EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) is sponsoring free Webcasts on November 11 and November 14. Nov. 11: 3 live presentations broadcast from the Accessing Higher Ground Conference held in Boulder. The presentations are: (Note: all times are Mountain time) Accessibility of Online Resources in Academic Libraries, Axel Schmetzke, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 9:15a.m. - 10:15 a.m. Panel: Current Trends in Electronic Books, Norm Coombs, Judith Dixon, Janice Carter, Steve Noble 10:30 a.m. -11:30 a.m. Library e-Journal Accessibility A Usability Study, Ron Stewart, Oregon State University (OSU) 11:40 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. On Nov. 11, there will be a link at the top of the EASI Home page at either: http://easi.cc or http://www.rit.edu/~easi We regret that no one will be available by phone or email that day to provide any help if needed. We will be busy at the conference and not have time to respond to anyone. If you register in advance, you will later get a link to the recordings. Register at http://easi.cc/forms/ahg.htm Nov. 14 at 2 PM Eastern Online Learning, Its History, Accessibility and Future Prospects Presenter: Norman Coombs Coombs was an early distance learning pioneer more than 20 years ago and received a number of awards for this work including being selected the NY State Teacher of the Year for this work. From the beginning, Coombs saw its potential to create a level learning space for users with disabilities and has actively advocated for such accessibility. This hour-long presentation will give a brief history of distance learning technologies. It will review the struggle for accessibility and outline its progress till now. A decade ago, courseware systems did not take the accessibility of their platforms very seriously. The law did not directly relate to them. However, as universities expanded their distance learning offerings, they began to require that the courseware systems make their Web interfaces accessible. They have made significant progress towards this goal, but major areas of concern still require attention so the systems are both accessible and easy to use. Many of the remaining modifications promise to make the systems more friendly for everyone. At the same time, a number of institutions have received grants enabling them to focus on enhancing the accessibility of distance learning. Besides making courseware accessible, much work is being done to assist course providers to improve the accessibility of the course content. Those registering for this free Webcast will have an excellent introduction to today's state-of-the-art accessibility in online learning. This will be followed by a fee-based 4-part, detailed series of 4 presentations giving training and specific skills in how to create accessible course content. Register for the free Online Learning Web Conference http://easi.cc/dec15.htm Fee-based 4-part series on Accessible Online Learning ($150) Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 12 and 19 Norman Coombs will host 4 hour-long presentations with several nationally-known leaders in making online learning more accessible an more user friendly. November 28 at 2 PM Eastern, Presentation 1: Introduction: History and Current State of Online Learning Presenter: Norman Coombs (NOTE! registering will give you access to the 4 live presentations as well as their recordings. Participants will also be enrolled in a listserv discussion to promote further interaction). Coombs brings the unusal perspective of someone who began teaching online a decade before the Web came into existence and reflects on the impact of these technical changes both on the nature of online learning itself and on their impact on users with disabilities. December 5 at 2 PM Eastern, Presentation 2: Online Learning: Best Practice and Best Policies Presenters: Robert Todd and Cyndi Rowland In this presentation, Coombs will be joined by Robert Todd of Georgia Tech and Cyndi Rowland of Utah State University. They will focus on defining best practice in online learning and the importance of clear policies defining commitment to accessible online learning. December 12 at 2 PM Eastern, Presentation 2: Enhanced Accessibility Using Microsoft Accessibility Wizard Presenters: John Gunderson and Dan Linder Course content designers rarely work directly with HTML Web code or even with software designed to create HTML. They use standard authoring software, unrelated to the Web, and trust it to output acceptable content for the Web, but word processors, and similar software almost never output content for the Web that meets accessibility needs. This wizard, however, will enable someone to do that without learning HTML accessibility. December 19 at 2 Eastern, Presentation 4: Remaining Courseware Problems and Final Tips for Faculty Presenters: Norman Coombs and Guests will outline remaining problem areas(discussion boards, white boards and chat), and they will also outline strategies to assist non-technical faculty in preparing accessible content and in evaluating its actual accessibility. Read more about this fee-based series and locate online registration at http://easi.cc/forms/distance.htm