<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><b style="font-size:14pt">Accessing Higher Ground: Accessible Media, Web & Technology Conference – November 11 – 15, 2024</b><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">(Submission Deadline: June 7)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://accessinghigherground.org/speaker-proposal-form/" target="_blank" style="color:blue"><span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">Online speaker proposal form</span></a><br></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Dear Colleagues:</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://accessinghigherground.org/" target="_blank">Accessing Higher Ground 2024</a>, the official conference of ATHEN, and presented by AHEAD, is accepting 2nd-round proposals for its 27^th<span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"> </span>Annual Conference in<span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"> </span>Denver, Colorado.</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">Accessing Higher Ground addresses topics such as:</span></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">       </span>Accessible media</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">       </span>Universal Design</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">       </span>Best practices for web & media development</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">       </span>Accessible curriculum</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">       </span>Alternate format</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">       </span>Artificial Intelligence</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">       </span>Legal and policy issues, including ADA and 508 compliance</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">       </span>Evidence-based research</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">       </span>other topics related to accessibility in higher education and other environments, including campus-wide or business-wide accessibility initiatives.</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><br></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">View<span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"> </span><a href="https://accessinghigherground.org/schedule-2023/#cs_2023-11-08" target="_blank" style="color:blue"><span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">last year’s sessions</span></a><span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"> </span>to get a sense of the typical agenda and range of topics. <span style="color:rgb(64,63,66);font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13.5pt"> </span></p><p style="margin:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(64,63,66)">Besides 1 and 2-hr main conference sessions, we are also looking for 3-hr or 6-hr pre-conference proposals. (Pre-con speakers receive additional discounts on conference fees. </span><a href="mailto:ahg@ahead.org" target="_blank" style="color:blue"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(50,113,107)">Contact the conference organizer</span></a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(64,63,66)"> for more details).</span></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Use the<span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"> </span><a href="https://accessinghigherground.org/speaker-proposal-form/" target="_blank" style="color:blue"><span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">online speaker proposal form</span></a><span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"> </span>to submit your proposal. Additional speaker information can be found on the<span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"> </span><a href="https://accessinghigherground.org/speaker-info/" target="_blank" style="color:blue"><span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">AHG website</span></a>.</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Discounts:</p><p style="margin-left:0.5in;margin-right:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt">       </span>Out of state speakers receive a 10% discount on registration</p><p style="margin-left:0.5in;margin-right:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt">       </span>ATHEN and AHEAD members receive an additional 10% discount</p><p style="margin-left:0.5in;margin-right:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7pt">       </span>Pre-con speakers receive 50% discount for 3-hr sessions and 100% waiver for full-day workshops</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">If you have any questions about proposal submission, contact Howard Kramer at 720-351-8668 or at the email below.</p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">e-mail: <a href="mailto:ahg1@ahead.org" target="_blank">ahg1@ahead.org</a></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Conference URL:<span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"> </span><a href="http://accessinghigherground.org/" target="_blank" style="color:blue"><span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">http://accessinghigherground.org/</span></a></p><div><br></div><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>Regards,</div><div>Howard</div><div><br></div><div>Howard Kramer</div>AHG Conference Director<div>Accessing Higher Ground</div><div>cell: 720-351-8668</div><div><br></div><div><p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font color="#002060" face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11pt">Sign up to access the recordings from the </span></font><b style="color:rgb(0,32,96);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt"><a href="https://accessinghigherground.org/2023-post-conference-resources/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">2023 Accessing Higher Ground Conference</a>.</b></p><p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font color="#002060" face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11pt"><br></span></font></p><p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font color="#002060" face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11pt"><a href="https://accessinghigherground.org/about/#Join_Our_Mailing_List" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">Sign up to our mailing list to receive announcements</a>.<u></u></span></font></p><p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Complete program information and registration is open for AHEAD's full line-up of <a href="https://www.ahead.org/events-programming/webinars/2024-spring-webinars" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">Spring 2024 webinars</a>. <u></u></span></p><p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,32,96)">Not yet a member of AHEAD?  <b><a href="http://ahead.org/join/become-a-member" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(5,99,193)">We welcome you to join AHEAD now.</span></a></b></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>