media: AbleTV's 'AbleGag' webcast on 6/28 . . .

My apologies for posting this on such short notice, but heres hoping that 
many of you will still have the opportunity to join in and participate in 
the webcast.  Please remember that you need to have either the Real G2 
version 8 "basic" or "plus" player installed on your computer in order to 
view the webcast.  as always, I would greatly appreciate it if this 
information could be forwarded on to other list serves where it has not 
been view yet.  Thanks and I look forward to as many of you as possible to 
join in and participate in the event.

Jeffrey Pledger
President, AbleTV, Inc.


tvwoRLDWIDE.COM 
PRESS RELEASE
        TVWorldwide.com's AbleTV to Webcast "Able Gang" Discussion Program 
for Community of those with Disabilities
Interactive Event to Address Government Compliance with Section 508, Casey 
Martin Controversy and New PAC for Disabled, Enable America, Thursday, June 
28, 2:30 PM EDT at www.AbleTV.net.
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, June 26, 2001
Contact:        info@tvworldwide.com
TV Worldwide.com, Inc.
www.tvworldwide.com
(703) 961-9250

Jeff Pledger
able@abletv.net
www.abletv.net
(301) 890-5944
Chantilly, Va.  In the first program of its kind ever, TVWorldwide.com will 
premiere a live webcast on its AbleTV.net web-based TV channel for people 
with disabilities, where panelists with disabilities and others who work 
with the community again discuss major disability issues affecting 54 
million people with disabilities. "The Able Gang" will focus on the new 
Section 508 requirements of Rehabilitation Act of 1998 as amended, the 
controversy surrounding disabled golfing professional Casey Martin and the 
potential impact of a new political action committee for the community of 
those with disabilities, Enable America, set to launch shortly.
         The panel will also discuss the recent New Freedom Initiative 
program launched by President Bush in February and his recent announcement 
concerning efforts surrounding this initiative to assist those with 
disabilities.  The program was to involve putting additional money into 
assistive technology development, the purchase of assistive technology 
equipment, providing more money for special education for disabled children 
and incentives for housing and better treatment for people with mental 
health problems.
            The Section 508 issue has become particularly hot, in light of 
the recent June 25 compliance deadline for government agencies to make 
their websites accessible. Some are looking at the Section 508 as a 
potential "Y2K" for government CIO's trying to meet a myriad of 
requirements in making their agency web sites accessible.
  "Disability issues are national issues.  The lack of access to jobs, 
education, transportation, public buildings, dwellings, recreational 
facilities, Internet and assistive technology are a tremendous economic 
drain on the country. More devastating to the country is the loss of the 
abilities of millions of unemployed people with disabilities," says John 
Williams one of the journalists on the panel. Williams writes Assistive 
Technology, a weekly column appearing Wednesdays on Business Week.Com under 
Daily Briefing. His award-winning column is credited with raising 
disability issues to a national awareness in the media and among 
politicians, government policy makers, employers, consumers and educators.
                 "We have a great opportunity to offer employers and 
disabled participants an accessible worldwide forum to discuss critical 
issues challenging the country," which has adverse implications for the 
Americans with Disabilities Act, "said Jeff Pledger, President of 
AbleTV.net. Pledger, who is blind, and one of the panelists.
                    "This show works to inform and build consensus among 
people with disabilities to take action, and that's why we continue to 
produce similar programs in an ongoing web series that will take on these 
issues from a journalistic perspective," commented Dave Gardy, CEO of 
TVWorldwide.com who will again be the moderator.
"We are pleased to provide captioned streaming for this live event, just 
like we've done for all our live and archived events, " remarked Pledger. " 
The disability community is always excited about the voice they have in 
this program."
      " We have picked experienced, knowledgeable and respected individuals 
in this field to discuss issues of national importance," said Gardy.
The live event, "The Able Gang" is slated for 2:30 PM EDT, Thursday June 
28, from the Internet TV studios of TVWorldwide.com.
                        The webcast will feature AbleTV.net's captioned 
video streaming or "webcapting" process to aid those with disabilities in 
participating via chat, e-mail and phone.
                        The program will be archived with the captioning 
for later viewing after the webcast at the same event site link. 
Participants should have the free Real Player installed prior to the event 
on the 28th. Questions can be directed to info@tvworldwide.com before and 
during the event or viewers can call 703-961-9250, ext. 223.

About TVWorldwide.com and AbleTV.net
A full-service video streaming application service provider, 
TVWorldwide.com is currently working with a clients and strategic partners 
on the latest in live and archived state-of-the-art video streaming content 
applications.
             The TVWorldwide.com network is an affiliation of 
community-based Internet TV channels, each underwritten by a strategic 
partner, "aimcasting" to targeted b2b and professional special interest 
audiences worldwide. TVWorldwide.com has worked with one of its first 
aimcast channels, AbleTV.net, to pioneer live and archived video streaming 
with closed captioning and audio description to aid in web site 
accessibility for the disabled. With this advance, AbleTV.net received its 
charter sponsorship from Microsoft Corporation.

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Received on Thursday, 28 June 2001 05:34:54 UTC