tragically two weeks ago and as we all know
since I haven't yet met anyone getting any younger.
In your comments to ALA on ALA 2001 - be sure to emphasize the need for a
super-duper Accessibility Pavilion in Atlanta and a SUPER-DUPER ACCESSIBLE
Conference. A for Accessibility!
Also be sure to emphasize that we need a FULLY ACCESSIBLE CONFERENCE
WEBSITE!!!! Even for ALA Midwinter New Orleans ("Oh where, Oh where did those
ALT tags go, Oh where, Oh where could they be?" ... See:
http://alawinter.ctt-inc.com/index.html )as well as for ALA Annual
Atlanta.
ALA now has an official ALA Accessibility Policy on the books:
http://www.ala.org/ascla/access_policy.html
Let's see and experience the Accessibility Policy in action!!!!
P.S. Please start recruiting NOW for the ALA ASCLA Century Scholarship for
2002!! http://www.ala.org/ascla/centuryscholarship.html
-----------------------
Ellen Perlow
Chair, ALA ASCLA Century Scholarship Committee
The ALA ASCLA Century Scholarship Diversity Initiative
"Celebrating a New Century that Celebrates Diversity"
http://www.ala.org/ascla/centuryscholarship.html
Annual Submission Deadline: March 1
See Also: ALA HRDR Page: http://www.ala.org/hrdr/
Texas Century Scholarship: http://www.txla.org/html/awards/scholar/century.html
Have YOU recruited/applied to be a Century Scholarship applicant today?
----------------------------------------------------
Manager of Information Services
School of Library and Information Studies
Texas Woman's University
P.O. Box 425438
Denton, TX 76204-5438
Tel.: 940-898-2622 Fax: 940-898-2611
Web: http://twu.edu/~s_perlow/
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
|
