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Date: Thursday, August 21st, 2003 Time: 7:30 PM event begins CTRC staff will be waiting in the lobby to let you in and escort you upstairs until a little after 7:30. If you're late, try calling 301-451-4687 and we will send someone to let you in if we can. Location: Communication Technologies Branch Description: The Communication Technologies Branch of the National Cancer Institute has been conducting usability testing with blind and low-vision users to understand how they interact with web sites, to ascertain the relationship between accessibility and usability, and to assess the usability of web sites for vision impaired users. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act now requires U. S. Federal Agencies' web sites to comply with its accessibility guidelines; however, meeting the Section 508 standards does not guarantee that a web site is usable for people with disabilities. To determine what relationship, if any, exists between accessibility and usability, over the course of four months we observed 16 blind users as they work with web sites using assistive devices that read the screen to them (screen readers). We have identified how users who are blind interact with web sites, which has revealed many implications for web designers and developers. Our research has led us to create 31 guidelines for developing websites that are both accessible and usable by people with vision impairments. We now have a better understanding of the assistive technologies and their limitations. In this talk, we describe insights gained from our observations and discuss our new guidelines that can help designers and developers both meet the letter of the law and make web sites actually usable to people who listen with screen readers. We illustrate these guidelines with examples of screenshots and video clips of users working with web sites. Speaker: Mary Frances Theofanos, MS, joined the CTB staff in May 2001 after supporting NCI since 1995 as program manager of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Work-For-Others program. As CTB's manager for the new Communication Technologies Research Center, she is working to establish a research agenda for the center in collaboration with universities and private industry. In 2002, Ms. Theofanos served as project manager for CTB's redesign of the Health and Human Services (HHS) Web site. In addition, she is leading the Branch's 508 Accessibility program. A primary effort includes developing STEP 508, the Simple Tool for Error Prioritization. Her research has focused on accessibility testing with visually impaired users to determine a set of 508 accessibility/usability guidelines Ms. Theofanos served as a Program Manager at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory Complex before coming to NCI. She also helped develop initiatives with other federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, Department of State, Defense Information Systems Agency, and the Department of Education. From 1983 to 1986, Ms. Theofanos served as a Research Engineer for General Electric in Charlottesville, Virginia and is the co-inventor and co-applicant for a GE patent for joint trajectory motion for robot arm control. Ms. Theofanos holds a Master of Science in Computer Science from
the University of Virginia and received her Bachelor of Science in
Mathematics from the University of Richmond. She is currently a Ph.D.
candidate (dissertation pending) in Software Engineering at George
Mason University. Registration: Please register in advance for this event. NCI security wants to know how many people are attending and who they are. We will accommodate drop-ins if possible, but we cannot guarantee entry. To register: Send your name and organization name
to
UPA DC Metro maintains a code of professional ethics to encourage the free expression of ideas and assure the security of our members and guests. We reserve the right to exclude or remove any individual and to limit meeting attendance if necessary Cost: Payment options: We can give you a receipt if you like at the event. How to Get There: If you're late, try calling 301-451-4687 and we will send someone to let you in if we can. Metro: White Flint, on the Red line (to Shady Grove). The NCI shuttle from this station stops running at 6 p.m. It's about a 15-20 minute walk from the station, or you can take a taxi pretty cheaply at this distance. We can arrange rides back to the Metro after the event. Walking directions from White Flint Metro: Driving directions to NCI: 6116 Executive Boulevard NCI CTRC's office building is located on Executive, midway between Montrose Rd. and Old Georgetown Rd. They are located on the 4th floor of 6116 Executive Boulevard, in Suite 400. Parking for 6116 is available beside the building. As you come in the entrance drive, you will see a parking gate straight ahead, but you want to turn left just before it, go around the circle in front of 6116 and enter at the 'Visitor' gate at the guardhouse. Visitor parking is on the ground level next to the building. Enter the building and proceed to the elevators. Get off on the 4th floor. Call 301-451-4687 or 301-594-3330 if you get lost. From the East or Baltimore area: Take I-95 to I-495 West (to Silver Spring/Virginia) and get on I-270 North (soon after the Connecticut Avenue exit). After the road expands into 6 lanes, stay in the far right hand lane of the 'local lanes' and exit onto exit 4A-Montrose Road East (stay to the right as you exit). Continue on Montrose Road approximately 2 miles (through 2 lights)and at the third light take a right onto Executive Boulevard (there is a right turn lane at this intersection). Take a right at the first light - this is the entrance for 6116. Follow the signs for 6116. Alternative directions if the 270 spur is backed up:
Restaurant address and directions: La Madeleine 11858 Rockville Pike (in a shopping plaza at the corner
of Rockville Pike and Montrose Road, also at the corner of Pickville
Pike (355) and Randolph Road since Randolph becomes Monstrose Road
when it crosses Rockville Pike) Mapquest view of restaurant location: Directions from the restaurant to the event (scroll down on the page and there is a map graphic with both locations starred):
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by noon Thursday, August 21 (day of meeting).