Committee Notes: Jan 27 2006

We met at the Wolf's Den and then moved over to Maria's for lunch. I had what I thought was a cinnamon roll but turned out to be a very airy donut at the Den; I suspect it was a Krispy Cream (I feel tricked, I am not an advocate of things that have no substance). Our discussion was thankfully much more substantial than my morning treat.

Our Blog
We'd like to improve our blog by submitting more postings and resources about specific accessiblity and usability issues, including linking to other blogs that have relevant material. Other improvements discussed:

• include audio and video
• take advantage of RSS features
• usd accessible abrieviations
  
• change the name of our blog so it is no more than two words
  
• research livejournal.com -- should we create a blog there instead, and take advantage of the community building features with this tool?
  
• list our blog on Technorati.com and other blog search sites
  

CTCnet Conference
We need to know who among us can attend the CTCnet conference so they can represent our committee's work in some fashion. How many of us can go will determine what kind of presence we have; if we can all go, we should seriously think about how we can make the most impact as a team.

Due next Corps day: each member will know if their site can send them (or help send them) to the conference.

Fact Sheets
Drafts due on February 10th. Guidelines for creating an effective Fact Sheet:

• try to make it fit on one page
• include addresses and phone numbers (not just web addresses and email)
• use plain language
• start by answering these two questions, "What do I want to say?" and "How do I want to say it?"

Finalized Fact Sheets due end of February.

Outreach ideas for Fact Sheets

• Translation help - maybe Intermedia Arts Digital Community Advisory Committee can help with this, and we can help them with accessibility and usability issues and resources
• PSAs - partner with the Media Committee to get our Fact Sheet materials on cable access TV, community radio, community-based newspapers
• Online - RSS feeds, community web sites, HTML, PDF, audio, etc.
  
• Present - start with Waite House at Basic Needs Networking meeting (2nd Monday in March?)

Jesse's mini training in mid February
Activity (30 minutes) - pair up participants at a computer and have them try to accomplish several tasks without using the mouse.
Demonstration (30 - 45 minutes) - demo accessibility tools that Jesse uses and some common Windows shortcuts and accessiblity/usability options

WebAdapt trainings for Corps
We will discuss a plan for Corps trainings and a pilot plan for Lexington Library outreach at our committee meeting on Feb 10.

Assistive Technology Outreach at PACER
Sue & Amelia will talk to us about their work at PACER (soon)