CTEP - Accessibility and Usability Committee

Final Post 2006

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 18:44:00 +0000

This is our final post from the Accessibility and Usability Committee of Community Technology Empowerment Project in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) Minnesota.

The accessibility and usability toolkit has a ton of resources for those who are challenged in many different ways. We hope the information is informative and helpful for those resources and comments that you may be searching for.

Copies of the toolkit can be obtained by contacting http://www.technologypower.org or the Community Technology Empowerment Project office in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Thank you.

Accessibility and Usability Video - English Subtitles

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 22:40:00 +0000

The long awaited Accessibility and Usability Committee Video. For information and availability of the toolkit you can contact CTEP at http://www.technologypower.org.

Video Lessons Learned

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 02:05:00 +0000

Video: equipment checklist

Scheduling, more than one video take
Camera
Batteries
Tripod
Tripod strap or carrying case
Possibly lights or lights with filters in a case
Film is the best quality even if there is a memory card and has more space (CTEP media committee)
Microphone
Microphone batteries (if necessary)
Headphones
Adapter cord (battery recharge)
fire wire (camera input and output)
Camera manual or familiarize yourself with the camera there are a lot of buttons (some maybe for a memory card, some for photograph and some for video)
Try to have the equipment in one place, it will affect time, if you need to travel

Video: taping checklist

Film rewind (if necessary)
Microphone test (remember the camera may have a built in microphone, quality?)
Possible lighting, there are portable lamps you could check with your Public Television station
Tripod lock (make sure the camera is secure in the tripod) or always use the hand grip
Familiarize yourself with the buttons
Light level buttons
Zoom buttons
Focus
Make sure it is on the film/tape setting and begin

Video: transfer checklist

Transferring to the video editor, make sure the computer has an input location for the fire wire
Make sure to bring in the video with the audio, your program should have those settings and you should be able to modify them as you want
Once you hit go the program may do the rest for you including creating clips (there is a manual option)

Video: editing checklist

Working with the video on the computer
Internet Access (for possible import or transfer)
Speakers (volume)
Microphone (narration)
CD or DVD burn capability or a flash drive, for transportability, large enough for your video (NOTE: the project we worked on was 2.3 MB, the video that was placed onto the toolkit was over 90 MB), or the original tape (the video can be transferred back to the tape with the camera and firewire)
If you used a fire wire to capture the film, you can use a flash drive
Adjust the volume on each clip according to how you want it heard
If you leave spaces of non-volume clips and will save the project try to trim the clip in the project itself not where it was captured you may want to reuse section of the same clip
For future editing prior to exiting the program, the software program may sub compress on save or adjust slightly think about adding additional audio right away for open spaces
When adjusting volume, if you have copied the original audio make sure to mute the original to work with the secondary track or narration, it may affect speed of playback for video
If for whatever reason your program will not import additional audio files think of other options, use the microphone with another device
When captioning (for closed captioning) make sure to recheck the video for overlay, separate accordingly
Apply possible fade/transition options to both video and audio
Preset credit length, can be overlaid
Recheck your project to make sure it is in sync, especially if using subtitles
Be sure to recheck clips for trimming, if you shortened a clip without trimming it can affect the speed and synchronization
Play the project as often as necessary
Remember modification will affect the whole project
If you need to retake a section, be sure to give yourself enough time to reinsert and possibly re-synchronize video and audio
If you need to retake and cannot retake think of other options such as a script from that individual or a narration with other video or stills
Labels if possible
Definitely a carrying case for your CD or DVD or Internet access to email or something like Youtube.com or your own vlog

Committee Update August 9th, 2006

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 22:38:00 +0000

Jesse and I have worked around a few trouble spots. One was no way to import music, the .wav files would keep showing up as empty files. The same thing happened with MP3 files, it has to be the setup. We finally attained volume with a narrator option for the video.

We were working on retaping for Jesse. We had a couple of tries to get the schedules setup and back up plans if anything went wrong. If we could not video Jesse, we would keep the old tape and I would narrate the section for Jesse. We scrambled to locate a microphone and the microphone did not work, we utilized the camera microphone. Towards the end of editing it is a bit of a bear, if you move one item everything else moves also and you spend time then setting everything back in place. This seemed to repeatedly happen everytime I went to open the project to edit. It stopped occuring when every space just about on the volume portion was filled. Since we had introductions of an outside shot along with the major cross streets for each interview there were a few spaces, with four interviews there were a few spaces. Once those spaces were filled it appeared pretty stable.

Our next hurdle was getting the completed video onto a transportable media. Jesse had worked on combining the information with an html shell and the video was to be dropped in the shell.
There were burn CD capabilities on the machine in use, but each time a cd was burnt it would be compressed and not ledgible by the media player. So it would look like the video was there and it was there but it would not open. It would play on the actual machine we used for the editing, but that is not good when it is to be included in a toolkit or on a machine elsewhere. We were back to testing files on two machines. The CD would need to be RW so that Jesse could transfer the toolkit back. With WMM, for some reason although files existed on the CD's some were not readable or indicated empty and now even though the machine has burn capabilities Windows Movie Maker (WMM) would not save a file to a CD. I finally decided with Gina Blankenship (CTEP- Intermedia Arts) to use a flash drive as a tranportable media.

Finally, video finished audio, subtitling, titles, credits, editing, sound....and it was combined with the html shell. Tomorrow is the additional CD cut or burn day. The committee has been fun but going across town in two different cities repeatedly was not exciting.

There is a lot to video editing and alot to html is what Jesse and I both learned. As I explained my problems with the video editing, Jesse was explaining it is the same with the html. If you move one item at times several things with the global would impact the product somewhere else.

Both Jesse and I are relieved with the completion of the toolkit. Jesse will be leaving the state for a new job position and the project wrap up allows us both to wrap up our other work by the end of the month. The biggest thing now for ourselves is the remainder of the CD burn and the handoff. We should complete the project by the end of this week and we are scheduling to give the Accessibility and Usability Committee Toolkit 2006 to those participants who believe their site will benefit along with others for next Friday.

AU Committee Meeting 7/14/06

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 19:28:00 +0000

Jesse and I met at the CTEP office for a couple of hours.

This week:
Lauree will send Jesse an update on the St Paul Housing Authority and Vision Project,
check with Roxanne about the CTEP video camera, contact Ken about a release for Centro,
contact Marlina about her release, and review the CTEP original toolkit

Jesse will be working on the toolkit: CTEP contact address will be the office along with the telephone, fax, email and website; Internet tools will include MSIE, Firefox, Opera, and Netscape web browsers.

Next week
Lauree will be at Intermedia Arts to update the video for subtitles, credits and add music
Lauree will tape ASL signs to be included in the video.
Jesse will email Lauree with a date of Tuesday or Wednesday for retaping, and obtain a release from the Dayton Bluff Library.

Later Next week:
Jesse will retape his session reasons 1 & 2 for the Accessibility and Usability video.
Lauree will have sizes for the video content of the toolkit.

Jesse and Lauree will check for a tenetative July 24th(Monday) late afternoon meeting at Daytons Bluff to incorporate the video into the toolkit.

Twin Cities Wireless and Broadband Initiatives

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 19:19:00 +0000

Wireless Minneapolis

Wireless Minneapolis

This page contains information on the City of Minneapolis “Wireless Minneapolis” intiative. The City of Minneapolis is planning on offering all of Minneapolis a wireless network option for the Internet. The idea is to offer it to all the residents no matter what the income levels. The project is still in process with a couple of project pilots beginning.

St. Paul Broadband Initiative

St. Paul Broadband

This page contains information regarding the City of St. Paul Broadband Impact Technology Study. The City of St. Paul is reviewing offering all of St. Paul a Broadband option for connecting to the Internet.

Disabled Minnesota Work Incentives i Connection

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 19:17:00 +0000

MN Work Incentives i Connection

This website looks useful it helps explain to people with disabilities how working affects their government benefits. They have Information on Social Security, Health Care, Housing, Employment&Training, a newsletter and links to other helpful sights and tools.

Other Housing information, Buying, Rental, Subsidized

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 19:14:00 +0000

Minneapolis Public Housing Authority(MPHA)

MPHA

This page on the City of Minneapolis website contains general information along with contact information for the MPHA.

Minnesota Housing Finance Agency(MHFA)

MHFA

This website contains information about Single Family and Multifamily homes along with subsidized rental housing and investing.

U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)by State and in Minnesota

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 19:13:00 +0000

HUD State Index

Minnesota HUD

This website offers information regarding HUD in Minnesota. Whether it is buying, renting, assisted living, affordable living or housing counseling. There are many resources and contacts along with even the option to file a complaint. They have jobs also.

Minnesota Housing Partnership: Affordable Housing

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 19:10:00 +0000

MHP: Affordable Housing

This website contains information on Affordable Housing for Minnesota and Nationally. The site includes Service Providers, Policy/Legislation, Facts, Loans and Grants, News and Events, even some Jobs and Links. They have a goal of HOMES FOR ALL BY 2012!

Minnesota Vision Project

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 19:08:00 +0000

Minnesota Vision Project Contact

This project is to supply working lower income adults and family who may be underinsured with affording eye care. Eligibility is determined as follows: 2 years since last eye exam, your medical insurance cannot include eye care, and must have a lower income based on family size and standards. The exam is free, glasses can be obtained with a $25.00 payment for donated frame. Other services are donated by optometrist, eye glass frames and lens services.

June 20th, 2006 Committee Update

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 16:19:00 +0000

We have the video down to 7 minutes and 20 seconds from over an hours footage.
We are still working on the video and the format of the information for the toolkit.
We hopefully will be able to stay on target of Mid-July.
Jesse and I've been rereviewing our information for the toolkit and there are a lot of RESOURCES.

Everytime I begin to look at a blog page I'm linking to a web page with 20 or 30 links for information. It may take time to filter through some of this information. I did find an educational reference for the captioning speed, which was a question on the test video. Do you caption word for word, in case someone reads lips or do you caption based on reading speed? I wrote a source at the Minnesota STAR program and she wasn't sure, it depends on the content I guess. There were certain things I didn't think about like (door slams), certain other things I would overlook because they are obvious on the screen like (father opens door) suggested in the manuals. Guess it is preferential.

I think some of the websites could be worked on for structure as an accessiblity issue. It took me a while to locate the speed information even on the closed captioning website. Then there were the closed captioning vendors. There are many types of closed captioning for every type of media.

Jesse and I spoke this morning he is sending me an html file in Word.doc and we'll see where we go from there on the toolkit format. I am scheduled to meet with Gina again at Intermedia Arts later this week. I asked her to take a look at the video and see if we can trim some additional time. We had so many good comments from the interviews it was hard to trim and then the visual can't be trimmed too much or you are whipping through frames(just about subliminal level). We still need to:

finalize resource documents for the toolkit
trim the video
overlay the interviews with the example shots
add music
add subtitles

Jesse and I won't meet on this Friday. We will be scheduling our next official meeting in July, but keep updated via email and telephone.

June 9th 2006

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 19:26:00 +0000

The video project is moving slowly but surely. Editing is going well. June 2nd Corps day had no tape for Jesse. The machine that we are using at Intermedia Arts doesn't have write capabilities. I am working on the video presentation, organization. The organization is a little different than we originally planned. We are primarily utilizing the interviews and integrating the accessibility features of the sites we put on video. There are too many good quotes, to not use them. The sound is going well I tried emailing a copy of the video "project" to Jesse and one to myself, just to find out that the projects don't email well they need to be actually saved as a non-"project" ie. an audio file or a video. Lessons learned about the video thus far with a test run on a small video from the Media Committee.

1. Windows Movie Maker does have subtitle capability.
2. You can not email a project either video or audio.
3. There is a big difference between closed captioning and subtitles.
4. The subtitle is under title and does not go away even when the video file is cut and the
Windows Media Player settings are set to not show subtitles.

We did a trial run with the subtitling on the Media Committee video. The video worked out fine a little trial and error between ticker (if the speed was adjustable this could be a viable option) and subtitle. The subtitle is a little tricky, I am trying to make sure it shows up long enough to be read, but keeping it in synchronization with spoken words.

Jesse has found some good music files that we will be talking about working with. We also have to still get together, our schedules have been altered a little and we have alternative projects that may prove to be useful, also. The deadline will be moved towards mid-July for the toolkit, due to rescheduling and timing.

Committee Meeting Notes: May 26, 2006

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Sat, 27 May 2006 03:18:00 +0000

Today we met at the Lexington Library to work more on the video and toolkit. We started the meeting by talking about the video. Lauree has done some checking on closed captioning options, and there is one in windows Movie Maker that we can maybe use. It’s not true close captioning, but it may work. There are a couple things we need to check on though.

We need to find out if we can toggle the captioning on and off.
The text is also a little to high on the screen and might be too distracting, so we’re looking at ways to address this.

The actual video footage has been cut down quite a bit and is about 10 minutes long. There’s still quite a bit of cutting we’ll have to do, but it’s progressing well. We’re also not going strictly by the thematic outline any more because the interviews don’t quite match it as well. Instead we’re using it as a guide, but letting the interviews tell the story more.

We then talked about the music and audio we want to use. I collected a variety of different types of music that I thought may work well for this kind of video. We listened to them all and had a few ideas. For the beginning and end of the video, we’d maybe like something a little more energetic and with a beat. For the bulk of the narration and interviews, we’d use a little slower piece that would blend well into the background.

Heartland – Has a good beat and would probably work well for the intro and/or conclusion.
Red Mustang – Our second choice for the intro and/or conclusion.
Quiet Storm – this would probably be a good piece for the narration and interviews.

One other thing we need to check on for the video is the actual pixel size of the video. For the toolkit version, it will need to fit in a browser well even at resolutions of 800x600. Google Video and YouTube might be good places to look at as examples.

We wrapped up discussion on the video by talking about some still shots right before the credits that would have websites to the various CTC’s in the video.

We then moved onto the toolkit. This past week, I’ve come up with a rough template, which I showed at the meeting. The overall design is good, so I’ll just need to do some minor editing. The toolkit will be in HTML, and work just like a regular website. The majority of the content will be on the CD though. The first page will have an introduction and the video. There’s a left sidebar that will have the different sections and sub-categories of the toolkit. This is the piece we really need to work on. It’s just a matter of going through all the links on the blog, our old toolkit, and past AU presentations and organize them all into a meaningful structure.

So here’s what we’ll be working on for the next couple of weeks.

Lauree:
Bring a rough draft of the video on CD to Jesse at the June 2 Corps day.
Check into a toggle for the captioning and options for making it lower on-screen.
Continue video editing.

Jesse
Contact Jeff about use of the CTEP logo for the toolkit.
Start organizing the various links and resources into categories for the toolkit.
Work more on finalizing the template and start adding content.

Minneapolis Public Library - Biblioteca Central

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Tue, 23 May 2006 01:17:00 +0000

You may want to check this site out in person. The newest addition to the Minneapolis Public Libraries, has an Assistive Technology area with approximately 6 terminals. It was explained that they would be able to give you limited assistance with learning to use the equipment. They do have six terminals available with auditory equipment, magnification equipment, easily manipulated trackballs, along with several other hardware items that are available. I wasn't able to get the best look today, but I plan on going back. The best times to go to the library were indicated as during school hours least busy, after school hours busy, evening busy and Saturday very busy. The staff that will assist you are located in the Children's Library section, presently. The new library is located at 300 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. The library telephone is 612-630-6000, the direct AT telephone is 612-630-6280. The hours are Monday - Thursday 10-8, Tuesday - Wednesday 10-6 and Friday - Saturday 10-5.

The website for the library isn't even updated yet with the AT information. Minneapolis Libraries

Committee Meeting Notes: May 19, 2006

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Sun, 21 May 2006 19:51:00 +0000

During the May 19 Corps day, we had an hour of committee time. We worked more on planning for the video and toolkit. Lindsey has officially resigned from the committee. Lauree now has all of the release forms for the people and locations in the video.

We talked a little bit more about what video format we’d use, and where we’d host it online. The media committee has been using both Google Video and YouTube, free online video hosting services, and they both seem to work well. It’s highly likely we’ll use one of these sites for hosting our video online.

We’re also currently working on transcribing all of the dialog from the interviews to text. This will make it easier to find good sound bites for the video, and make things easier when doing closed captioning. One thing we did find out though was the audio was only coming from the left speaker, so when doing the actual video, we’ll need to make sure it’s coming more from the center channel.

We’ll be meeting next Friday to work more on the video and toolkit. We originally planned to meet at the CTEP office, but this might not be possible.

Lauree will check with Rox to see if we can meet at the CTEP office on Friday at 9:00 AM.
Jesse will check with Lexington Library if we can meet there at the same time should CTEP not work.

This week, we’ll be working more on the video and toolkit.

Lauree will:
Continue video editing, picking the best shots and cutting the ones that we can no longer use or that don’t look good.
Check into different closed captioning tools and resources.
One idea was to talk with Kevin from the media committee and work with captioning one of their videos for practice.

Jesse will:
Transcribe the interview audio to text and E-mail it to the rest of the committee.
E-mail the music site I’ve been using to the committee.
Work more with different template options for the toolkit including finding possible buttons for the navigation area of the page.
Find a few more songs for the video’s background music.

Next Committee Meeting:
Friday May 26, 2006
Location will probably either be at CTEP or Lexington Library
Time: 9:00 AM
We’ll all bring what we’ve been working on for the video and toolkit to the meeting.
We’ll pick the background music for the video.
We’ll also place the interviews into the different topics covered in the video.

Finally, there will be no committee meeting on June 9.

Committee Meeting Notes: May 12, 2006

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Fri, 12 May 2006 21:55:00 +0000

Today our committee met at the CTEP office to work more on the video and toolkit projects. The first thing we decided was that we would try to have the toolkit and video done by July 7, so we can show the rest of the corps the final product. We set July 21 as a back-up should we need a little extra time.

We have also decided to put the video on our blog, and provide information on how to get the entire toolkit when it’s done. We’re currently looking at a few different file type options for the video. Real Player, Flash, or MPG’s are the types we’re considering. Both Flash and Real files are nice because they stream well and have a smaller file size. Google Video and YouTube are a couple ideas for hosting the video.

There are a couple of things we need to check on as we’re starting to edit the footage for the video:
We need to get the legal release forms from Lindsey.
We also need to make sure we have all the release forms from Intermedia Arts.

We now have a pretty good idea of how the video footage will fit together. We have a list of shots divided into categories. Each category will show various shots of each location we shot. For example, the physical space section will show the ramp at Intermedia Arts, the adjustable table at Lexington Library, and PPL’s large lab area and work space.

We’ve decided to make the various interviews be the main narration of the video when possible. We’ll add filler narration to help piece everything together, but the interviews will tell the story of the CTC’s and the topics in the video. The next step is to get the audio from each interview, and figure out which theme it best describes, and piece that in with the rest of the footage. The intro and conclusion are the main areas where we’ll need additional narration.

One other thing we found out today was that the audio from Jesse’s library interview didn’t turn out very well. It was rather quiet, so we’ll just re-record the audio as we’re editing the video.

We’ll probably have some committee meeting time on the next Corps day on May 19. Here’s what we should be working on before this meeting.

Lauree:
Get a CD of the interviews to Jesse for the Corps day.
Start editing some of the video footage.

Jesse
Look at the audio and music websites for some good background music for the video.
Start putting together a couple of ideas for a HTML template for the toolkit.
After getting the CD with the interviews, write the transcripts for each one. This will be helpful in picking out what to use for the video and for captioning.
Also come up with some ideas for where each interview will fit into the topics for the video.

We finished up the meeting by talking a little more about the toolkit. The video will be on the first page of the toolkit, and act as an introduction to accessibility. The remainder of the toolkit will provide links, technology demos, and other resources for people on a variety of disability topics. Some topic ideas we came up with were general, legal, assistive technology, financial, training, etc. We’ll know more about what specific topics to include when we look more at our earlier toolkit and the links and resources everyone posted to the blog.

During our committee time on the 19th, we will set deadlines for the various tasks in the video and toolkit.

Committee Meeting Notes: May 1, 2006

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Tue, 02 May 2006 16:31:00 +0000

The Accessibility and Usability Committee met at Intermedia Arts on Monday, May 1 to go over the raw video footage shot over the past few weeks. Before getting started on that project, we took care of a few housekeeping things.

Linda’s last day is on May 8th. Lindsey has also resigned as committee head.

It was decided that Lauree is the new committee head during May and June, and Jesse is the new secretary.
During July and August, Jesse will take over as committee head and Lauree will be the new secretary.

We also recently found out that our proposal for the CTCNet conference was rejected. Because of this, we can now slow down on the video project. We decided to make our video part of the toolkit we’re creating for the end of the year. Another thought was to make a shorter video that could become part of the Media Committee’s video project.

We decided that the video would be a good introduction to the toolkit. The toolkit would also follow the overall themes we came up with for the video. We then talked a little about the toolkit format, and so far everyone agrees that an HTML format would work well because this format would work well with any operating system or computer platform.

We’re also no longer presenting to the rest of the Corps on May 19th since we’re slowing down on the video project. Instead, we plan to show a near final version toward the end of July.

We then discussed our roles in the video project.
Lindsey – Legal, subtitles and credits.
Lauree – Video editing and work some on the script.
Jesse – Script and audio, including music and possibly voice overs.
Gina will also help us with some ideas and video editing.
Everyone will get to provide their input during the editing process.

The first step is to review the raw footage, and come up with a script. Once we have a script, we should have a better idea of what shots we want to use and how to arrange them. We decided to plan our May schedule first, and make further plans near the end of May.

May Schedule
May 12 – The AU committee will meet at the CTEP office from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM to work on the video’s script.
May 26 – Meet at Intermedia Arts to start editing the video footage.
Jesse will start looking for background music for the video.
Lauree will let Jeff know we’ll be meeting at the CTEP office on May 12.

We then looked at the raw video footage from the various sites. We had some technical problems, but were able to view most of the footage. We only got about half of the footage recorded because the computer started slowing down. We decided to just watch the rest without recording it so we had a list of all the shots. The rest will be recorded on Tuesday. Ken will also burn the footage to DVD for backup. One interesting thing we found while watching the footage was that LCD screens look much better than CRT monitors. It’s much easier to see what’s on the screen.

That wrapped up our meeting. Before leaving, we found out the next Corps day on the 5th would be at Skyline Tower again, and we’d have committee time right away in the morning. We may be able to start working on the script then. Our next committee meeting is on May 12 at the CTEP office at 10:00 AM. One thing we need to check on is if the computer at the office has a Firewire connection for the camera.

Committee Notes: April 21 & 22, 2006

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 03:14:00 +0000

Corps Day
Almost the full committee met on Friday April 21 at the beginning of Corps day. We started by having a casual conversation about our video project and how powerful video can be; what point of view do we want to get across with our tone; and what each of us are thinking the video will look like. This turned out to be a loose and fun chat about our perspectives. Soon, we found ourselves talking about food and how it can both alienate and bring people together. I think this was a tangent from talking about murals at Centro, and how they create a welcoming and safe environment for the people who work and visit Centro. In addition we discussed such things as cliches, and use of "well known" phrases that might be associated with stereotypes.

We decided that two members would work at El Centro later in the afternoon to do a video shoot, and two members would do the shoot at Waite House on the 28th. We also agreed that all of us would meet on Saturday for the Lexington Library video shoot, which we did ... read on to hear about it.

Saturday at Lexington
When we met on Saturday it was to get shots of the Accessibility and Usability options in use at the Lexington Library Outreach branch, along with an interview with Jesse. The clips and shots were easy to get done, as we have become accustomed to the camera and familiar with setting up our shots. We got some great footage of Jesse using the assistive software, the accessible mouse, the adjustable table, signage, outside shots of the building and the cross street signs. We remembered to adjust the white balance and change the light settings after coming back inside. The interview went well, Jesse made several very good points, including the free assistive tech software AND training available at the library.

From there, we decided to push on and discuss what our next steps were. We still needed to begin editting, complete shooting, work on the script (narration), credits and even some legal paperwork.

Here's our timeline:

April 28th - Shoot video at Waite House (Linda & Lauree). We'll also interview John about how the computer lab has improved accessibility for clients; challenges to getting this done (or starting it);
May 1st, 1:00 at Intermedia Arts - initial viewing of footage, start identifying shots; practice capturing video (remember to bring all signed waivers to this meeting)
Week of May 8th - editing (Lauree & Linda)
May 12th - preliminary video viewing (committee)
May 19th - we show the Corps our draft to get feedback (can they identify our key messages?); possible demo of Freedom Box

We also assigned roles/tasks:

Sound Clips - Jesse (Linda will get CDs to Jesse)
Legal - Lindsey
Credits & writing subtitles - Lindsey
Narration - Gina? or someone with a good voice who is willing
Scripting - Lauree/Gina/Jesse
Closed Captioning/entering subtitles - Lauree
Director - Gina?

We ended our day by each talking about our thoughts for the finished piece, just to get a feel for how diverse our expectations could be. It seems we have a lot in common:

remember to make it people oriented, not just about technology. Do this by pairing a shot of a person after/before a shot of an object.
highlight both successes and challenges to creating accessible environments/programs
empower the viewer to know that there are changes that can and should be done to make their places more accessible
make it visually accessible
include closed captioning
use music, voice over, and video embedded audio to help create tone
be friendly, not preachy

Remeber, Lindsey will be out starting May 6th and not able to attend the next regularly scheduled committee meeting on May 12th. Committee will review the progress made thus far on the edited video, and talk about next steps. An update should be sent to Lindsey about the results of this meeting. If possible, post a draft of the video on Google Video and send the link to Lindsey.

Committee head's reminders -- week of Apr. 24

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 15:15:00 +0000

Hi everyone.

Linda suggested I put these notes up on the blog, rather than send them via e-mail, and I think that was a great idea. I couldn't think of a better title than "committee head's reminders", though -- so if you have any ideas, put them in the comments!

First, I'd like to welcome our new committee member, Gina! We've enjoyed working with you and look forward to continuing to do so.

At our Saturday shooting session, we hammered out roles and schedules and talked about our vision of the completed video project. Current schedule is as follows:

Sometime this week -- Linda (and Gina?) interview Marlina
Fri 28 April -- Lauree and Linda shoot (at Waite House). Anyone else who wants to help out at this shoot should coordinate with Linda.
Mon 1 May -- review footage and decide on a preliminary list of shots (at Intermedia Arts) . Please put this on your calendar now. It's important that we all attend.

The schedule for the editing process will depend on the parties involved. Just remember that our goal is to show a rough cut to the rest of CTEP (for feedback) on May 19. As we continue to work on this project, think of questions you'd like the rest of the Corps to think about/answer. It's going to be easier to get useful responses from our fellow members if we provide some guidance!

In addition to the shoot at Waite House and the interview at Intermedia, this week we are also going to decide what kind of blank DVDs we'd like CTEP to purchase on our behalf -- I'll need tech specs from the IA lab, as well as any other committee input (Jesse, do you have any thoughts?), before I go to Jeff and ask, ok? I need this by Wednesday, as I'll be unavailable both Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday, we discussed roles for the remainder of the production process. Here's what we came up with then. (Gina, please feel free to say yea or nay to any of this -- or to jump into another role if you like!)

Editing -- Linda, Lauree
Sound -- Jesse
Scriptwriting -- Lauree, Gina, Jesse
Narrator -- Gina (?? would this be okay? We don't want anyone's voice who is already speaking on camera)
Credits and Subtitles -- Lindsey
Legal -- Lindsey (this means I need your release forms, folks! Please contact me if you have any problems with either individual or location releases!)

On Saturday we also discussed our visions of our completed video project. For details, see Linda's forthcoming fabulous committee notes.

Have a great week!

LMF

Minnesota: Resume or multimedia electronic portfolio

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 01:23:00 +0000

http://www.efoliomn.com/

eFolio Minnesota, a multimedia electronic portfolio designed to help you create a living showcase of your education, career and personal achievements. All Minnesota residents, including students enrolled in Minnesota schools, educators and others can use eFolio Minnesota to reach their career and education goals.

It's not just fun, like it is indicated on their website. It's easy to use, they have good help assistance and it's free. They even have examples, in case you're shy, of current portfolios on the database. It doesn't matter if you are in business and/or artist. This is a great media to display your achievements with to potential employers. Just take a few minutes and take a look at what is out there right now. It isn't hard and there is assistance step by step.

Educator samples
Career samples
Student samples

Committe Notes: April 14, 2006

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 13:59:00 +0000

Friday we spent the day videotaping for our access awareness video to be distributed at CTCs.

We started by learning about the video camera and tripod. Each of us took turns taping the shots we had identified for Intermedia Arts (IA) and Project for Pride in Living (PPL). By the end of the day I think we were all fairly comfortable with the equipment. We tested the external mic with Lindsey doing a run-through of PPL's orientation and of Sarah and Lindsey talking about solutions and challenges to access at PPL.

We will include an interview/dialogue from each site, but we need to come up with some questions for the interviewee that focuses on the themes we are working with. For example, at Centro, we will ask Roxanna how the murals have helped to create a welcoming environment; at Intermedia Arts, we will ask Marlina what steps she took to make a performance more accessible.

We have LOTS of footage, and three sites left.

Tentative plans to shoot at Lexington Library on April 21. To do this, we first need to find out if we can have a couple of hours at the end of the day next Corps day for committee work, if so:

Jesse - find out if we can shoot at Lexington Library Friday, April 21 starting around 3:30 PM; also, get a location release from the library
Linda - Check out camera and tripod, get more mini-dv tapes

Other sites to shoot:

Waite House - April 28th Linda and Lauree; Lauree will check out meeting room and get a location release
Centro - Ken and Roxanna get back to us on when and location release esp. for the murals

Editing is going to be fun and a challenge. Remember to check the training link on http://www.current.tv

Audible.com

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 21:12:00 +0000

Last week I talked a little about an e-book website for people with disabilities. This week I'd like to talk about another e-book resource. This one however is for anyone. This site is www.audible.com. Audible offers a variety of books, magazines, and other publications in audio form. There are a couple of ways to use the service. You can create a free account, and then buy books individually, or join one of their auio listener subscription programs. These programs cost around $20 a month, and allow you to download a couple of books or other content free for that month. Since one book is between $15 and $35, sometimes more, it's worth looking into if you read a lot.

When downloading the books, you can get them in a few different sizes for better quality or smaller file size. The other nice thing is that these files can be played on many current MP3 players, so it's very portable.

To learn more go to the Audible Website .

Social Security Q & A

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 21:59:00 +0000

What about Pueblo? Government information and benefits?

noreply@blogger.com (CTEP Accessibility and Usability Committee) — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 21:31:00 +0000

Federal Citizen Information Center, Pueblo, CO - Award-winning free federal info. on saving money, investing, getting federal benefits, buying cars and houses, staying healthy, parenting, solving consumer problems and more.

--Americans with Disabilities Act: Questions and Answers. Explains how the civil rights of persons with disabilities are protected at work and in public places.--Guide to Disability Rights Laws. Covers the rights of persons with disabilities regarding education, employment, fair housing, public accommodations, and telecommunications.--Your Right to Federal Records. Use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act to obtain records from the federal government--Apply Online for Social Security Benefits. Learn how to fill out an online application, how your personal information is protected, who can apply online, and more.--Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents. Explains disability, pension, health care, education and housing loans, and other benefit programs for veterans and their families.--Medicare: Protecting Your Personal Information and Yourself from Identity Theft and Fraud. Describes the "Medicare-Approved" seal, and covers what information you should share and under what circumstances.--Request for Social Security Statement. Complete this form and return it to Social Security to get your earnings history and an estimate of future benefits.--Social Security: Understanding the Benefits. Provides details on retirement, disability, survivor's benefits, Medicare coverage, Supplemental Security Income, and more.