Unless you’ve been on a deserted island or maybe in a very long meeting this morning (and the past week), you know that some very lucky 500+ higher ed web professionals are having a blast in Austin at the High Ed Web Conference (hey, you might even be one of them :).
This year the conference fairy didn’t let me go (even though I had a blast last year in Cincinnati, OH). Instead she sent my wallet which is definitely having fun in Austin as my professional development company, Higher Ed Experts, is sponsoring this year again the opening keynote of the conference, a keynote about Web Accessibility, this time, presented by Shawn Henry, WAI Outreach Coordinator at the W3C.
We decided to do another video (as we did last year for the keynote by Steve Krug), because video is a pretty good medium when you cannot be there ;-)
This year, however, this isn’t a Todd Sanders production. His LA-based agent didn’t even return my calls. I guess this is normal now that Todd is a big shot driving a Mercedes Benz (to be fair, Todd told me he was already “crazy busy” – the code word for “no way, Jose”, right? ;0).
Fortunately, my friend Mike Richwalsky came to the rescue and we managed to produce this year video within a crazy timeline (think 2 weeks and very very part time).
My goal with the video was to put the heweb11 attendees (and you as well) in a couple of disabling situations and thus make them experience disability on the Web so they can become web a11y (short for accessibility) champions on their campus, the only web accessibility button in higher education.
Here’s the video – it includes closed captions as well as a complete transcript with video descriptions to make it as accessible as possible (we’re trying to walk the walk not just talk the talk).
Full transcript of the video “Meet the Only Web Accessibility Button at #heweb11”
[video description: The Higher Ed Experts blue and orange logo is displayed on the opening white screen as music plays in the background. Next, Karine Joly from Higher Ed Experts starts to sign a message without saying a word or moving her lips. There is no sound or captions provided at the exception of her name, company name and “American Sign Language nOOb” displayed for a moment in the bottom portion of the screen usually reserved for closed captioning. Once she is done signing the video paused]
Male voice over: Didn’t get what she said? Bummer… Alright, let’s try again
[video: the video is played again from the start of Karine’s message in American Sign Language but this time with closed captioning being typed as she signs words. The captions read: “In higher education, web accessibility is not optional. It’s required by the law.” A big red X in a white squared frame, a representation of the symbol usually displayed on screens when images are blocked or broken in web browsers, appears on a black background]
Male voice over: And, this guy… Oh, looks like the images are blocked. Let’s fix this really quick
[video: as a typing sound can be heard, the following line of HTML code is typed on the screen under the white frame with the red X: <img src="dan.jpg" alt="Daniel Goldstein"/>. The photo of Dan Goldstein then replaces the white frame.]
Male voice over: Dan Goldstein, the lead counsel for the National Federation of the Blind is on a mission to remind it to us – in court if necessary.
[video: a photo of a few dices on a black background appear and the focus zooms in on one of them at the forefront]
Male voice over: Still want to roll the legal dice when it comes to web accessibility?
[video: the word Accessibility is slowly typed in white on a black background]
Male voice over: Web Accessibility is about making your website accessible to people with disabilities and easy to use for everybody else
[video: the colorful logo of Google is displayed on a black background.]
Male voice over: Including Google who might be your most disabled user
[video: the Higher Ed Experts logo is displayed on a white background and after a couple of seconds, a red and grey plastic button with “easy” written with a white font on the red button top (the Easy button popularized by Staples marketing campaigns) appears underneath.]
Male voice over: At Higher Ed Experts, we believe that the right knowledge in the right hands is the only easy button
[video: the focus now zooms in an image of a similar button this time reading: “web a11y” with “higheredexperts.com” underneath.]
Male voice over: So, let’s put your buttons on and get ready to give a warm welcome
[video: a portrait of Shawn Henry is displayed on screen]
Male voice over: to your high ed web keynote speaker, Shawn Henry, Web Accessibility Initiative Outreach Coordinator for the W3C
[video: As the music resumes, the Higher Ed Experts logo appears on a white background with the following tag line in black: Online courses, classes and more on… anything you need to learn.
After a few seconds, the tag line is replaced by the following credits and thanks:
Mike Richwalsky: Video Production & Voice Over
David Simmons: American Sign Language Tutor for Karine Joly
Thanks to the NFB, Daniel Goldstein and Shawn Henry for letting us use their names and photos to make our point.]
[End of Document]
