IDCC 370: Web Design I Fall 2009

Chris Hass, Usability Consultant from the Bentley Design and Usability Center (DUC), speak about Web accessibility issues on Friday, April 3, 11:20-12:35, in Smith 210.

Here are some of the topics Chris will cover:

• What is a disability? What’s the difference between a situational and a functional disability?
• What are assistive technologies that affect Web use, and how familiar does one need to be with them?
• What is accessibility? From both legal and practical standpoints
• What/who governs Web- and software-based products in the US and abroad
• Understanding the letter AND the spirit of the law – advocating for “usable access” not just “access”
• What coding solutions typically support or fail to support accessibility
• What decisions can able-bodied developers make as opposed to testing with persons who have disabilities
• Case examples from DVD development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site development, HP.com’s commercial Web site, others
• The perils and challenges of “Web 2.0” for persons with disabilities
• ROI benefits of accessible design

Brief Bio:
Chris Hass has more than 12 years of experience in human factors research, user interface design, and accessibility in the development of innovative user experience programs. Chris has unique expertise conducting human factors research with persons with physical and cognitive disabilities, a skill that strategically aligns with one of the center's key growth areas. He also brings extensive experience designing information architecture and interaction designs for consumer, medical, professional, and human service products. Prior to joining the Design and Usability Center, Chris worked at the American Institutes for Research, where he was a senior research scientist in the Human Factors Research and Design group. Previously, he served as a World Wide Web specialist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.

If you have questions, just e-mail me at wbuchholz@bentley.edu. Feel free to comment on this announcement, or if you want to e-mail it, click on the little mail icon directly below.