Notes from 50th International STC Conference
Dallas, Texas, May 18-21, 2003

From Disabled to Enabled: Meeting Special Needs to Ensure Accessibility

Moderated by Dan Voss
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control - Orlando
Presenters are identified below

Session Description: This enlightening and practical progression was designed to help developers create communication products that are more accessible to users with disabilities. Members of STC's AccessAbility SIG focused on both the technical and philosophical aspects of meeting this challenge.

Note: Notes are not available from this session for the obvious reason that the note-taker was the moderator as well as one of the table hosts! We felt the progression was very successful. The AccessAbility SIG encourages those who are reading these notes to explore our mission and initiatives. We have provided numerous links below, both to the materials used by the presenters at our progression in Dallas and to key A-SIG sites such as our home page and our publications.

Summary of Progression Topics and
Links to Presentation Materials and Handouts

Abstract of Progression

This enlightening and practical progression is not just for technical communicators with special needs. It can enable any of us to create communication products that are more accessible to people with special needs by heightening our awareness of the barriers to accessibility so that we can build solutions into the product design process. Members of STC's AccessAbility SIG focus on both the technical and philosophical aspects of meeting this challenge. Table hosts make brief presentations and then moderate discussions on how to harness technology to accommodate specific disabilities and improve product accessibility. The objective is twofold: (1) explain how a particular special need (e.g., hearing impairment, visual impairment, mobility restriction, the natural deficits that accompany aging) can impede the practice of technical communication and what can be done to accommodate the disability; and (2) show how we can make our products more accessible to end users with disabilities, such as visual or auditory impairment. Other topics include the role of telecommuting as a career enabler for technical communicators with special needs, using online resources to help meet special needs, and dealing with the philosophical burdens of sustained advocacy for the cause of universal enablement. Following the discussion is a brief question-and-answer session in which the presenters address the audience's concerns relating to special needs and solicit their suggestions for the Special Needs SIG's future initiatives.

Progression Table Topics

• "The 'Dead-End Syndrome': Applying the Principles of Usability and Technical Communication to Improve Accessibility at Major Hotel/Conference Facilities" — Fabien Vais, Montreal Chapter
   
• "Dealing with Special Mobility Needs: A Lesson in Patience and Coping" — Paper by Fabien Vais
• "Conference Guide for People with Special Needs: 50th STC International Conference" — Published by the AccessAbility SIG under the leadership of Fabien Vais and the team of Gail Lippincott, Lori Gillen, Judy Vinegar, Jodi Shumway, and Melissa Haughton
• "Addendum to Conference Guide for People with Special Needs: 50th STC International Conference" — Published onsite at the Wyndham Anatole the day before the conference
• "The 'Starfish Chamber': Working for a World Where Everyone Counts" — Dan Voss, Orlando Chapter
   
• "In World Cup Soccer and in Overcoming Disabilities, 'Impossible' is Just Another Word for 'Work Harder'" — Article by Dan Voss in Conference Proceedings
• "The Ethics of Special Needs: It's a Matter of Fairness" — Paper by Dan Voss
• "The Story of the Starfish" — Explanation of the A-SIG's most poignant metaphor
• "My Brain Works... My Legs Don't! Let's Take the 'Dis' out of 'Disabilities'" — Landmark article by the founder of the Special Needs Committee, Judy Skinner, which evolved into the Special Needs SIG and now the AccessAbility SIG
• "A Yuletide Turtle Tale" — Another timely metaphor
• "What' Wrong with Being 70?" — Andy Malcolm, Rochester Chapter
   
• "What's Wrong with Being 70?" — Paper by Andy Malcolm
• "Traveling 'Route 508': A One-Way Street to Universal Accessibility" — Gloria Reece, Atlanta Chapter, and Kathy Bine, Washington, D.C., Chapter
   
• "Working to Section 508: Seeing, Hearing, and Understanding Accessible, Usable Web Pages" — Article in Conference Proceedings by Gloria Reece, Lori Gillen, and Judy Vinegar
• "Working to 508: Hearing Web Pages" — Panel presentation by Judy Vinegar
• "Working to Section 508: Understanding Web Pages" — Presentation by Lori Gillen
• Note: For many more articles on Section 508, refer to our Web site and newsletter (links below).
• "Have Modem, Won't Travel: Telecommuting for Technical Communicators with Disabilities" — Helen Marty, South Arizona Chapter
   
• "Have Modem, Won't Travel: T elecommuting for Technical Communicators with Disabilities" — Paper by Helen Marty
• "Taming the Disability Beast: Job Accommodations for Employees with Hearing Loss" — Lori Gillen, Boston Chapter, and Judy Vinegar, New Mexico Kachina Chapter
   
• "What You Can't Hear Can Hurt You: Overcoming Physical and Emotional Barriers of Hearing Impairment in the Practice of Technical Communication" — Paper by Lori Gillen
• "Access: How Best to Serve Post-Secondary Students Who are Hard of Hearing" — Presentation by Judy Vinegar
• "Assistive Listening Systems: Crucial for Skilled Listeners with a Hearing Loss" — Paper by Judy Vinegar
• "Types and Applications of Assistive Technology for Hard-of-Hearing People" — Detailed outline by Judy Vinegar
• "Annotated Bibliography: Hearing Web Pages" — By Judy Vinegar. Provides hot links to a wide range of sources on the subject.
• "Acquiring Reasonable Accommodations: Learning to Live and Work with Fibromyalgia" — Pauline Horn, Southwestern Ontario Chapter
   
• "Fibromyalgia: Definition, Causes, Treatments, Resources" — Handout of data compiled by Pauline Horn
• "But I Don't Have a Disability! Strategies for Preparing Writers to Research and Design Accessible Documents" — Gail Lippincott, Lonestar Chapter
   
• "But I Don't Have a Disability!: Writing Inclusive Documents" — Paper by Gail Lippincott
• "I Walk, I See, I Hear" — Paper by Jodi Shumway
• "Our SIG's 'e-Lifelines': Tapping Online Resources to Help Meet Special Needs" — Cynthia Lockley, Washington, D.C., Chapter, and Mike Murray, Orlando Chapter
   
• " Our SIG's 'e-Lifelines': Tapping Online Resources to Help Meet Special Needs" — Paper by Cynthia Lockley and Mike Murray
• "508 in Plain English: An Author's Survival Guide" — Mike Hamilton, eHelp Corporation, San Diego, CA
   
• "Section 508 Guidelines for Help Authors" — By Lori Gillen

Links to AccessAbility SIG Sites

• Browse the official Web site of the AccessAbility SIG for a comprehensive online repository of information on accessibility and disabilities as they pertain to technical communication and in general" — Webmasters: Cynthia Lockley and Leslie Reed
• Review the A-SIG's detailed mission statement and objectives
• Check out our data-rich and creatively engaging online newsletter, Achieve!
   
• Our eye-popping 18-page inaugural edition: Volume 1, Number 1: January 2003 — Editor, Mike Murray
• Our joint edition with the Usability SIG focusing on accessibility: Volume 1, Number 2: April 2003 — Editors, Mike Murray (A-SIG) and David Dick (U-SIG)
• Our special conference edition: Volume 1, Number 2a: May 2003 — Editor, Mike Murray