CSUN 2017: Final Countdown
Day and Time set for the annual DIAGRAM Office Hours
- Thursday, March 2
- 5:00 – 7:00pm Pacific Time
- Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, DIAGRAM Hospitality Suite
A DIAGRAM Center tradition at CSUN, the Office Hours event is a great time for DIAGRAM community members to grab a snack, have a drink, catch up with friends face to face, make new connections, exchange ideas and share work. We’ll even have tables set up for anyone who feels like doing an impromptu demo.It’s a lot of fun and we hope you’ll join us!

Office Hours with the DIAGRAM Center at CSUN 2016
Of course, there is also another DIAGRAM Center tradition at CSUN. We won’t know the exact suite number until we’ve checked in, at which point we will send out an email to those of you who have expressed interest in stopping by. So please let us know if you are interested in coming and/or if there is someone you think we should be sure to include. Email us at info[at]diagramcenter[dot]org and we will make sure you are on the event notification list. We are looking so forward to CSUN and can’t wait to reconnect with as many of you as possible!
DIAGRAM Interactive Code Sprint at CSUN

Accessible Math Sprint at CSUN 2016
The DIAGRAM Center is thrilled to announce that we will be hosting a one-day code sprint in partnership with Macmillan Learning on Tuesday, February 28th in San Diego. Following on the successes of last year’s math-focused code sprint, which brought together over 20 participants from the accessibility community, the DIAGRAM Center is excited to continue this open source, community-driven tradition with a second-annual event targeting challenges and solutions related to interactives. For instance, we’ll look at developing ways to support various drag-and-drop scenarios, interactive tables/charts, and further progress in digital math solutions. At the end of the day, we hope to ignite collaborative momentum towards developing at least one new tool aimed at making it easier, faster, and cheaper to interact with digital content.
Sessions that are explicitly about DIAGRAM or DIAGRAM products:
Thursday, March 2, 9:00 am PT – Balboa C, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Sue-Ann Ma, DIAGRAM Center; Lisa Wadors Verne, Benetech and Sina Bahram, Prime Access Consulting
Learn how to use the Repository-Registry of Accessible Images (RRAI), a collaborative web-enabled collection, to eliminate redundancies in the production of alternate formats in STEM.
Slide Deck: Accessible Image Repository_CSUN 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2:20 pm PT – Mission Beach C, 3rd Floor, Between Harbor and Seaport Towers
Presenters: Lisa Wadors Verne and Robin Seaman, Benetech
We are in a golden age of digital information. Unfortunately, students with disabilities are often at a disadvantage because educational content is often not accessible.
Slide Deck: Create, Build, Find and Buy Accessible
Friday, March 3, 10:00 am PT- Golden Hill AB, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Charles LaPierre, Benetech; Ginny Grant, Bookshare; Sue-Ann Ma, DIAGRAM Center and Volker Sorge, MathJax Consortium, Progressive Accessibility Solutions
Learn about the latest advances in research, standards, and tools, all in efforts to provide more personalized access to digital mathematics.
Slide Deck: CSUN2017_Accessible Mathematics
Friday, March 3, 2:20 pm PT – Balboa AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Richard Orme and George Kerscher of DAISY Consortium and Amaya Webster, Benetech
Digital publishing should mean regular books can be inclusive. Come and learn how to tell which reading systems are accessible (and legal) for everyone.
Slide Deck: Accessible reading solutions from mainstream publishers
Friday, March 3, 3:20 pm PT – Balboa AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: George Kerscher, DAISY Consortium; Charles LaPierre, Benetech and Rachel Comerford, Macmillan Learning
Publishers can now claim conformance to WCAG 2.0. “Certified by Benetech” guarantees the conformance claims are true. The process follows the approved EPUB Accessibility Standard.
Slide Deck: CSUN2017-EPUB Certification – Kerscher LaPierre Comerford
Sessions hosted by DIAGRAM community members related to DIAGRAM’s goals:
Wednesday, March 1, 9 am PT – Mission Beach C, 3rd Floor Between Harbor and Seaport Towers
Presenter: Joshua Miele, Smith-Kettlewell
We will discuss overTHERE, a free iOS app for blind pedestrians that uses audio and gestural feedback to accurately pinpoint nearby businesses and other places.
Wednesday, March 1, 10 am PT – Gaslamp AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Rick Johnson and Chris Auclair, VitalSource Technologies; Amy Salmon and Andre Lukatsky, Tech for All
This presentation provides information on how VitalSource developed a robust, interactive, and accessible EPUB3 experience with interactive activities that work in different environments.
Wednesday, March 1, 11 am PT – Ocean Beach, 3rd Floor, Between Harbor and Seaport Towers
Presenters: Taliesin Smith and Clayton Lewis, University of Colorado
With a study of 12 users, we examine strategies for making an interactive science simulation accessible using descriptions accessed via a screen reader and keyboard.
Wednesday, March 1, 11 am PT – Balboa C, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Jason White and Mark Hakkinen, Educational Testing Service
We explore the interplay of sensory and cognitive issues in the design of accessible user interfaces, then examine their implications for research and standards development.
Wednesday, March 1, 11 am PT – Hillcrest AB, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Quentin Christensen, Michael Curran, James Teh and Reef Turner, NV Access
An overview of recent developments concerning the popular, free NVDA screen reader, plus an introduction to some exciting new NV Access products and projects.
Wednesday, March 1, 11 am PT – Golden Hill AB, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenter: Geoff Freed, WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM)
NCAM participated in the DoT’s Advisory Committee on Accessible Air Transportation. Learn how the committee is solving the problem of inaccessible in-flight entertainment and communication.
Wednesday, March 1, 3:20 pm PT – Balboa AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Sina Bahram, Prime Access Consulting and Andreas Stefik, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Quorum now supports physics and has an accessible visual editor. This enables students with disabilities to create engaging, complex, and accessible games, accessibly.
Wednesday, March 1, 4:20 pm PT – Balboa AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenter: Ed Summers, SAS
Join a blind data scientist for a demonstration of SAS statistical analysis software that is free for students of all ages.
Thursday, March 2, 8:00 am PT – Balboa C, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenter: Wendy Holden, Central Washington University
The Central Access Reader is a free text to speech program and a useful tool for producing accessible STEM content.
Thursday, March 2, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm PT – Regatta A/B room
SAS will present unprecedented access to data science and data visualization and participants will have a chance to experience the technology themselves during a hand-on data lab. To attend please register in advance by emailing email accessibility@sas.com
Thursday, March 2, 10:00 am PT- Mission Beach C, 3rd Floor, Between Harbor and Seaport Towers
Presenters: Luis Perez, Inclusive Learning Consultant and Yue-Ting Siu, San Francisco State University
This session will focus on tools and strategies for developing successful online communities of practice for assistive technology professionals and inclusive educators.
Thursday, March 2, 10:00 am PT- Gaslamp AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Rachel Comerford and Kelly Lancaster, Macmillan Learning
Is technical compliance the ultimate goal for educational materials? We share insights from testing products with screen reader users for usability, not just compliance.
Thursday, March 2, 11:00 am PT- Mission Beach C, 3rd Floor, Between Harbor and Seaport Towers
Presenters: Steve Noble, University of Louisville;Shari Butler and Su Park of Pearson; Cricket Biddleman and Edgar Lozano
Online testing environments for ELA and mathematics tests will be discussed, with a focus on usability testing with students with visual and learning disabilities.
Thursday, March 2, 11:00 am PT -Balboa C, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenter: Steve Landau, Touch Graphics, Inc.
Touch-responsive, 3D printed models of animals bring universal access to zoos and aquarium exhibits. This presentation explains how these exhibits were fabricated and programmed, and how Touch Graphics is working with museums to add multi-sensory displays that invite every visitor to touch, listen and learn.
Thursday, March 2, 1:20 pm PT – Gaslamp AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Mark Hakkinen, Cary Supalo and Carlos Cavalie, Educational Testing Service
Consistent pronunciation and presentation of content by Text to Speech Synthesis can be achieved if AT were to support the Speech Synthesis Mark Up Language.
Thursday, March 2, 1:20 pm PT – Seaport Ballroom F-Deque, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Glenda Sims Deque and Jim Allan
The next version of WCAG is being drafted right now! The W3C Low Vision Task force has been researching user needs and writing proposed WCAG 2.1 success criteria and sufficient techniques. Come see what is proposed for low vision in WCAG Next.
Thursday, March 2, 2:20 pm PT- La Jolla A, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Bryan Gould and Geoff Freed, WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM)
NCAM is developing CADET (Caption and Description Editing Tool), free, downloadable caption-authoring software that enables anyone to easily produce high-quality, web-ready caption files.
Thursday, March 2, 3:20 pm PT- Mission Beach C, 3rd Floor, Between Harbor and Seaport Towers
Presenters: Larry Goldberg, Yahoo; Mary Bellard, Microsoft; Kate Sonka, Michigan State University; Jeff Wieland, Facebook
The Teach Access Project: tech companies and universities collaborating to expose ALL students in relevant majors to the fundamentals of accessible design and development.
Thursday, March 2, 3:20 pm PT – Seaport Ballroom H-Microsoft, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Elise Livingston and Seth Fox, Microsoft
Microsoft Office helps users create accessible content using the accessibility checker along with emerging image recognition technology.
Thursday, March 2, 4:20 pm PT- Cortez Hill AB, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Jeanne Spellman, Paciello Group; Shawn Lauriat, Google; Andrew Kirkpatrick, Adobe; Michael Cooper, W3C
Learn the goals, process and priorities of the next major upgrade to accessibility guidelines after WCAG 2.1. Get the latest status and opportunities to contribute.
Friday, March 3, 8:00 am PT- Balboa AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: BJ Epstein, Greg Kehret, Frank Welte of LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired; Jerry Kuns and Theresa Postello
Learn best practices of how to design, use, and teach tactile graphics in this presentation and hands-on demonstration, based on the authors’ expertise and experiences.
Friday, March 3, 8:00 am PT- Golden Hill AB, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenter: Gian Wild, AccessibilityOz Inc
Covering the accessibility issues of each of the four main social media sites (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn).
Friday, March 3, 9:00 am PT- Balboa AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: John Gardner, ViewPlusTechnologies Inc. and Volker Sorge, Progressive Accessibility Solutions, Ltd
Developing software for fully automatic creation of accessible SVG diagrams.
Friday, March 3, 10:00 am PT- Ocean Beach, 3rd Floor, Between Harbor and Seaport Towers
Presenter: Shaun Kane, University of Colorado Boulder
Smart garments offer new possibilities for assistive technology. We reflect on the evolutionary trajectory of this area and identify future directions for assistive wearables.
Friday, March 3, 10:00 am PT – Balboa AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Eric Hansen, Mark Hakkinen, Jason White and Carlos Cavalie of Educational Testing Service
We report on the usability of a web-based tool for sonification of numerical data tables for screen reader users in realistic science assessment tasks.
Friday, March 3, 11:00 am PT – Balboa C, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Rick Johnson, VitalSource Technologies, Inc.; George Kerscher, DAISY Consortium and Benetech and Jonathan Thurston, Pearson
Accessibility leaders will discuss the challenges of implementing accessibility standards to create an end-to-end solution for students and will highlight recent steps toward that goal.
Friday, March 3, 2:20 pm PT- Golden Hill AB, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Michael Cooper and Judy Brewer of W3C and Andrew Kirkpatrick, Adobe
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 builds on WCAG 2.0 to provide updated guidance that reflect technology changes and new needs.
Other sessions of possible DIAGRAM interest:
Wednesday, March 1, 9 am PT – Old Town AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Dana Marlowe and Sharon Rosenblatt, Accessibility Partners
A presentation of case studies on how museums both big and small can implement accessibility for their patrons with disabilities.
Wednesday, March 1, 9:00 am PT – Golden Hill AB, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Lainey Feingold, Law Office of Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian, Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho
Join two internationally recognized disability rights lawyers for a fast-paced review of digital accessibility legal settlements, court cases, laws and regulations. Web, mobile, kiosks, and more.
Wednesday, March 1, 10 am PT – La Jolla A, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenter: Abraham Glasser
An evaluation of Automatic Speech Recognition services showed that there was a relationship between ASR accuracy and readability levels by IBM Watson and Microsoft Azure.
Wednesday, March 1, 2:20 pm PT – Old Town AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Gareth Ford Williams and Nigel Megitt, British Broadcasting Corporation
Over 100 years of learnings from key research into the readability, legibility and accessibility of fonts are explored in this presentation.
Wednesday, March 1, 4:20 pm PT – Balboa C, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Jennifer Gauvreau, Michael Bennett and Elizabeth Whitmer, CGI
CGI will explore potential accessibility barriers with charts, graphs, and interactive dashboards and share practical lessons learned in designing and developing inclusive data visualization solutions.
Wednesday, March 1, 4:20 pm PT – Old Town AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenter: Atsushi Imai, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)
At present, audio description services are mainly for pre-recorded programs, such as dramas. We propose a new audio description service for live TV sports programs.
Thursday, March 2, 10:00 am PT- Golden Hill AB, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenter: Lisa Seeman, IBM Corporation, and facilitator of WCAG‘s Cognitive Accessibility Task Force
IBM is getting ready to address new success criteria in WCAG 2.1 for people with cognitive disabilities. What tools will be useable by all?
Thursday, March 2, 11:00 am PT – Balboa AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Chaals McCathie Nevile, Yandex and Léonie Watson, The Paciello Group (TPG)
What does it take to make SVG accessible? How accessible can SVG be today?
Thursday, March 2, 1:20 pm PT- Balboa AB, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Ken Perry and Jeanette Wicker of American Printing House for the Blind and Venkatesh Chari, Orbit Research
The Graphiti™ is a dynamic multilevel tactile touch display that allows students and adults to access a wide variety of on-screen graphics by touch.
Thursday, March 2, 1:20 pm PT- Balboa C, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenter: Michael Kolitsky, nextgenEmedia
iPad or iPad Pro audio buttons located directly beneath complex image tactile template regions provide one-to-one link between audio information and tactile location being touched.
Thursday, March 2, 1:20 pm PT- Golden Hill AB, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Lisa Seeman, IBM Corporation, and facilitator of WCAG‘s Cognitive Accessibility Task Force, Maureen Kraft and Will Scott, IBM
Thursday, March 2, 3:20 pm PT- Seaport Ballroom G-Google, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Caile Collins and Noah Wang, Google
Learn about improvements and innovations in automatic closed captioning.
Thursday, March 2, 4:20 pm PT- Mission Beach C, 3rd Floor, Between Harbor and Seaport Towers
Presenter: Jeff Witt, Fidelity Investments
We present practical design and implementation guidelines toward universal usability for charts, including palette design, keyboard interaction, and markup. Related usability research is discussed.
Friday, March 3, 9:00 am PT- Seaport Ballroom A-SSB Bart, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Chris Lane and Nat Tarnoff of SSB BART Group
Review the architecture of Angular 2 applications, and explore the use of Components, basic unit testing with Karma, and end-to-end testing with Protractor.
Friday, March 3, 10:00 am PT – La Jolla A, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Julie Grisham, Sandy Watson, Levon Spradlin, Anthony Fernando and Corey Fauble of Pearson
An open discussion on the evolution of accessibility needs for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and how needs change when moving from K-12 to postsecondary education.
Friday, March 3, 10:00 am PT- Seaport Ballroom A-SSB Bart, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Mark Barlet, AbleGamers Foundation and Jessie Hall, SSB BART Group
From AAA titles to indie studio releases, look at game companies doing accessibility right. Delve into best practices, relevant legislation, and trends in the industry.
Friday, March 3, 10:00 am PT – Seaport Ballroom H-Microsoft, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Saqib Shaika and Anirudh Koul, Microsoft
When we think about sound, we generally assume it needs to be heard. How can we make the auditory world more inclusive for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing? Drop by our talk to find out how AI and visualizations can help convey the meaning of sounds.
Friday, March 3, 11:00 am PST – Ocean Beach, 3rd Floor, Between Harbor and Seaport Towers
Presenter: Larwan Berke
To compare methods of displaying speech-recognition confidence of automatic captions, we analyzed eye-tracking and response data from deaf or hard of hearing participants viewing videos.
Friday, March 3, 2:20 pm PT – Seaport Ballroom A-SSB Bart, 2nd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenter: Alistair Garrison, SSB BART Group
ML/NLP is all over the news. Let’s look at how we can use it to make accessibility testing faster and easier for QA teams.
Friday, March 3, 3:20 pm PT – Hillcrest CD, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Presenters: Jason Carroll and Martin McKay, Texthelp
This session will focus on and demonstrate various examples of cloud-based technologies that can support a wide range of learners in reading, writing and math.
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