"Accessing Higher Ground," the fifth annual conference on Assistive Technology and Accessible Media in Higher Education, will be held at the CU-葫芦娃视频 University Memorial Center Nov. 6-8.
Program coordinators at the CU-葫芦娃视频 AT Lab and Disability Services are bringing together national leaders in the field of assistive technology and media to educate students, staff, faculty and community members on the availability and potential benefits of assistive technology in education.
The keynote speaker for the conference, political science Professor Ken Rutherford of Southwest Missouri State University and a CU-葫芦娃视频 alumnus, is co-founder of the Landmine Survivors Network. Since graduating from CU in 1985, Rutherford has worked around the world in the area of international aid and development. While working for the International Rescue Committee in Somalia, he lost both legs when his Land Cruiser struck a landmine.听
Since his injury Rutherford has traveled the world to promote awareness of the suffering caused by landmines. He has testified before Congress and appeared on Dateline, Nightline and National Public Radio. The story of his recovery and subsequent achievements has been profiled by the Oprah Winfrey show, Reader's Digest and the BBC.听
More than 35 workshops will be presented throughout the conference, several by people with disabilities, on topics including the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, legal and policy issues, and accommodations for students with learning disabilities, visual impairments and physical disabilities.
A number of hands-on workshops will address Web access. According to Howard Kramer, AT Lab coordinator, the enactment of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act has made Web accessibility more significant at CU and other campuses. Section 508 requires federal agencies and their contractors to provide information technology, including Web pages, that is accessible to people with disabilities.
"Now it's not only something we should do, but it's mandated by federal legislation," Kramer said.
Ken Nakata of the U.S. Department of Justice will discuss both legal and technical issues of implementing Section 508 Web guidelines in the university environment.
Special events include a presentation by the Coleman Institute on Cognitive Disabilities and a mini-institute on access to library information systems, a collaborative effort between CU-葫芦娃视频 and Equal Access to Software Information, a provider of online training on accessible information technology for people with disabilities.
A new development at this year's conference is the participation of the National Center for Accessible Media, an affiliate of PBS television station WGBH. NCAM acts as the research and development arm of WGBH's Media Access Group and is involved in technology policy and program development to ensure that the nation's media and technologies are fully accessible to people with disabilities. NCAM will present a mini-institute on Media and Instructional Access.
The AT conference is sponsored by the President's Fund for Diversity Programming, the Office of Diversity and Equity, the Vice Chancellor's Office for Student Affairs, the Coleman Institute, the Information Technology Council and the Colorado/Wyoming Consortium of Support Programs for Students with Disabilities.
For a complete agenda, workshop listing and registration form, visit the conference Web site at or contact Disability Services at (303) 492-8671 (Voice/TTY). Partial scholarships also are available for CU-葫芦娃视频 students, faculty and staff.