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Thread: Need: accessible discussion group file sharing platform
Number of posts in this thread: 5 (In chronological order)
From: Jim Allan
Date: Thu, Sep 08 2011 9:57AM
Subject: Need: accessible discussion group file sharing platform
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Hi All,
I have a group (~25) of braille transcribers who would like to have a
closed discussion list that allows file sharing and is accessible.
Google groups used to work pretty well, but they have removed the file
sharing. Switching between interfaces (groups and docs) is not going
to work for these folks. Does anyone out there know of such a tool -
simple, easy to use, limited features, and accessible? Oh, and Free.
I have googled but can't seem to find the right terms to eliminate
brain storming, live collaboration, etc. the minus list is longer than
the actual search term list...but not finding anything that fits the
bill.
Hoping the crowd will help point me in the right direction.
Thanks
Jim
--
Jim Allan, Accessibility Coordinator & Webmaster
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1100 W. 45th St., Austin, Texas 78756
voice 512.206.9315 fax: 512.206.9264 http://www.tsbvi.edu/
"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." McLuhan, 1964
From: John E Brandt
Date: Thu, Sep 08 2011 12:09PM
Subject: Re: Need: accessible discussion group file sharing platform
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Jim,
I am not sure exactly what you are looking for either. If you are looking
for a listserv solution, there are several open source options. You would
only need a web server to host it and might be able to add it to your
current hosting plan or web server for free. The listserv can be set up to
allow for file attachments and since it simply uses e-mail, it should be
completely accessible. The limitations of file size will be contingent upon
the users' mail limits. I've used Mailman for years http://www.list.org/
If you are looking for something a bit more complex, you might want to
consider a wiki. There are open source solutions that (again) you can
install on a web server and might meet your needs. You could also use
something like Wikispaces which still has a free option
http://www.wikispaces.com/ - It is not completely accessible (there are a
couple of input boxes not labeled and some images that need ALTs) - but you
might want to check it out. Wikispaces does allow "members" to upload files.
You could also build a Moodle and have discussion groups, wikis, internal
e-mail and many other features. Although intended to serve up on-line course
information, I have used it as a group discussion tool in the past. And
Moodle is very accessible. http://moodle.org/
If the file sharing part of your situation is the most important, and the
files are large, there are free services like Dropbox
https://www.dropbox.com/features that might be usable.
Lastly, I see you are using Joomla as the CMS for your school. There are
tons of discussion group and file share extensions that you could use.
~j
John E. Brandt
www.jebswebs.com
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA
From: Lucy Greco
Date: Fri, Sep 09 2011 10:51AM
Subject: Re: Need: accessible discussion group file sharing platform
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I would keep them all on the Google group to save them changing anything and have them all use drop box for the file sharing
Lucy Greco
Assistive Technology Specialist
Disabled Student's Program UC Berkeley
(510) 643-7591
http://attlc.berkeley.edu
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
From: Bourne, Sarah (ITD)
Date: Tue, Sep 13 2011 7:33AM
Subject: Re: Need: accessible discussion group file sharing platform
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Jim, have you looked at Yahoo Groups? Yahoo has done great accessibility work with their email; I haven't evaluated Groups, but it does allow attachments, so it might be worthwhile to check out.
sb
Sarah E. Bourne
Director of Assistive Technology &
Mass.Gov Chief Technology Strategist
Information Technology Division
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1 Ashburton Pl. rm 1601 Boston MA 02108
617-626-4502 fax 617-626-4516
http://twitter.com/sarahebourne
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.mass.gov/itd
From: ckrugman
Date: Sat, Oct 08 2011 12:42AM
Subject: Re: Need: accessible discussion group file sharing platform
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I think Yahoogroups can work for this as you can set up closed groups and
can upload files to the group.
Chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Allan" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 8:57 AM
Subject: [WebAIM] Need: accessible discussion group file sharing platform
Hi All,
I have a group (~25) of braille transcribers who would like to have a
closed discussion list that allows file sharing and is accessible.
Google groups used to work pretty well, but they have removed the file
sharing. Switching between interfaces (groups and docs) is not going
to work for these folks. Does anyone out there know of such a tool -
simple, easy to use, limited features, and accessible? Oh, and Free.
I have googled but can't seem to find the right terms to eliminate
brain storming, live collaboration, etc. the minus list is longer than
the actual search term list...but not finding anything that fits the
bill.
Hoping the crowd will help point me in the right direction.
Thanks
Jim
--
Jim Allan, Accessibility Coordinator & Webmaster
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1100 W. 45th St., Austin, Texas 78756
voice 512.206.9315 fax: 512.206.9264 http://www.tsbvi.edu/
"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." McLuhan, 1964