Web design conference to bring together graphics and access experts

  The World Wide Web has changed everything about information design
and communication -- for designers as well as for users.  Yet even a
year after Section 508's rules for accessible websites took effect
(http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/webaccess/sect508.htm),
graphic designers still seem largely uninterested in accessible web
design. Even though they are more and more inclined to identify
themselves as "user-centered information designers," in fact they are
not truly attentive to the diverse spectrum of real users, say those
involved with web access issues.

To tackle this problem, Accessible Environments, Inc. and the Rhode
Island School of Design are hosting "Web Design that Works for
Everyone," a two-day conference Oct. 18-19 at the school, bringing
together the two worlds of digital design and accessible technology.
Experts on the cutting edge in universal design on the web and in
graphic design will offer sessions on the rationale for accessible
design, techniques and tools and user-based design methods. Speakers
include leading names in web design from WGBH, AIGA, Macromedia,
Adobe and RISD. More on the conference schedule and presenters is
online at http://www.adaptenv.org/webconference.

The audience for digital information is huge -- and diverse.
Americans 60 and over are the fastest growing group of Web users.
Within 25 years, it's expected that 30 percent of the US population
will be over 60. Vision problems are common. Even with glasses or
contact lenses, one in 6 Americans over 45 has a vision impairment.

"New accessibility tools and standards make it easy to design
information that's accessible and attractive," says Adaptive
Environments. "But there has been little cross-fertilization between
digital design and accessibility. If the promise of accessible
digital media is to be realized, it needs great
designers/architects/strategists/planners of information, who can
create appeal, flow and clarity that enhance everyone's experience."

The conference is sponsored by the  Information Technology Technical
Assistance and Training Center, Macromedia, the National Institute on
Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and the Verizon Foundation.

Registration for both days' sessions is $300 -- or $200 for a single
day -- if you register online by Sept. 20. Rates rise after that. To
register, go to
https://www.adaptiveenvironments.org/webconference/registration.php

Reporters seeking more information about or thinking of attending the
conference should contact Lenie Kuit, Coordinator of Marketing and
Communications at Adaptive Environments at 617-695-1225, ext. 29
([log in to unmask]) or Brien McDaniel, Senior Press
Officer, RISD, at 401-454-6342 ([log in to unmask]).

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The Center for An Accessible Society is funded by the National
Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to focus public
attention on disability and independent living issues. The Center is
a project of Exploding Myths, Inc. a media enterprise company.