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Thread: University of Texas Accessibility Institute to close.
Number of posts in this thread: 6 (In chronological order)
From: Moore, Michael
Date: Wed, Aug 27 2008 12:50PM
Subject: University of Texas Accessibility Institute to close.
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All,
Here is what I have been able to gather from my communications with
friends at the University of Texas.
1. The Accessibility Institute at the University of Texas will be
closed effective August 29th 2008.
2. Proposals to move the work to the College of Information and/or
the College of Computer Science have not been accepted. Although those
institutions are capable of conducting the research there are no
specific funds, faculty, or researcher positions to support this work.
3. The two primary researchers from the Accessibility Institute are
no longer available. The founder and Director, John Slatin, PhD passed
away last spring and Kay Lewis, PhD has accepted another position.
4. The University's IT department has few resources dedicated to
accessibility. Two systems analysts are assigned 15% of their time each
to oversee accessibility for the University's 1M+ web pages.
It is very disappointing that the University has made this decision. The
University of Texas has the stature, funding, reputation, and experience
necessary to attract researchers and faculty needed to continue and
build the Accessibility Institute. All that the University's
administration seems to lack is the interest.
The UT Accessibility Institute through Dr. Slatin was able to exert
considerable influence on the development and implementation of
accessibility standards world-wide. This included the formation of the
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative and the WCAG 1.0 and 2.0 as well as the
US Access Board and the Section 508 standards. Although I have
tremendous admiration and respect for John, I do not believe that he
would have been as influential had his advocacy not been backed by the
solid research conducted at the Institute and the prestige of the
University of Texas. The loss of the UT Accessibility Institute is a
loss for the University, the State of Texas, the nation, and the world.
Most importantly it is a loss for millions of disabled people who have
benefited from the research, education, and advocacy that was conducted
through the Institute.
The University runs promotional commercials during sports broadcasts
where Walter Cronkite, speaks about the influence of the University.
"The University of Texas, what starts here changes the world." This was
certainly true of the Accessibility Institute. By closing the Institute,
the University of Texas is signaling that accessibility is not a
priority anymore. I can only hope that this decision does not change
the world.
Mike Moore
From: Ron Stewart
Date: Wed, Aug 27 2008 2:10PM
Subject: Re: University of Texas Accessibility Institute to close.
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It is truly another sad day in the access world.
Unfortunately this kind of thing has been much more the rule than the
exception from my experience. Until institutions can truly take the
ownership of the issues of access, instead of it being a person or persons
centered activity, this will continue to be the case.
Ron Stewart
From: Cynthia Waddell
Date: Thu, Aug 28 2008 2:00PM
Subject: Re: University of Texas Accessibility Institute to close.
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Mike,
Thank you for the heads-up on this sad news. Is the decision purely based
on financial and funding issues? Do you believe that the university had all
pertinent information before them when they made this decision? So much is
going on in the US and the world that I am surprised that the university is
taking itself out of the loop.
Best regards,
Cynthia Waddell
--------------------------------------------------
Cynthia D. Waddell, JD
Executive Director and
Law, Policy and Technology Consultant
International Center for Disability Resources
on the Internet (ICDRI)
Phone: (408) 691-6921
ICDRI is based in
Raleigh, North Carolina USA
http://www.icdri.org/CynthiaW/cynthia_d.htm
See My New Book!
Web Accessibility: Web Standards and
Regulatory Compliance by Apress
at www.icdri.org/WSR_Book.htm
See also Constructing Accessible Web Sites
www.icdri.org/constructing_accessible_web_site.htm
Is your Web Site Accessible?
Find out now with Cynthia Says! www.cynthiasays.com
Endorsed by the American Council of the Blind,
the CynthiaSaysTM portal is a joint Education
and Outreach project of ICDRI, The Internet
Society Disability and Special Needs Chapter,
and HiSoftware.
From: Moore, Michael
Date: Thu, Aug 28 2008 3:30PM
Subject: Re: University of Texas Accessibility Institute to close.
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Cynthia Waddell wrote:
Thank you for the heads-up on this sad news. Is the decision purely
based
on financial and funding issues?
Mike: The form letter that those of us who have written to the
University to advocate for the Institute have received states that the
Institute cannot continue to exist without Dr. Slatin. I do not believe
that the University of Texas cannot attract someone in the academic
community with the interest and ability to carry on John and Kay's work.
My sources at UT tell me that there was never an attempt to find a new
head for the Institute. The position was never posted. Other UT faculty
members have expressed a desire to continue the Institute.
Do you believe that the university had all
pertinent information before them when they made this decision?
Mike: No, we are actively trying to provide them with the information
and encouragement that they need to reverse their decision. All help
would be greatly appreciated.
So much is
going on in the US and the world that I am surprised that the university
is
taking itself out of the loop.
Mike: So am I.
From: Jared Smith
Date: Fri, Aug 29 2008 11:50AM
Subject: Re: University of Texas Accessibility Institute to close.
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If you believe it is a poor decision by the University of Texas to
close the Accessibility Institute, you can complete the petition at
the following URL:
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/SavetheInstitute
Jared Smith
WebAIM
From: Sharron Rush
Date: Fri, Aug 29 2008 12:20PM
Subject: Re: University of Texas Accessibility Institute to close.
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Update on the closing for the Accessibility Institute:
Andrew Dillon, Dean of the I School has renewed his proposal to take
John's work into that school and build on it. We are petitioning UT
to seriously consider this option....the petition is online
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/SavetheInstitute
Thanks to Jared and all who have already signed, please distribute freely.
Best,
Sharron
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>Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: University of Texas Accessibility Institute to close.
> (Cynthia Waddell)
> 2. Re: University of Texas Accessibility Institute to close.
> (Moore, Michael)
> 3. Youtube announce captioning support (Christian Heilmann)
> 4. Re: University of Texas Accessibility Institute to close.
> (Jared Smith)
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>Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:49:28 -0700
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>Subject: Re: [WebAIM] University of Texas Accessibility Institute to close.
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>Mike,
>Thank you for the heads-up on this sad news. Is the decision purely based
>on financial and funding issues? Do you believe that the university had all
>pertinent information before them when they made this decision? So much is
>going on in the US and the world that I am surprised that the university is
>taking itself out of the loop.
>
>Best regards,
>Cynthia Waddell
>
>--------------------------------------------------
>Cynthia D. Waddell, JD
>Executive Director and
>Law, Policy and Technology Consultant
>International Center for Disability Resources
> on the Internet (ICDRI)
>Phone: (408) 691-6921
>
>ICDRI is based in
>Raleigh, North Carolina USA
>http://www.icdri.org/CynthiaW/cynthia_d.htm
>
>See My New Book!
>Web Accessibility: Web Standards and
>Regulatory Compliance by Apress
>at www.icdri.org/WSR_Book.htm
>See also Constructing Accessible Web Sites
>www.icdri.org/constructing_accessible_web_site.htm
>
>Is your Web Site Accessible?
>Find out now with Cynthia Says! www.cynthiasays.com
>Endorsed by the American Council of the Blind,
>the CynthiaSaysTM portal is a joint Education
>and Outreach project of ICDRI, The Internet
>Society Disability and Special Needs Chapter,
>and HiSoftware.
>