Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

Motivational Speaker

The iPad: My Ticket to SXSW!

Filed under: Blog Accessibility,Traveling with a Disability,Work — by at 4:16 pm on Monday, November 8, 2010

SXSW: South by SouthWest Music & Film, Interactive

Thank you to everyone who supported my proposal to South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference!

Breaking News…

I am off to Austin, Texas, in March 2011! Yes!

This morning the second round of 2000 SXSW sessions was announced. My presentation title The untapped iPad Market: Is Your Site POUR? is on the list!

Presentation Description

For the masses, the iPad is the latest, hottest, must-have toy. But, for people with disabilities the iPad is life changing: enabling communication, unlocking minds and fostering independence. However in purchasing these devices lays the challenge: oftentimes websites with product information are inaccessible to this market, which has a discretionary spending power of $175 billion in the United States alone.

The session’s goals are to identify some barriers people with disabilities regularly face, making it difficult to participate fully online; explain the four guiding principles of what makes blogs and websites accessible; and offer key questions to begin asking and what resources exist to make sites more accessible to this under tapped market. By giving short vignettes of how people with disabilities are using iPads, faces are put to the size of this disability market – and putting faces to the need for web accessibility. This brings alive the technical requirements and guiding principles of web accessibility.

Questions Answered
  1. How is the iPad life-changing for many people with disabilities?
  2. What is the size of the disability market and its spending power?
  3. What are the barriers people with disabilities face online?
  4. What are the four guiding principles to creating accessible websites and blogs?
  5. Where do I start in making my website or blog accessible?

Now the work begins…

Thanks again everyone for your support! I am truly blessed.

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a chai tea latte. Thanks kindly.

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5 Comments »

Comment by mamikaze

November 8, 2010 @ 4:33 pm

awesome! next we need to get the iPad and android tablets on the supply lists of DME companies so insurance will pay. My 2 girls each have speech/language and fine motor dysfunctions, they would benefit greatly from the apps available but we cannot cover the expense due to their other medical bills.

Comment by Suzie Cheel

November 8, 2010 @ 8:39 pm

Congrats Glenda,
I am so proud of you and you inspire me to aim higher

love and hugs

Suzie

Comment by Adelaide Dupont

November 9, 2010 @ 2:08 am

In regard to question 5:

You start with POUR, of course!

SXSW is … well, rock star zone. (It started as a music and art conference back in the 1990s, especially with alt-culture in mind).

In regard to question 1:

It helps you order your drinks at pubs and clubs.

(What social adventures will you have at this conference, I do wonder?)

Comment by Paul Merrill

November 10, 2010 @ 10:46 am

Yay Glenda!!

I think it’s great that you will be able to boost the need for accessibility to the SXSW audience.

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