>Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 15:47:10 -0400
>From: Michael Burks <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: FW: media:American Council of the Blind Endorses HiSoftware Company
>  Cynthia Says (TM) and AccVerify Cynthia Says (TM) Edition as excellent
>  resources for testing web site accessibility
>Sender: Internet Society Disability Chapter <[log in to unmask]>
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>http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030521/new016_1.html
>
>For Immediate Release
>
>For more information, contact:
>Charles Crawford, Executive Director
>[log in to unmask]
>
>American Council of the Blind Endorses HiSoftware Company Cynthia Says
>(TM) and AccVerify Cynthia Says (TM) Edition as excellent resources for
>testing web site accessibility
>
>WASHINGTON, May 21, 2003 -- The American Council of the Blind (ACB)
>today announced that, as the leading organization of blind and visually
>impaired Americans, ACB endorses and recommends HiSoftware Company
>solutions Cynthia Says (TM) as well as AccVerify Cynthia Says (TM), as
>excellent tools for guaranteeing that web sites will be accessible to
>people who are blind and visually impaired. "Because of their
>scalability, cost effectiveness, and usefulness in web site
>accessibility testing," says ACB President Christopher Gray, of San
>Francisco, Calif., "these products offer a wonderful, affordable
>solution to web masters for making their sites accessible to people with
>disabilities."
>
>HiSoftware Company, Inc. launched Cynthia Says (TM) in March of 2003, in
>cooperation with the International Center for Disability Resources on
>the Internet, and the Internet Society Disability and Special Needs
>Chapter. Cynthia Says (TM) provides testing of web sites for compliance
>with Section 508 and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) web accessibility
>standards. Cynthia Says (TM) tests web sites and reports accessibility
>issues immediately through simple and easy-to-understand web browser
>based reports.
>
>According to Robert B. Yonaitis, HiSoftware President and CEO, "The goal
>of this service is to provide a well-supported accessibility validation
>tester for those who need to test a page and to expose them to the
>underlying technology and the benefits of using the technology."
>
>Through its endorsement, the American Council of the Blind will also be
>promoting the downloadable version of the software, AccVerify Cynthia
>Says
>(TM) Edition. This solution, which is available at no cost to all K-12
>schools and at a nominal cost to others, helps educate and assist web
>content developers to make their Internet content accessible to computer
>users who rely on assistive software, such as screen-reading and
>magnification programs and refreshable Braille displays, to access
>information on their computer screens. "HiSoftware Company is pleased
>and honored that our solutions were selected for recommendation by the
>ACB," said HiSoftware CEO Yonaitis. "Our customers recognize the
>importance of complying with accessibility standards on their web sites
>so that the information they provide is available to everyone regardless
>of physical ability. Cynthia Says (TM) enables anyone to test a web
>page, and it also educates the tester about the underlying technology
>behind accessibility and promotes accessible web design."
>
>"In selecting HiSoftware Company and its products, ACB specifically
>sought a company with qualities and solutions that make them leaders in
>web accessibility testing," says ACB President Gray. "Cynthia Says (TM)
>helps users to ensure that their web sites have the functionality needed
>for a diverse population of user needs and preferences."
>
>ACB Executive Director Charlie Crawford, of Silver Spring, Md., added,
>"We are very impressed by this tool. A web master can get immediate
>feedback about the accessibility of a site. There's no waiting around
>for any kind of external endorsement and virtually no additional expense
>involved in determining whether a person with a disability can access
>the information presented on the screen. This is good news for people
>with disabilities, and for all the entities out there who want people
>with disabilities to have access to what they have to offer via the web.
>Cynthia Says (TM) is easy to use, and we find that it provides clear and
>easily understood reports. We believe that this much-needed online tool
>will help fill the accessibility gap which blind computer users
>experience so often when their screen readers refuse to 'read' the
>graphics, tables, or other visual displays on a computer screen. We all
>look forward to a day when surfing the Internet will be just as easy for
>people who have disabilities as it is for the more typical computer
>users out there."
>
>Cynthia Says (TM) allows users to quickly receive an immediate
>"pass/fail" for automated checks of their web site accessibility along
>with direct links to the technical rule passed or violated. It also
>directs and assists users to validate human testing requirements as
>required. Accessibility issues are detected within web sites from
>web-based applications, dynamic pages, or static HTML pages. Cynthia
>Says (TM) utilizes HiSoftware's AccMonitor Server technology and deploys
>USER Agents (crawlers/scanners) to collect individual page or dynamic
>page accessibility data. This information is then sent to the central
>server where actual accessibility verification is performed. The output
>of the accessibility verification results in easy-to-read reports that
>can then be viewed securely over the Internet through a user's own web
>browser. More information is available at http://www.cynthiasays.com.
>
>The National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Engineering Society of
>Detroit selected HiSoftware Company as the 2002 recipient of the
>prestigious da Vinci Award for Electronics and Information Technology.
>The da Vinci awards were developed to recognize individuals,
>organizations, and corporations in the engineering, construction, and
>technical realms whose design innovations have improved accessibility,
>and empowered people, regardless of their physical ability. Since its
>launch in March of 2003, Cynthia Says (TM) has been used to test over
>one million web pages around the world. Cynthia Says (TM) was used as an
>educational tool to demonstrate accessibility issues with Scotland's
>national election. See: http://www.dmag.org.uk/election/details.asp.
>
>About the American Council of the Blind
>The American Council of the Blind is a national membership organization
>whose purpose is to work toward independence, security, equality of
>opportunity, and improved quality of life for all blind and visually
>impaired people. Founded in 1961, ACB's members work through more than
>70 state and special-interest affiliates to improve the well-being of
>all blind and visually impaired people by: serving as a representative
>national organization; elevating the social, economic and cultural
>levels of blind people; improving educational and rehabilitation
>facilities and opportunities; cooperating with public and private
>institutions and organizations concerned with blind services;
>encouraging and assisting all people with severely impaired vision to
>develop their abilities, and conducting a public education program to
>promote greater understanding of blindness. To learn more about the
>Council's work, visit the organization's web site at http://www.acb.org,
>listen to ACB Radio online at www.acbradio.org, or contact the national
>office in Washington, DC at (202) 467-5081.
>
>About HiSoftware
>HiSoftware Company, the leader in enterprise content quality management
>solutions, provides innovative products that empower quality assurance
>teams, content developers, web site architects, and company executives
>to work collaboratively on their efforts to create and manage corporate
>web standards for accessibility, privacy, searchability, usability and
>custom guidelines and policies. HiSoftware's integrated, full life cycle
>solutions dramatically reduce the time required to test, manage and
>deploy e-business web sites. HiSoftware works closely with industry
>leaders and visionaries to provide solutions for today's information
>accessibility, content quality, search and retrieval needs. HiSoftware's
>customers represent Fortune 500 companies and many of the largest
>e-commerce, government, and educational sites in North America and
>around the world and include ChevronTexaco, Commerce One, Mercury
>Interactive, and Microsoft Government. Founded in 1998, HiSoftware
>Company maintains North American corporate headquarters in Concord, N.H.
>Further information about HiSoftware can be found online at
>www.hisoftware.com.
>
>EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) is proud to have this
>opportunity to support the list for the disability chapter of the Internet
>Society.
>If you need help with the list, write either Norman Coombs CEO EASI
>[log in to unmask]
>or Dick Banks CTO EASI [log in to unmask]
>EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information)
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>http//easi-elearn.org

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