The Washington, DC Chapter of the Usability Professionals' Association

the washington dc chapter of the usability professionals' association



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Making Accessibility Part of the Software Development Lifecycle

Date and time:
March 16, 2006 (Thursday)
6:15-7:00 p.m. Networking and dinner (sandwiches will be provided)
7:00-9:00 p.m. Program

Location:
CACI
4114 Legato Road
Fairfax, Virginia 22033

Description:
Last July, there was an unusual session at the Universal Access in Human Computer Interaction conference in Las Vegas. Software engineers and usability engineers came together. They explored ways for software engineering life cycles to include accessibility.

The discussion lasted long after the program. It went into lunch time. It generated dialogues that are still going on. On March 16, you’re invited to add your opinions.

The session raised questions big and small.

  • Why do software development life cycles often exclude accessibility?
  • How can we correct this? And why should we bother to?
  • What do project managers need from accessibility experts? And when do they need it?
  • Why, even after the mandate of Section 508, is accessibility still so often an afterthought?
  • What do software engineering and usability engineering have in common?
  • What are the communication barriers between software engineers and usability engineers?
  • How can we tweak established processes to address accessibility?
  • How does all this affect schedules and product quality?

And these questions just scratched the surface.

We already have three sure conclusions:

  1. The answers will only come out of dialogue among project managers, software engineers, usability engineers – everyone on the development team.
  2. Only open dialogue can start us on the road to building a model for cooperation and success to achieve accessible software.
  3. Your input is vital.

Five of the UAHCI speakers will present short versions of their papers so there will be plenty of time for everyone to share experiences and exchange opinions. Plan to come for sandwiches, presentations and what we hope will be very lively dialogue.

This meeting is jointly sponsored by UPA-DC and SPIN.

Registration:
Advance registration is recommended. You can register using our online registration form.

After you have registered, we encourage you to pay in advance by using our online PayPal form or mailing a check.

Cost:
$5 if you join us for sandwiches.
If you don't eat, the meeting is free.
At this meeting, all attendees pay the UPA member rate, courtesy of SPIN.

Directions to the program

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