General Sessions for Wednesday, March 16, 2022

8:00 AM

Featured Presentation: Using WebAIM Million & User Surveys Data to Inform Your Inclusion Efforts

Data can help inform web accessibility efforts, but useful data is in short supply. WebAIM conducts an annual analysis of the home pages of the top one million websites, as well as regular surveys of users with disabilities. An overview of the most recent findings will be shared with guidance on how these data can be used to improve inclusion of your digital resources.

Presenter: Jared Smith, WebAIM

9:20 AM

Accessible Formats: Why Your Customers Should Have A Choice

Come and join us for a discussion on the benefits and drawbacks of Accessible PDF and other alternate formats, such as large print and braille. We'll look at the differences between these formats and we'll demonstrate the reasons that document accessibility does not have a "one size fits all" solution.

Presenter: Mackenzie Banks, Crawford Technologies

Caption UI/UX - Display Emotive and Paralinguistic Information in Captions

Emotive and paralinguistic information are typically missing from conventional closed captions. We evaluate them in captions and report on how participants perceive them.

Presenters: Joseph Mendis, Gallaudet University
Christian Vogler, Gallaudet University
Raja Kushalnagar, Gallaudet University

Editing Online with a Screen Reader with Google Docs and Fusion

In this session we introduce you to Google Docs, describe its layout, demonstrate its features, and provide useful shortcuts to improve your user experience with a Powerful screen reader like JAWS.

Presenters: Elizabeth Whitaker, Vispero
Rachel Buchanan, Vispero

Establishing a Gold Star Section 508 Program

Have you been tasked with establishing a Section 508 Program? Where do you begin? What is involved? Join the FDIC Section 508 Program Office, to learn how to establish a framework for a gold star 508 program and how to continue to engage your customers (including your CIO).

Presenters: Brooke Aiken, FDIC
Jennifer Meltz, ICF International Inc.
Alfred Vallarta, ICF International Inc.
Earl McJett, FDIC

Informed Access to Tech for People Who Are Visually Impaired

Lighthouse Guild has established a Technology Center for people who are visually impaired. The center's primary purpose is to help clients attain their goals through the use of assistive technology. A process was implemented to evaluate technologies and make optimal, customized technology recommendations.

Presenter: Paul Misiti, Lighthouse Guild

Magnification Solutions Frequently Used by Visually Impaired

This session will review some of the most common Eschenbach low vision aids used by students with vision loss to help them with their ADLs. Attendees will be able to use some of the devices discussed.

Presenter: Joseph Buttazzoni, Eschenbach

Role of Champions in Accessibility Technology Innovation

Continual Engine and George Mason University share their journey on how user feedback supported the development of PREP - an artificial intelligence-based intuitive solution for document remediation (PDFs, Word, PowerPoints, etc). This session highlights the impact of early collaboration; role of focus groups; and using data to measure success.

Presenters: Vijayshree Vethantham, Continual Engine US LLC
Korey Singleton, George Mason University
Rajiv Narayana, Continual Engine US LLC

Section 508 Accessibility through the Acquisition Lifecycle

Presenters from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the General Services Administration (GSA) - two agencies that manage large acquisition vehicles for use across the federal government - share best practices for procuring accessible information and communication technology (ICT) that conforms to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Presenter: Betsy Sirk, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

UDL and Accessibility: Making Sure You Get the Best of Both

Choosing products that provide both Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and accessibility support is more important than ever for student success. This session provides practical guidance on developing a plan that articulates what you want in both – making it easier to get the right functionality to support your learners.

Presenter: Rick Ferrie, Savvas Learning Company

10:20 AM

Adapting Visual Teaching Tools for Vision Impaired Students

This session will address three popular, highly visual teaching tools—Kahoot, Padlet, and memes—and their uses in classroom instruction, focusing on alignment with Universal Design principles that enable blind and vision impaired students to participate in collaborative activities that promote equity and inclusion.

Presenter: Rebecca Penrose, California State University, Bakersfield

Digitally Driving Diversity:Tech Tools to Deliver Change

This session will cover how organizations can design digital experiences and couple technology tools with executive ownership and accountability to generate objective insights, enable quick wins, and apply data-driven business strategies to drive impactful DEI&B change.

Presenters: Colleen Wood, Level Access
Christa Manning, UKG

IMAGE: Accessible Internet Graphics via Audio and Touch

IMAGE is a new tool that uses rich audio (sonification) and touch (haptics) to provide a faster and more nuanced experience of graphics on the web. Have you ever wanted to hear a photograph? Feel a graph? Learn how you can use IMAGE to explore web graphics in new ways.

Presenters: Jeremy Cooperstock, McGill University
David Brun, Gateway Navigation CCC Ltd
Cyan Kuo, McGill University
Yongjae Yoo, McGill University
Jeffrey Blum, McGill University

Inclusive Design for Brain Fog and Long-Haul COVID

For many people, recovering from COVID has been a long process. They continue to experience fatigue, pain, and "brain fog". Brain fog affects a person's ability to concentrate on tasks and short term memory loss. This session shares inclusive design research and best practices for COVID and brain fog.

Presenters: Ted Drake, Intuit
Pamela Bingham, Intuit

Making the Most of Storyline's Accessibility Enhancements

This presentation will present the key accessibility features and limitations of the newly updated Storyline 360 platform and review strategies to address these barriers and help create accessible e-learning content.

Presenter: Michael Parker, Access Ingenuity

Online Learning & COVID-19: Exploring Digital Accessibility

This paper examines the digital accessibility challenges posed by fully online learning and proposes a model for transitioning to an equitable learning environment.

Presenter: Jason McKee, Perspective Tester

Simplifying Accessibility with Find, Test and Fix

Acknowledging they need a methodology to attack the problem, the Personal Investment Firm made great strides making hundreds of thousands of documents accessible to people with disabilities. By distilling the process down to a model that Finds, Tests and Fixes files, they have vastly improved their content accessibility footprint.

Presenter: Doug Koppenhofer, Crawford Technologies

Supporting the Next Billion Users: Personalization & the Web

Content must be understandable to be accessible. The W3C is working on standards that will help you empower people who may struggle to understand your content and interfaces. In the future, the web will adapt to users' needs. Learn how to use (with technical examples) and shape these exciting emerging developments.

Presenter: Matthew Atkinson, TPGi

Visual Interpreting: Inclusion in Higher Education

The emerging field of visual interpreting brings unique inclusion opportunities to higher education. We address best practices and use-cases in accessibility to distance learning, event planning, and campus life, as well as safety concerns and procedures on campus associated with the global pandemic.

Presenter: Kevin Phelan, Aira Tech Corp.

11:20 AM

5 Keys Towards Pivoting to an Inclusive Organizational Culture

Participants will gain an in-depth understanding of the following core foundation stones required to build a model organization structured to support employees and clients with disabilities: Role-Based Requirements Framework, Accessibility Maturity Model, Agile Development, Users First / Think Accessibility and Trust Marketing.

Presenter: Mike Paciello, AbleDocs

Accessibility for Designers, Where They Work

Accessibility guidance is developer-biased and text heavy. To shift left, IBM established that designers want visual guidance available in the tools they already use, and need clarity on exactly when and how to provide accessibility annotations. We created a free Sketch kit and open-source Carbon component guidance to address this.

Presenters: Michael Gower, IBM Design
Jessica Lin, IBM Accessibility

Accessibility Metadata - A Digital Textbook Superhero

Most of us know that the higher-ed publishing community has embraced EPUB as the accessible digital format of the future. But what many don't know is that EPUBs also contain a hidden treasure that can supercharge your course materials strategy: a masked hero named Accessibility Metadata.

Presenter: Erin Lucas, RedShelf

AI-Based Apps: Six Studies on Post-Secondary Students

We report on six studies, carried out between 2020 and 2021, dealing with artificial-intelligence related technologies that can be used by post-secondary students with disabilities.

Presenter: Catherine Fichten, Dawson College, Adaptech Research Network

Including Accessibility with Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity

How is accessibility incorporated into the definition of diversity, inclusion, and equity for your company, your program, or your classroom? We will talk about different ways to ensure the rights of people of all abilities are included in these conversations and definitions.

Presenters: Eric Stano, Magic EdTech
Erin Evans, Magic EdTech

Making MS-Word Accessible

We'll discuss tools that can make office documents accessible. These include MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents using tools to set policy and using a wizard to walk either a power user of MS Office or a person who has had minimal training in making documents accessible.

Presenter: Dennis Quon, Crawford Technologies

Matching a Low Vision User with Proper Video Magnifier

Have you ever wished for a cheat sheet to help remember which products do what? Or wished for an authority to walk you through the process of choosing the right product? When it comes to video magnifiers, our presentation will provide both.

Presenter: Kimberly Cline, LVI America

Technology Experiences of Blind and Low-Vision Workers

AFB conducted a survey and interviews to examine the technology-related experiences of blind, low-vision, and deafblind workers. We report major findings and recommendations to make workplace technology more accessible and inclusive.

Presenters: Arielle Silverman, American Foundation for the Blind
Elizabeth Bolander, New Mexico State University

What's New in JAWS 2022

Power Point Presentation and Live Demonstration of the latest and greatest Windows Screen Reading Technology with JAWS 2022. Plenty of opportunity for Questions and Answers

Presenter: Eric Damery, Vispero

[Help!] Captioning at Scale for a Large Research University

Two years ago Harvard reached a settlement, agreeing to caption online content from many stakeholders across a large, decentralized institution. Join digital accessibility team members to learn about their approach to the work along with tools developed, services integrated, and training delivered to carry out the work and promote accessibility.

Presenters: Kyle Shachmut, Harvard University
Andy Hollenhorst, Harvard University

1:20 PM

Accessibility Testing for ePubs: No Experience Necessary

Learn about ePub Accessibility testing, its challenges and the solutions that the future may hold. This presentation will serve as a demo for Logictran's brand new browser-based tool intended to simplify ePub Accessibility testing and remediation.

Presenters: Okan Guney, Logictran
Christine Foushi, Logictran

Audio Description: There's an App for That!

This presentation will introduce participants to the use of an app to access the audio description of film and media for people who are blind or have low vision, as well as clarification of sound for people who are hard-of-hearing and assistance for those who speak alternate languages.

Presenters: Joel Snyder, Audio Description Associates, LLC
Petr Kucheryavyy, Charter Communications-Spectrum

Braille Dots Serving 21st Century Needs

An introduction to the Dynamic Tactile Device project that APH and HumanWare have been working on for the past two years. Progress and findings will be shared along with the goals and direction of the project.

Presenters: Greg Stilson, American Printing House for the Blind
William Freeman, American Printing House for the Blind

Building an Accessible Kiosk

Building a self-ordering kiosk that's accessible for people who are blind or have low vision requires consideration of web content accessibility guidelines & kiosk accessibility best practices. Learn about how TPGi worked with the McDonald's team to provide an experience for customers who are blind or have low vision.

Presenters: Ryan Jones, TPGi
Kelsey Hall, McDonald's Corporation

Digital Accessibility Grassroots Effort to University Policy

This presentation follows Northwestern's transition from a digital accessibility grassroots effort to a systematic approach. It will highlight a committee's success in establishing and implementing a digital accessibility liaison network, an accessible purchasing process, and a university digital accessibility policy on limited available resources.

Presenter: James Stachowiak, Northwestern University

Direct Access: Image Processing Tool for Inclusive Spaces

Direct Access is a mobile/web application to evaluate a building's accessibility accurately using image recognition for confirmation.

Presenter: Sanjana Ryali, Valley Christian High School

Rapid Prototyping with Accessibility in Mind

Join us in this "shift-left" movement to take Accessibility as early as possible in the design process. We will discuss tools and best practices for rapid prototyping and running usability studies with users who rely on assistive technologies from day-1.

Presenters: Marcelo Paiva, UKG - Ultimate Kronos Group
Claudio Luis Vera, Stark

Teleconference Sign Language Detection

Teleconferences spotlight the active speaker, based on audio. For deaf signer accessibility, we report evaluations of sign-detection algorithms to spotlight the active signer.

Presenters: Shane Angel, Gallaudet University
Christian Vogler, Gallaudet University
Raja Kushalnagar, Gallaudet University

2:20 PM

A Tangible Manipulative for Inclusive Quadrilateral Learning

A tangible quadrilateral manipulative with computer-based digital augmentation is designed for inclusive mathematics learning and evaluated both with and without individuals with visual impairments.

Presenter: Scott Lambert, Saint Louis University

Accessible Conversational UI's

In this world of "live help, a click away", it is critical for organizations to ensure that their CUI's are accessible. This is how they would truly "solve for ALL their customers". Intuit is working to ensure that our live help products are accessible. We will share our learnings with you.

Presenters: Poonam Tathavadkar, Intuit Inc
Sagar Barbhaya, Intuit Inc

Catching-Up with Accessible CSS in the 20's

In this session, we will provide a high-level catch-up of accessibility benefits and obstacles that modern day CSS features can offer. We will demonstrate each feature using practical examples and discuss its relevance to current and upcoming WCAG requirements.

Presenters: Steve Faulkner, TPGi
Hans Hillen, TPGi

Getting in Touch With Tactile Map Automated Production

Usage data and feature requests for the Tactile Map Automated Production system from six blind and six Orientation and Mobility users will be presented.

Presenter: Brandon Biggs, Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute

How to Get Started with Better Digital Content Accessibility

Equal access to information on your website and other digital content channels is vital for successful marketing and communication. This session presents a practical approach for Marketers and Communicators to get started with better digital content accessibility, and helps break down barriers for a more accessible and inclusive content creation.

Presenter: Jacob Riff, Monsido

Open Source & Low Cost Assistive Devices for ADL

This is a presentation of multiple assistive devices created as part of a creative research program at the University of Delaware providing open-source and low-cost solutions to assist people with activities of daily living.

Presenter: Ashley Pigford, University of Delaware

Read Anywhere - EasyReader Opens a World of Accessible Books

In this session we will be showcasing the results of our international pilot of EasyReader, appropriate for individuals, digital accessible library personnel, educational organizations, and assistive technology partners.

Presenter: Mary Jo Barry, Dolphin Computer Access

The Ten Commandments of Accessibility

In an obscure corner of American disability law, you'll find ten fundamental principles to every digital experience. These describe the core use cases for digital accessibility, and they apply to all digital products, including gaming, kiosks, mobile apps, and VR.

Presenter: Claudio Luis Vera, Stark

UbiDuo 3 Communication Device for Deaf, HH, and Hearing

Attendees will learn how easy the UbiDuo 3 is to use to enable face to face communication between people who are deaf, hard of hearing, and late-deafened and hearing. Use 24/7/365 any place/any time.

Presenter: Anna Hanson, sComm

3:20 PM

Applying UDL to a Training Program on Digital Accessibility

In this session, we share the digital equity and e-inclusion training program we designed to move away from a compliance model to a model where faculty consider accessibility at the course design level. Our program is built for instructors but its tenants can be applied broadly to other populations.

Presenter: Elisa Sance, Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, University of Maine

Controlling Zoom, VoiceOver and iOS by Bluetooth Keyboard

This session will demonstrate the benefits of using a Bluetooth keyboard with an iDevice and configure an iDevice to work optimally with such a keyboard. Specific keyboard commands to control Zoom, VoiceOver, and processes in the iOS environment will be reviewed.

Presenters: Harris Rosensweig, iYellow Access
Jeff Ermold, iYellow Access
Jessica Aiello, iYellow Group

Crowdsourcing Annotated Storefront Accessibility Data

This paper aims to develop a web-based application to collect annotated storefront accessibility data for the visually impaired by using online crowdsourcing and Google Streetview.

Presenters: Jiawei Liu, City College of New York
Hao Tang, CUNY/BMCC

Low-Key AT: Less-Obvious Options for Entry-Level Workers

This session will examine workplace situations and accommodation solutions involving individuals with various disabilities working in entry-level positions with a focus on strategies and technologies that can be implemented subtly. Cost and benefit data from an ongoing study will be provided as available.

Presenter: Teresa Goddard, Job Accommodation Network (JAN)

Security + A11y = Streamlined Higher Ed Vendor Assessments

Higher education accessibility experts from 15 universities synthesized procurement best practices into a curated list of vendor questions. They were incorporated into the HECVAT, a widely-used IT Security assessment toolkit for third-party platforms, addressing a consistent organizational accessibility challenge. Learn about the questions, scoring and how to use the toolkit.

Presenter: Kyle Shachmut, Harvard University

Smart Home for Independent Living of the Elderly

The authors suggest a new smart home model for the elderly based on the users' views. The authors have interviewed staff of facilities for the elderly and the families of the elderly, who are assumed to be the users of a smart home.

Presenters: Masato Hoshino, Shibaura Institute of Technology
Hiroyuki Nakamura, Shibaura Institute of Technology

Understanding Document Tag Structure

Learn basic and nested tag structures of a PDF document and what it means to have a well-formed tags tree. Explore how differences in tag structure affect how screen readers voice content. Leave this session empowered with the knowledge and understanding to tackle your next PDF confidently.

Presenter: Dax Castro, AbleDocs

What's New with OrCam MyEye and OrCam Read

Recent updates, features, and benefits on the OrCam MyEye and Read technologies. This session, conducted by a low vision optometrist with working experience of the technology, discusses best practices, patient experiences, and the future of artificial intelligence and computer-assisted vision technology.

Presenter: Michelle Mendez, OrCam

Writing an Accessible Kiosk RFP

Requests for Proposal (RFP's) are used to evaluate options for kiosk solutions across both the private and public sector. In this session, the recommended language and options for writing a kiosk RFP that results in an accessible kiosk will be discussed and presented.

Presenter: Laura Miller, Vispero

4:20 PM

Accessibility Report on a Tripartite Evaluation Approach

This study investigates the current accessibility status of scientific journal systems for blind or visually impaired professionals using a tripartite evaluation approach.

Presenters: JooYoung Seo, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Soyoung Choi, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Accessible PDFs: Holistic Approach to Accessibility Testing

Many people do not test PDF documents adequately to ensure compliance. This presentation will demonstrate the steps required to ensure PDF compliance via a holistic testing process that includes automated and manual testing processes. Both simple and complex documents will be reviewed, as well as how to test special characters.

Presenter: Michael Parker, Access Ingenuity

Automating Keyboard Testing Using Visualizations

Manual keyboard accessibility testing is arduous, repetitive, and prone to error. IBM has pioneered a novel keyboard tab stop visualization as part of the IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker. This work will automate manual keyboard testing - making it easier, more efficient and less error prone.

Presenters: Ali Unwala, IBM Accessibility
Josiah Hoskins, IBM Accessibility
Phill Jenkins, IBM Accessibility

Building Equitable Family AAC Training in your Community

Community programs focusing on equitable access to family AAC training proved invaluable for the progression of student communication skills throughout distance learning. Attendees will leave with guidelines on creating community groups, topic ideas, agendas, bitmoji classroom templates, and questionnaires to obtain information about the cultural impact on AAC use.

Presenters: Rachel Moore, Lane Education Service District
Sara Mansfield, Lane Education Service District

Connect with Sony's Accessibility Initiatives

Sony's Accessibility initiatives are supporting disabled communities with their products and services both globally and locally.

Presenters: Mike Nejat, Sony North America
John Kim, SIE

How Accessible is TV for People with Sight Loss?

With audio description firmly embedded in the broadcast streams, it is now time to investigate alternative ways in which programs that have remained inaccessible can be made accessible. The presenters will share findings on the programs from various genres including children's content, documentaries, science, nature, and travel shows.

Presenters: Sonali Rai, Royal National Institute of Blind People
Alison Long, Royal National Institute of Blind People

Making Streaming Video Inclusive

Join TPGi as we review accessibility considerations for delivering streaming video across multiple platforms using a variety of input modalities. Designers and developers will learn how to improve the user journey of finding and playing video content on demand.

Presenters: Rachele DiTullio, TPGi
Carolina Crespo, TPGi
Charu Pandhi, TPGi

Retinal Imaging Digital Camera as New Low Vision Aid

A digital camera with a retinal imaging viewfinder is introduced as a low vision aid. The presentation includes the device's function, specification, principle, safety, and impact on the life of low vision people. Videos of users and the device demonstration will be included.

Presenter: Yuria Shoji, QDLaser, Inc.

Visual Interpreting & Workplace Inclusion

Access to information in the workplace for blind and low vision people does not end with a screen reader or magnifier. Through our partners in some of the world's largest businesses, we'll look at how visual interpreting leads to productivity and inclusion.

Presenter: Troy Otillio, Aira Tech Corp.