Computer Science Majors Get IBM Accessible Technology Tools
From: TechWeb - 08/28/2006
By: KC Jones 

IBM is offering a new program that the company hopes will get more computer
science students thinking about accessibility. The program consists of a
Web-based lecture on making the Web and workplace technologies more
accessible, which computer science professors will be able to add to their
curriculum. "While there are many courses on programming skills, few, if any,
lectures are devoted to encouraging students to consider the needs of
computer users with sight, hearing or mobility disabilities when they write
software code," says Wayne Dick, chair of the Computer Engineering and
Computer Science Department at the University of California State University,
Long Beach. IBM is also encouraging students to participate in its
Accessibility ODF Coding Challenge 2006, and develop open source software for
people with disabilities. Projects must be based on the OpenDocument Format
international standard. The program comes at a time when the number of people
with disabilities is expected to rise substantially over the next few years.
The company is sharing its knowledge in making accessible products and
applications and "bringing it to bear for the generation of computer
scientists-in-training, who can really make a difference in their
professional careers," says Frances West, director of IBM's Human Ability and
Accessibility Center. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.techweb.com/wire/ebiz/192300665

Links:
Innovation that matters: Transforming education
http://www-3.ibm.com/able/news/csulbwayne_dick.html

WebAdapt2Me
http://www-3.ibm.com/able/solution_offerings/WebAdapt2Me.html

WebAdapt2Me at California State University, Long Beach 
http://www-3.ibm.com/able/case_studies/csulb.html

Wayne Dick
http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/coe/cecs/views/personnel/index.shtml

Opening the Web to the disabled
http://www.ibm.com/news/us/en/2006/08/2006_08_03.html

IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center
http://www-306.ibm.com/able/

Overview of the IBM Accessibility Coding Challenge 2006:
http://www-306.ibm.com/able/contest/index.html