[Athen] Interesting New story

[Lorna Saiz]

Good for you Ron Stewart!!! I am a true fan! You've helped me numerous times and always responded to any dumb question? I may have. Thank you for your ongoing support. I remain one of the first members of ATHEN at its inception. Thanks for you! 

Lorna Saiz 
Administrative Systems Operations, AT Coordinator 
Services for Students with Disabilities 
Ph:559.278.2811 
Fax:559.278.4214 
lornas at csufresno.edu 
http://www.csufresno.edu/ssd 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: 'Ron Stewart' <ron at ahead.org> 
Date: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 5:27 pm 
Subject: Re: [Athen] Interesting New story 
To: 'Access Technologists in Higher Education Network' <athen at athenpro.org>, 'Alternate Media' <altmedia at htclistserv.htctu.fhda.edu>, DSSHE-L at LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU 


> Good evening, 

> 

> I made the decision this week to express my opinion in regards to 

> an issue 

> that could have the potential to further marginalize folks with 

> disabilityfrom the mainstream educational space. Based on my body 

> of work, in this 

> field, I thought I was intitled to express my educated opinion. 

> Oh stupid 

> me! 

> 

> I am going to take this opportunity to reply to all of those have been 

> taking pot-shots at me, most of them in a cowardly and underhanded 

> way,since I decided to go to work for Dolphin Computer Access. My 

> role with 

> Dolphin gives me the opportunity to finally move the conversation 

> aboutcurricular access forwared in a meaning and constructive way. 

> Not just in 

> the US, but on an international level as well. I find it very 

> unfortunatethat a number of people have not had the courage 

> (phrase of your choice 

> here) to actually contact me directly or debate in any meaningful 

> way the 

> issues at hand. I think you need to take a good hard look at the 

> agendayour working from and join a team, maybe not my team but to 

> become a part of 

> the solution to the problem. 

> 

> My first reaction to all of this was, to borrow a turn of prhase 

> from my 

> English friends to tell you all to .... but common sense 

> prevailed. Am I 

> angry yes, am I frustrated by the ingratititude that I have seen 

> in the last 

> six months yes, am I going to walk away from it all, not a ....... 

> chance. 

> 

> For those who are not aware let me first give you an idea of the 

> voluntaryroles I hold in this space: 

> 

> Founding and current president of ATHEN 

> Technology Advisor to AHEAD 

> Chair of the AHEAD E-Text Initiative 

> Post-secondary representative to the NIMAS development committee. 

> 

> I have devoted the last 15 years of my life to try to overcome the 

> marginalization of people with disabilities in the postsecondary 

> space. I 

> made the move back into this arena for what were at the time very 

> personalreasons, but it is decision I will never look a back on. 

> I made my most 

> recent carreer change based on not what was best for me alone, but 

> what I 

> felt at the time on what was best for my moving our agenda 

> forward. 

> 

> If you do not like it, then tough, nobody said life was fair. If 

> you want 

> to engage me in a legitimate conversation about the issues, 

> wonderful. If 

> you are concerned about my being a wolf in the henhouse, then 

> let's talk 

> about it. Otherwise help me contribute to finding a solution and 

> put your 

> petty self serving issues to the side. 

> 

> Ron Stewart 

> 

> 

> 

> -----Original Message----- 

> From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen- 

> bounces at athenpro.org] On 

> Behalf Of Terri Hedgpeth 

> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 3:48 PM 

> To: Access Technologists in Higher Education Network 

> Subject: Re: [Athen] Interesting New story 

> 

> Ron, this is interesting considering your current position in a 

> commercial AT company. 

> 

> 

> 

> Dr. Terri Hedgpeth 

> Academic Research Professional 

> CUbiC #376, iCare 

> (480) 727-8133 V 

> (480) 965-1885 Fax 

> CUbiC.asu.edu 

> http://www.fulton.asu.edu/fulton/ 

> 

> 

> -----Original Message----- 

> From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen- 

> bounces at athenpro.org] On 

> Behalf Of Ron Stewart 

> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 9:52 AM 

> To: 'Access Technologists in Higher Education Network' 

> Subject: Re: [Athen] Interesting New story 

> 

> John, 

> 

> This obviously is a topic that is going nowhere, I feel I have clearly 

> stated my position on this particular topic and the use of any 

> automatedtool for access checking on numerous occasions. I think 

> my contribution 

> to the professional body of knowledge in this field is beyond 

> question,but 

> then perhaps that is just my opinion as well. 

> 

> Ron Stewart 

> 

> 

> -----Original Message----- 

> From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen- 

> bounces at athenpro.org] On 

> Behalf Of John Foliot - Stanford Online Accessibility Program 

> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 11:21 AM 

> To: 'Access Technologists in Higher Education Network' 

> Subject: Re: [Athen] Interesting New story 

> 

> Ron Stewart wrote: 

> > After having conversations with several folks in the know, who 

> also 

> > share my concerns, this product typically results in 

> segregationist 

> > practices of access. That is a step backward in the minds of 

> many of 

> > those who have worked in this field for an extended period of time. 

> > That is the basis of my concerns, that and the promises made and 

> never 

> > delivered reality of how Hi-Soft chooses to do typically do 

> > business. 

> 

> Ron, 

> 

> You, as I, are entitled to an opinion, and a frank and open airing of 

> these opinions can be a benefit to any list member who wishes to weigh 

> the pros and cons. Having worked in the web accessibility field 

> for over 

> 8 years now, I am hardly a neophyte when it comes to this topic. Your 

> suggestion that the implementation of a QA tool that when used 

> properlycan be of great assistance, is a "step backward" is 

> opinionatedhyperbole that should be recognized as such. Please, 

> if you wish to 

> contribute to the general body of knowledge, explain your concern: 

> whatexactly does using this tool do that creates "...segregationist 

> practices...", and then please explain how the tool (as opposed to an 

> ill-informed or improperly trained operator) causes this problem. 

> 

> *In Your Opinion* HiSoftware's sales practices go against your grain, 

> that's fair, but I also have first hand knowledge that the company 

> consists of caring and reasonable people who have accessibility 

> concernsin their agenda. Mr. Yonaitis has given freely of his 

> time and 

> knowledge for many years, and HiSoftware hosts and funds the "Cynthia 

> Says" online tester, which, while not perfect, has done a lot to 

> informand aid beginning web authors seeking to create accessible 

> content. 

> 

> Slavish reliance on any one tool can be dangerous, as with only one 

> hammer, everything becomes a nail. But the tool can be a valuable 

> assetin the hands of informed developers and educators, and your 

> continuedinsistence that it is somehow "evil" is simply not fair. 

> 

> Respectfully, 

> 

> JF 

> --- 

> John Foliot 

> Academic Technology Consultant 

> Stanford Online Accessibility Program 

> http://soap.stanford.edu 

> Stanford University 

> 560 Escondido Mall 

> Meyer Library 181 

> Stanford, CA 94305-3093 

> Tel: 650-862-4603 

> 

> 

> 

> > Ron Stewart 

> > 

> > -----Original Message----- 

> > From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] 

> > On Behalf Of John Foliot - Stanford Online Accessibility Program 

> > Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 10:49 AM 

> > To: 'Access Technologists in Higher Education Network' 

> > Subject: Re: [Athen] Interesting New story 

> > 

> > Ron Stewart wrote: 

> >> Morning, 

> >> We have talked about automated web compliance tools in the 

> past, but 

> >> this article I find bothersome since I feel it is a major step 

> >> backwards on accessibility in what I was hoping was going to be 

> a 

> >> progressive approach to systemic access. 

> >> 

> http://business.itbusinessnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=115414>> This is a great tool in an informed hand, but in the wrong hands it 

> >> is a disaster as many of us have seen. Ron 

> > 

> > Attn: Chicken Littles on this list, 

> > 

> > Those in the know already understand the issues with automated 

> > testing. Yet, this article clearly indicates that, 

> "...HiSoftware's 

> > solutions are part of our multi-prong strategy for checking the 

> > accessibility of Web sites in a scalable manner." [David Ernst, 

> CIO 

> > and Assistant Vice Chancellor of Information Technology Services at 

> > CSU] 

> > 

> > "...*PART* of a multi-prong strategy..."(!!!) Having worked 

> with this 

> 

> > tool in the past (and in the interest of disclosure I have a 

> former 

> > business relationship with Hisoftware) I can assert that the 

> tool can 

> > be a powerful tool for tracking and monitoring existing and new 

> > content. It is not a magic bullet, nor a panacea that will 

> instantly 

> > fix all problems, but it *is* a great QA tracking tool that can 

> aid in 

> 

> > identifying accessibility and compliance issues. The tool 

> combines 

> > both an automated checker as well as an "interview wizard" 

> > which walks content authors through the various accessibility 

> > checkpoints (Section 508 or WCAG) and allows them to check/test 

> for 

> > compliancy. The enterprise edition can run scheduled tests on 

> > multiple and disparate web sites, and forward reports to a 

> central 

> > location (if desired) - allowing for example web accessibility 

> > specialists to identify areas of concern, and perhaps even seek 

> out 

> > the "offending" author and educate them on why they have a problem 

> > and teach them how to fix it. 

> > 

> > I cannot for the life of me see how adding this QA tool to the 

> suite 

> > of accessibility development assets available to CSU webmasters 

> is a 

> > "backward step". Let's be fair here... 

> > 

> > JF 

> > --- 

> > John Foliot 

> > Academic Technology Consultant 

> > Stanford Online Accessibility Program 

> > http://soap.stanford.edu 

> > Stanford University 

> > 560 Escondido Mall 

> > Meyer Library 181 

> > Stanford, CA 94305-3093 

> > Tel: 650-862-4603 

> > 

> > 

> > _______________________________________________ 

> > Athen mailing list 

> > Athen at athenpro.org 

> > http://athenpro.org/mailman/listinfo/athen_athenpro.org 

> > 

> > 

> > 

> > 

> > _______________________________________________ 

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> 

> 

> 

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