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Number of posts in this thread: 12 (In chronological order)

From: Hadi Rangin
Date: Fri, Apr 08 2016 9:16AM
Subject: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
No previous message | Next message →

Hello friends & colleagues,

As you know, together we were able to improve the accessibility/usability of many products in the past 10-12 years. We collaborate successfully with many vendors for higher education including Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Moodle, Instructure, Elsevier, Ebsco Publishing, Elluminate, Qualtrics, Trumba, ServiceNow, and many more.

In 2013 a couple of colleagues of mine from UIUC and I tested & evaluated Microsoft Lync and Outlook. We shared the results with them and wanted to engage them in similar collaboration efforts as we have with all other vendors but we were unable to do it as their NDA terms and conditions were not acceptable to the UIUC legal team. As the result, we never had the chance to discuss our findings with the respective product development teams.

The good news is that they have used our findings about Outlook and Lync to improve their accessibility in their latest versions. I don't know at this time how much of our recommendations have been utilized in the latest version but I am glad that they have at least considered them.

Last week a couple of my UW-IT colleagues and I had a productive meeting with JJ Cadiz, the head of program management for Desktop Outlook and principal owner of accessibility for all the Outlook clients and a few colleagues of his team. We discussed how we could collaborate and contribute to the accessibility of Microsoft products.

To be honest with you, I have never seen Microsoft so motivated to work with the accessibility community toward improving the accessibility of their products, and I would like to use this opportunity to establish a constructive and productive collaboration with them.

We are working to establish two parallel groups that will be working with Microsoft on accessibility of their products. This is a rare opportunity for us to get involved and shape the accessibility of the products that we all have been using in hopes of changing the culture of accessibility at Microsoft.
1. Microsoft Collaboration Group
Microsoft Collaboration Group is a long-term project to extensively improve Microsoft Office family products. Some of the products in question are Outlook client, OWA, SharePoint, Office 365, etc.


* Purpose:

o Establish a long-lasting, sleek, and energetic collaboration group with Microsoft.

o Select one product at a time, identify accessibility/usability issues, and discuss the findings with the respective Microsoft development team.

* Commitment:

o Have knowledge and experience in accessibility and accessible design.

o Are interested in collaborating on accessibility of MS products.

o Can dedicate minimum of 5 hours in a month.

This collaboration involves accessibility/usability testing and evaluation and reporting on the products that we choose. We will finalize the logistics once we have the 10 members.

2. Mac Outlook Project
Mac Outlook Project is a project focusing specifically on Mac Outlook. We want five folks use it as their everyday, primary mail client. We expect to have Mac Outlook insider builds available for a long time.

* Purpose:

o Provide direct feedback to Mac Outlook Engineering Team about the accessibility and design of the product.

* Commitment:

o Be an everyday user of Mac Outlook who's living on the insider builds.

o Provide ten to fifteen minute feedback on rare (maybe one per month) design changes.

o Available for the occasional (once every 3 months) 1-hour call.

Time commitment would be for as long as folks are willing to participate.

If you are interested to join either of these collaboration groups, please let me know.

Thanks,
Hadi



Hadi Rangin
IT Accessibility Specialist
Mary Gates Hall 064C
University of Washington
Phone: (206) 685-4144

From: Jennifer Sutton
Date: Fri, Apr 08 2016 10:23AM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
← Previous message | Next message →

Hello:

I assume that all this would be unpaid labor? For a multi-billion dollar
company?

If folks in this industry can afford to do that, great.

But as someone who is self-employed, I increasingly wonder about the
sustainability of this model, not to mention the kinds of precedents it
sets.

My aim is not to start a debate on this list; I think we all know the
pros and cons of volunteering. I do volunteer, myself! Rather, I toss
out some of my recent thinking as food for thought within the community.
I'm not particularly pointing a finger at Microsoft; based on what I see
here in the Silicon Valley "everyone is doing it," and that's not just
limited to free accessibility help.

I hope the projects achieve their goals, and I'll surely do all I can,
in my free time, to promote them, as those who follow me on Twitter will
know that I've been doing for some time, for Microsoft.

Best, and good luck to all those involved.
Jennifer

From: Thad C
Date: Fri, Apr 08 2016 8:04PM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
← Previous message | Next message →

Hi Hadi,

I am interested in joining group #1 Microsoft Collaboration Group.

Please let me know if you need additional information from me.

Best,
Thaddeus Cambron
On Apr 8, 2016 8:20 AM, "Hadi Rangin" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Hello friends & colleagues,
>
> As you know, together we were able to improve the accessibility/usability
> of many products in the past 10-12 years. We collaborate successfully with
> many vendors for higher education including Blackboard, Desire2Learn,
> Moodle, Instructure, Elsevier, Ebsco Publishing, Elluminate, Qualtrics,
> Trumba, ServiceNow, and many more.
>
> In 2013 a couple of colleagues of mine from UIUC and I tested & evaluated
> Microsoft Lync and Outlook. We shared the results with them and wanted to
> engage them in similar collaboration efforts as we have with all other
> vendors but we were unable to do it as their NDA terms and conditions were
> not acceptable to the UIUC legal team. As the result, we never had the
> chance to discuss our findings with the respective product development
> teams.
>
> The good news is that they have used our findings about Outlook and Lync
> to improve their accessibility in their latest versions. I don't know at
> this time how much of our recommendations have been utilized in the latest
> version but I am glad that they have at least considered them.
>
> Last week a couple of my UW-IT colleagues and I had a productive meeting
> with JJ Cadiz, the head of program management for Desktop Outlook and
> principal owner of accessibility for all the Outlook clients and a few
> colleagues of his team. We discussed how we could collaborate and
> contribute to the accessibility of Microsoft products.
>
> To be honest with you, I have never seen Microsoft so motivated to work
> with the accessibility community toward improving the accessibility of
> their products, and I would like to use this opportunity to establish a
> constructive and productive collaboration with them.
>
> We are working to establish two parallel groups that will be working with
> Microsoft on accessibility of their products. This is a rare opportunity
> for us to get involved and shape the accessibility of the products that we
> all have been using in hopes of changing the culture of accessibility at
> Microsoft.
> 1. Microsoft Collaboration Group
> Microsoft Collaboration Group is a long-term project to extensively
> improve Microsoft Office family products. Some of the products in question
> are Outlook client, OWA, SharePoint, Office 365, etc.
>
>
> * Purpose:
>
> o Establish a long-lasting, sleek, and energetic collaboration group
> with Microsoft.
>
> o Select one product at a time, identify accessibility/usability issues,
> and discuss the findings with the respective Microsoft development team.
>
> * Commitment:
>
> o Have knowledge and experience in accessibility and accessible design.
>
> o Are interested in collaborating on accessibility of MS products.
>
> o Can dedicate minimum of 5 hours in a month.
>
> This collaboration involves accessibility/usability testing and evaluation
> and reporting on the products that we choose. We will finalize the
> logistics once we have the 10 members.
>
> 2. Mac Outlook Project
> Mac Outlook Project is a project focusing specifically on Mac Outlook. We
> want five folks use it as their everyday, primary mail client. We expect to
> have Mac Outlook insider builds available for a long time.
>
> * Purpose:
>
> o Provide direct feedback to Mac Outlook Engineering Team about the
> accessibility and design of the product.
>
> * Commitment:
>
> o Be an everyday user of Mac Outlook who's living on the insider builds.
>
> o Provide ten to fifteen minute feedback on rare (maybe one per month)
> design changes.
>
> o Available for the occasional (once every 3 months) 1-hour call.
>
> Time commitment would be for as long as folks are willing to participate.
>
> If you are interested to join either of these collaboration groups, please
> let me know.
>
> Thanks,
> Hadi
>
>
>
> Hadi Rangin
> IT Accessibility Specialist
> Mary Gates Hall 064C
> University of Washington
> Phone: (206) 685-4144
>
> > > > >

From: Sean Murphy
Date: Fri, Apr 08 2016 8:55PM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
← Previous message | Next message →

Hi,

I am interested in the first group. Already working with MS on Outlook on the Mac platform.

Sean
> On 9 Apr 2016, at 1:16 am, Hadi Rangin < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> Hello friends & colleagues,
>
> As you know, together we were able to improve the accessibility/usability of many products in the past 10-12 years. We collaborate successfully with many vendors for higher education including Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Moodle, Instructure, Elsevier, Ebsco Publishing, Elluminate, Qualtrics, Trumba, ServiceNow, and many more.
>
> In 2013 a couple of colleagues of mine from UIUC and I tested & evaluated Microsoft Lync and Outlook. We shared the results with them and wanted to engage them in similar collaboration efforts as we have with all other vendors but we were unable to do it as their NDA terms and conditions were not acceptable to the UIUC legal team. As the result, we never had the chance to discuss our findings with the respective product development teams.
>
> The good news is that they have used our findings about Outlook and Lync to improve their accessibility in their latest versions. I don't know at this time how much of our recommendations have been utilized in the latest version but I am glad that they have at least considered them.
>
> Last week a couple of my UW-IT colleagues and I had a productive meeting with JJ Cadiz, the head of program management for Desktop Outlook and principal owner of accessibility for all the Outlook clients and a few colleagues of his team. We discussed how we could collaborate and contribute to the accessibility of Microsoft products.
>
> To be honest with you, I have never seen Microsoft so motivated to work with the accessibility community toward improving the accessibility of their products, and I would like to use this opportunity to establish a constructive and productive collaboration with them.
>
> We are working to establish two parallel groups that will be working with Microsoft on accessibility of their products. This is a rare opportunity for us to get involved and shape the accessibility of the products that we all have been using in hopes of changing the culture of accessibility at Microsoft.
> 1. Microsoft Collaboration Group
> Microsoft Collaboration Group is a long-term project to extensively improve Microsoft Office family products. Some of the products in question are Outlook client, OWA, SharePoint, Office 365, etc.
>
>
> * Purpose:
>
> o Establish a long-lasting, sleek, and energetic collaboration group with Microsoft.
>
> o Select one product at a time, identify accessibility/usability issues, and discuss the findings with the respective Microsoft development team.
>
> * Commitment:
>
> o Have knowledge and experience in accessibility and accessible design.
>
> o Are interested in collaborating on accessibility of MS products.
>
> o Can dedicate minimum of 5 hours in a month.
>
> This collaboration involves accessibility/usability testing and evaluation and reporting on the products that we choose. We will finalize the logistics once we have the 10 members.
>
> 2. Mac Outlook Project
> Mac Outlook Project is a project focusing specifically on Mac Outlook. We want five folks use it as their everyday, primary mail client. We expect to have Mac Outlook insider builds available for a long time.
>
> * Purpose:
>
> o Provide direct feedback to Mac Outlook Engineering Team about the accessibility and design of the product.
>
> * Commitment:
>
> o Be an everyday user of Mac Outlook who's living on the insider builds.
>
> o Provide ten to fifteen minute feedback on rare (maybe one per month) design changes.
>
> o Available for the occasional (once every 3 months) 1-hour call.
>
> Time commitment would be for as long as folks are willing to participate.
>
> If you are interested to join either of these collaboration groups, please let me know.
>
> Thanks,
> Hadi
>
>
>
> Hadi Rangin
> IT Accessibility Specialist
> Mary Gates Hall 064C
> University of Washington
> Phone: (206) 685-4144
>
> > > >

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Sun, Apr 10 2016 11:45AM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
← Previous message | Next message →

I can contribute a list of issues, but I cannot commit to 5 hours a
month on a regular basis.
But I'd be happy to help if smaller contributions in some form are acceptable.


On 4/8/16, Sean Murphy < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am interested in the first group. Already working with MS on Outlook on
> the Mac platform.
>
> Sean
>> On 9 Apr 2016, at 1:16 am, Hadi Rangin < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>>
>> Hello friends & colleagues,
>>
>> As you know, together we were able to improve the accessibility/usability
>> of many products in the past 10-12 years. We collaborate successfully with
>> many vendors for higher education including Blackboard, Desire2Learn,
>> Moodle, Instructure, Elsevier, Ebsco Publishing, Elluminate, Qualtrics,
>> Trumba, ServiceNow, and many more.
>>
>> In 2013 a couple of colleagues of mine from UIUC and I tested & evaluated
>> Microsoft Lync and Outlook. We shared the results with them and wanted to
>> engage them in similar collaboration efforts as we have with all other
>> vendors but we were unable to do it as their NDA terms and conditions were
>> not acceptable to the UIUC legal team. As the result, we never had the
>> chance to discuss our findings with the respective product development
>> teams.
>>
>> The good news is that they have used our findings about Outlook and Lync
>> to improve their accessibility in their latest versions. I don't know at
>> this time how much of our recommendations have been utilized in the latest
>> version but I am glad that they have at least considered them.
>>
>> Last week a couple of my UW-IT colleagues and I had a productive meeting
>> with JJ Cadiz, the head of program management for Desktop Outlook and
>> principal owner of accessibility for all the Outlook clients and a few
>> colleagues of his team. We discussed how we could collaborate and
>> contribute to the accessibility of Microsoft products.
>>
>> To be honest with you, I have never seen Microsoft so motivated to work
>> with the accessibility community toward improving the accessibility of
>> their products, and I would like to use this opportunity to establish a
>> constructive and productive collaboration with them.
>>
>> We are working to establish two parallel groups that will be working with
>> Microsoft on accessibility of their products. This is a rare opportunity
>> for us to get involved and shape the accessibility of the products that we
>> all have been using in hopes of changing the culture of accessibility at
>> Microsoft.
>> 1. Microsoft Collaboration Group
>> Microsoft Collaboration Group is a long-term project to extensively
>> improve Microsoft Office family products. Some of the products in question
>> are Outlook client, OWA, SharePoint, Office 365, etc.
>>
>>
>> * Purpose:
>>
>> o Establish a long-lasting, sleek, and energetic collaboration group
>> with Microsoft.
>>
>> o Select one product at a time, identify accessibility/usability issues,
>> and discuss the findings with the respective Microsoft development team.
>>
>> * Commitment:
>>
>> o Have knowledge and experience in accessibility and accessible design.
>>
>> o Are interested in collaborating on accessibility of MS products.
>>
>> o Can dedicate minimum of 5 hours in a month.
>>
>> This collaboration involves accessibility/usability testing and evaluation
>> and reporting on the products that we choose. We will finalize the
>> logistics once we have the 10 members.
>>
>> 2. Mac Outlook Project
>> Mac Outlook Project is a project focusing specifically on Mac Outlook. We
>> want five folks use it as their everyday, primary mail client. We expect
>> to have Mac Outlook insider builds available for a long time.
>>
>> * Purpose:
>>
>> o Provide direct feedback to Mac Outlook Engineering Team about the
>> accessibility and design of the product.
>>
>> * Commitment:
>>
>> o Be an everyday user of Mac Outlook who's living on the insider builds.
>>
>> o Provide ten to fifteen minute feedback on rare (maybe one per month)
>> design changes.
>>
>> o Available for the occasional (once every 3 months) 1-hour call.
>>
>> Time commitment would be for as long as folks are willing to participate.
>>
>> If you are interested to join either of these collaboration groups, please
>> let me know.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Hadi
>>
>>
>>
>> Hadi Rangin
>> IT Accessibility Specialist
>> Mary Gates Hall 064C
>> University of Washington
>> Phone: (206) 685-4144
>>
>> >> >> >> >
> > > > >


--
Work hard. Have fun. Make history.

From: sucharu
Date: Sun, Apr 10 2016 10:48PM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
← Previous message | Next message →

Hello Hadi,
Good morning!
I am interested in joining group #1 Microsoft Collaboration Group.

Please let me know if you need additional information from me.

Thanks.
Regards,
sucharu

From: Jeevan Reddy
Date: Mon, Apr 11 2016 12:09AM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
← Previous message | Next message →

Hadi,
i'm interested to join Microsoft Collaboration Group .

Thanks
Jeevan Reddy

On 4/8/16, Hadi Rangin < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Hello friends & colleagues,
>
> As you know, together we were able to improve the accessibility/usability of
> many products in the past 10-12 years. We collaborate successfully with many
> vendors for higher education including Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Moodle,
> Instructure, Elsevier, Ebsco Publishing, Elluminate, Qualtrics, Trumba,
> ServiceNow, and many more.
>
> In 2013 a couple of colleagues of mine from UIUC and I tested & evaluated
> Microsoft Lync and Outlook. We shared the results with them and wanted to
> engage them in similar collaboration efforts as we have with all other
> vendors but we were unable to do it as their NDA terms and conditions were
> not acceptable to the UIUC legal team. As the result, we never had the
> chance to discuss our findings with the respective product development
> teams.
>
> The good news is that they have used our findings about Outlook and Lync to
> improve their accessibility in their latest versions. I don't know at this
> time how much of our recommendations have been utilized in the latest
> version but I am glad that they have at least considered them.
>
> Last week a couple of my UW-IT colleagues and I had a productive meeting
> with JJ Cadiz, the head of program management for Desktop Outlook and
> principal owner of accessibility for all the Outlook clients and a few
> colleagues of his team. We discussed how we could collaborate and contribute
> to the accessibility of Microsoft products.
>
> To be honest with you, I have never seen Microsoft so motivated to work with
> the accessibility community toward improving the accessibility of their
> products, and I would like to use this opportunity to establish a
> constructive and productive collaboration with them.
>
> We are working to establish two parallel groups that will be working with
> Microsoft on accessibility of their products. This is a rare opportunity for
> us to get involved and shape the accessibility of the products that we all
> have been using in hopes of changing the culture of accessibility at
> Microsoft.
> 1. Microsoft Collaboration Group
> Microsoft Collaboration Group is a long-term project to extensively improve
> Microsoft Office family products. Some of the products in question are
> Outlook client, OWA, SharePoint, Office 365, etc.
>
>
> * Purpose:
>
> o Establish a long-lasting, sleek, and energetic collaboration group with
> Microsoft.
>
> o Select one product at a time, identify accessibility/usability issues,
> and discuss the findings with the respective Microsoft development team.
>
> * Commitment:
>
> o Have knowledge and experience in accessibility and accessible design.
>
> o Are interested in collaborating on accessibility of MS products.
>
> o Can dedicate minimum of 5 hours in a month.
>
> This collaboration involves accessibility/usability testing and evaluation
> and reporting on the products that we choose. We will finalize the logistics
> once we have the 10 members.
>
> 2. Mac Outlook Project
> Mac Outlook Project is a project focusing specifically on Mac Outlook. We
> want five folks use it as their everyday, primary mail client. We expect to
> have Mac Outlook insider builds available for a long time.
>
> * Purpose:
>
> o Provide direct feedback to Mac Outlook Engineering Team about the
> accessibility and design of the product.
>
> * Commitment:
>
> o Be an everyday user of Mac Outlook who's living on the insider builds.
>
> o Provide ten to fifteen minute feedback on rare (maybe one per month)
> design changes.
>
> o Available for the occasional (once every 3 months) 1-hour call.
>
> Time commitment would be for as long as folks are willing to participate.
>
> If you are interested to join either of these collaboration groups, please
> let me know.
>
> Thanks,
> Hadi
>
>
>
> Hadi Rangin
> IT Accessibility Specialist
> Mary Gates Hall 064C
> University of Washington
> Phone: (206) 685-4144
>
> > > > >


--
Best Regards,
Jeevan Reddy,
Accessibility Consultant,
Infosys Ltd,
Bangalore, India.

From: Golfo, Michael
Date: Mon, Apr 11 2016 7:36AM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
← Previous message | Next message →

Hi Haudi,

I'm interested in joing the first MS accessibility group. If you need anything else from me please let me know and I look forward to hearing from you.

Michael Golfo

Information Builders
QA Accessibility Analyst

From: Thomas Lee McKeithan II
Date: Mon, Apr 11 2016 7:43AM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
← Previous message | Next message →

Good morning I am interested in joining the first Microsoft collaboration group as well if you need any additional details for me please it buys



Sent with Good (www.good.com)

From: Kelly Lupo
Date: Mon, Apr 11 2016 12:11PM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
← Previous message | Next message →

If this is still open, I am also interested in joining group 1. :)

Thank you,
Kelly

On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 11:16 AM, Hadi Rangin < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Hello friends & colleagues,
>
> As you know, together we were able to improve the accessibility/usability
> of many products in the past 10-12 years. We collaborate successfully with
> many vendors for higher education including Blackboard, Desire2Learn,
> Moodle, Instructure, Elsevier, Ebsco Publishing, Elluminate, Qualtrics,
> Trumba, ServiceNow, and many more.
>
> In 2013 a couple of colleagues of mine from UIUC and I tested & evaluated
> Microsoft Lync and Outlook. We shared the results with them and wanted to
> engage them in similar collaboration efforts as we have with all other
> vendors but we were unable to do it as their NDA terms and conditions were
> not acceptable to the UIUC legal team. As the result, we never had the
> chance to discuss our findings with the respective product development
> teams.
>
> The good news is that they have used our findings about Outlook and Lync
> to improve their accessibility in their latest versions. I don't know at
> this time how much of our recommendations have been utilized in the latest
> version but I am glad that they have at least considered them.
>
> Last week a couple of my UW-IT colleagues and I had a productive meeting
> with JJ Cadiz, the head of program management for Desktop Outlook and
> principal owner of accessibility for all the Outlook clients and a few
> colleagues of his team. We discussed how we could collaborate and
> contribute to the accessibility of Microsoft products.
>
> To be honest with you, I have never seen Microsoft so motivated to work
> with the accessibility community toward improving the accessibility of
> their products, and I would like to use this opportunity to establish a
> constructive and productive collaboration with them.
>
> We are working to establish two parallel groups that will be working with
> Microsoft on accessibility of their products. This is a rare opportunity
> for us to get involved and shape the accessibility of the products that we
> all have been using in hopes of changing the culture of accessibility at
> Microsoft.
> 1. Microsoft Collaboration Group
> Microsoft Collaboration Group is a long-term project to extensively
> improve Microsoft Office family products. Some of the products in question
> are Outlook client, OWA, SharePoint, Office 365, etc.
>
>
> * Purpose:
>
> o Establish a long-lasting, sleek, and energetic collaboration group
> with Microsoft.
>
> o Select one product at a time, identify accessibility/usability issues,
> and discuss the findings with the respective Microsoft development team.
>
> * Commitment:
>
> o Have knowledge and experience in accessibility and accessible design.
>
> o Are interested in collaborating on accessibility of MS products.
>
> o Can dedicate minimum of 5 hours in a month.
>
> This collaboration involves accessibility/usability testing and evaluation
> and reporting on the products that we choose. We will finalize the
> logistics once we have the 10 members.
>
> 2. Mac Outlook Project
> Mac Outlook Project is a project focusing specifically on Mac Outlook. We
> want five folks use it as their everyday, primary mail client. We expect to
> have Mac Outlook insider builds available for a long time.
>
> * Purpose:
>
> o Provide direct feedback to Mac Outlook Engineering Team about the
> accessibility and design of the product.
>
> * Commitment:
>
> o Be an everyday user of Mac Outlook who's living on the insider builds.
>
> o Provide ten to fifteen minute feedback on rare (maybe one per month)
> design changes.
>
> o Available for the occasional (once every 3 months) 1-hour call.
>
> Time commitment would be for as long as folks are willing to participate.
>
> If you are interested to join either of these collaboration groups, please
> let me know.
>
> Thanks,
> Hadi
>
>
>
> Hadi Rangin
> IT Accessibility Specialist
> Mary Gates Hall 064C
> University of Washington
> Phone: (206) 685-4144
>
> > > > >

From: L Snider
Date: Mon, Apr 11 2016 12:21PM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
← Previous message | Next message →

Hi Hadi,

Not sure if my other email got through, so I am resending here. I am also
interested in Group 1 and 2.

Cheers

Lisa

On Mon, Apr 11, 2016 at 1:11 PM, Kelly Lupo < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> If this is still open, I am also interested in joining group 1. :)
>
> Thank you,
> Kelly
>
> On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 11:16 AM, Hadi Rangin < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> > Hello friends & colleagues,
> >
> > As you know, together we were able to improve the accessibility/usability
> > of many products in the past 10-12 years. We collaborate successfully
> with
> > many vendors for higher education including Blackboard, Desire2Learn,
> > Moodle, Instructure, Elsevier, Ebsco Publishing, Elluminate, Qualtrics,
> > Trumba, ServiceNow, and many more.
> >
> > In 2013 a couple of colleagues of mine from UIUC and I tested & evaluated
> > Microsoft Lync and Outlook. We shared the results with them and wanted to
> > engage them in similar collaboration efforts as we have with all other
> > vendors but we were unable to do it as their NDA terms and conditions
> were
> > not acceptable to the UIUC legal team. As the result, we never had the
> > chance to discuss our findings with the respective product development
> > teams.
> >
> > The good news is that they have used our findings about Outlook and Lync
> > to improve their accessibility in their latest versions. I don't know at
> > this time how much of our recommendations have been utilized in the
> latest
> > version but I am glad that they have at least considered them.
> >
> > Last week a couple of my UW-IT colleagues and I had a productive meeting
> > with JJ Cadiz, the head of program management for Desktop Outlook and
> > principal owner of accessibility for all the Outlook clients and a few
> > colleagues of his team. We discussed how we could collaborate and
> > contribute to the accessibility of Microsoft products.
> >
> > To be honest with you, I have never seen Microsoft so motivated to work
> > with the accessibility community toward improving the accessibility of
> > their products, and I would like to use this opportunity to establish a
> > constructive and productive collaboration with them.
> >
> > We are working to establish two parallel groups that will be working with
> > Microsoft on accessibility of their products. This is a rare opportunity
> > for us to get involved and shape the accessibility of the products that
> we
> > all have been using in hopes of changing the culture of accessibility at
> > Microsoft.
> > 1. Microsoft Collaboration Group
> > Microsoft Collaboration Group is a long-term project to extensively
> > improve Microsoft Office family products. Some of the products in
> question
> > are Outlook client, OWA, SharePoint, Office 365, etc.
> >
> >
> > * Purpose:
> >
> > o Establish a long-lasting, sleek, and energetic collaboration group
> > with Microsoft.
> >
> > o Select one product at a time, identify accessibility/usability
> issues,
> > and discuss the findings with the respective Microsoft development team.
> >
> > * Commitment:
> >
> > o Have knowledge and experience in accessibility and accessible design.
> >
> > o Are interested in collaborating on accessibility of MS products.
> >
> > o Can dedicate minimum of 5 hours in a month.
> >
> > This collaboration involves accessibility/usability testing and
> evaluation
> > and reporting on the products that we choose. We will finalize the
> > logistics once we have the 10 members.
> >
> > 2. Mac Outlook Project
> > Mac Outlook Project is a project focusing specifically on Mac Outlook. We
> > want five folks use it as their everyday, primary mail client. We expect
> to
> > have Mac Outlook insider builds available for a long time.
> >
> > * Purpose:
> >
> > o Provide direct feedback to Mac Outlook Engineering Team about the
> > accessibility and design of the product.
> >
> > * Commitment:
> >
> > o Be an everyday user of Mac Outlook who's living on the insider
> builds.
> >
> > o Provide ten to fifteen minute feedback on rare (maybe one per month)
> > design changes.
> >
> > o Available for the occasional (once every 3 months) 1-hour call.
> >
> > Time commitment would be for as long as folks are willing to participate.
> >
> > If you are interested to join either of these collaboration groups,
> please
> > let me know.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Hadi
> >
> >
> >
> > Hadi Rangin
> > IT Accessibility Specialist
> > Mary Gates Hall 064C
> > University of Washington
> > Phone: (206) 685-4144
> >
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > >

From: Campbell, John
Date: Mon, Apr 11 2016 2:02PM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities
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Hello,

I would be interested in this collaboration opportunity.

Thank you for your consideration,
John

--
John R. Campbell, MS, ATP, RET
Director of Accessibility & Access
Lehigh Carbon Community College
4525 Education Park Drive
Schnecksville PA 18078
http://www.lccc.edu
Office: 610.769.1337
Office: LB34
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

*"Alone, we can do so little. Together, we can do so much." - Helen Keller*