- From: Mike Paciello <paciello@ma.ultranet.com>
- Date: Fri, 06 Jun 1997 11:57:04 -0400
- To: ACT@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU, EASI@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU, basr-l@trace.wisc.edu, GUISPEAK@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU, LISTSERV@ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU, dev-access@world.std.com
- Cc: Ed Bettinardi <edbett@magnicam.com>, deane@blazie.com, rslager@harcmercantile.com, Phill_Jenkins@aussmtp.austin.ibm.com, jsteger@vnet.ibm.com, paciello@yuri.org, po@trace.wisc.edu, love26@gorge.net, kahlisch@iis350.inf.tu-dresden.de, Chris.Lilley@sophia.inria.fr, Phill_Jenkins@aussmtp.austin.ibm.com, ehersh@mu2.millersv.edu, ollesch@muenster.de, Larry_Goldberg@wgbh.org, earlj@pacific.Eng.Sun.com, chuckop@microsoft.com, raman@adobe.com, mail@beneficialdesigns.com, murray@sq.com, tyler@trace.wisc.edu, dd@w3.org, mbosold@cyberhighway.net, mundocer@coqui.net, cemayo@tenet.edu, gstrong@nsf.gov, web-access@w3.org, capozzi@access-board.gov, achoi@fcc.gov, don_barrett@ed.gov, Tom Kalil <kalil_t@a1.eop.gov>, Howard_Moses@ed.gov, lscadden@nsf.gov, Kate_Seelman@ed.gov, gstrong@nsf.gov, paciello@yuri.org
Dear Friends and Colleagues: This past week I was invited as a guest of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) to attend their industry conference, SuperCOMM '97. Needless to say, there were hundreds of vendors displaying technology that will certainly have a dramatic effect on how people with disabilities communicate in the next 2-5 years and beyond. You can be sure that almost everything is moving toward voice I/O interfaces and multimedia environments on high speed networks. The good news is that the folks at TIA are concerned about the disabilities community. In fact, you can imagine my surprise when I looked at their conference configuration for next year and saw a huge area labeled, "Accessibility Pavilion"! Additionally, TIA President Matt Flannigan specifically sited the Accessibility Pavilion as a feature in next years conference, as well as a full day of preconference workshops, panel sessions, and seminars. All of this is their response to the TelComm Act and Section 255. Later that day I had an opportunity to meet with Mr. Flannigan and several TIA staff to discuss the Pavilion and conference. They are extremely upbeat and feel that this is a very necessary project in order to put the Telcomm Industry on notice regarding accessibility issues. I will be working with TIA to organize the conference and Pavilion. The 1998 SuperCOMM conference will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. As a first step, please use this as a notification of two requests: 1. If you are in the Atlanta area OR if you can financially afford to attend next years SuperCOMM conference and would like to take part in the conference seminars, workshops, or panel sessions, please contact me. Please note that I am specifically looking for individuals who are familiar with the telecommunications industry, products, the Telcomm Act and it's provisions. 2. If you are a vendor (or if you know of a vendor) who would be interested in participating in the conference, please contact me. There is limited space for up to 25 vendors. This is an industry association conference. Your "customers" and vistors will be other industry representatives. (For those of you familiar with the Consumer Electronics Show, this conference is similar in structure). Please also note that this is an international conference and, as a result, international corporations are also welcome to participate. Please feel free to pass this message on to other lists. Regards and thanks, Mike Paciello ------------------------- Michael G. Paciello Executive Director, E-Mail: mailto:paciello@yuri.org Yuri Rubinsky Insight Foundation Tel: +1 603 598 9544 URL: http://www.yuri.org/ FAX: +1 603 598 2839 Building Better Access Technologies! Please Make a Tax-Deductible Donation: http://www.yuri.org/donate.html
Received on Friday, 6 June 1997 12:00:17 UTC