[Athen] IT Accessibility Constituent Group @ EDUCAUSE

[Terry Thompson]

Colleagues, 

I am writing to announce the formation of the EDUCAUSE Constituent Group on
Information Technology (IT) Accessibility. This group provides an
opportunity for higher education accessible technology professionals to have
a voice within the larger higher education IT realm.  EDUCAUSE is the
leading association related to higher education technology, whose stated
mission is "to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of
information technology." The current membership comprises 16,500 active
members representing over 2,100 colleges, universities, and educational
organizations, including 200 corporations.

As a constituent group, we will have an opportunity to openly discuss the
important accessibility-related issues that we face, much as we already do
on the ATHEN list, but within a venue that will include a broader audience
of EDUCAUSE members, including faculty and staff who are using, developing,
purchasing, administering, and influencing the direction of technology in
higher education. 

As documented in the group's formal description, "The IT Accessibility
Constituent Group will help the EDUCAUSE community to assess the scope of
issues of universal IT accessibility, to identify resources and initiatives,
to develop best practices on policy and assistive program and service
development, and in general to focus on how to approach campus-wide
universal access of information by engaging in dialogue across boundaries
within and beyond the campus environment." 

The Constituent Group has been widely announced in various key places
throughout the EDUCAUSE website, and upcoming announcements are planned for
the EDUCAUSE News blog and the EDUCAUSE Online monthly e-newsletter, which
has over 11,000 subscribers. This is a superb opportunity to expand the
scope of participation in accessibility discussions beyond our narrow niche.
Please take a moment to subscribe to the IT Accessibility Constituent Group
discussion list, and help to get the conversation started: 

http://www.educause.edu/groups/itaccess

Thanks! 
Terry

Terry Thompson
DO-IT, University of Washington
tft at u.washington.edu
206/221-4168