Hello everyone, I am in the process of compiling a proposal to my university. This proposal will be directed at the computer science department of my university. The information is below. When referring to computers and software, accessibility is a very important topic. If a web site, software program, or a device is not usable by someone that has a disability, this may make the person's experience very bad, and even jeopardize their ability to work, and in some cases make them loose their job entirely. I am building an academic guide line and course requirement request for my university. I am finishing my Bachelor of Science in computer science at my school, and will be entering their Master of Science program in the same field of study next year. I am hoping to get this requirement accepted by my school, and even teach it while I am a graduate student. I will propose to the Computer Science Department that I would like to see a course developed that instructs students in the different facets of Accessibility in terms of software design and development. The criteria that I have come up with are as follows: Web accessibility Interface design and development Documentation availability Accessibility considerations when updating software (I.E. breaking something that worked in previous versions to make something else work in a new version) This is only a rough outline, and I hope to get more criteria to consider for my proposal. Please give me any input, criticism, ideas, opinions, what ever you feel about this. Examples of bad and good accessibility implementations, problems people encounter when making something accessible, and what ever else. I feel that students do not understand the importance of accessibility, and that they should be aware, from the beginning of their education about accessibility. For those that are not blind or visually impaired please give me input, I do not know much about other accessibility needs then those of the blind and visually impaired. Please right me off list if you want at: juanh at cox.neIf you would like to discuss more about this, we can skype or talk on the phone. Please let me know what you all thing, remember no needs/wants are stupid, everything will be considered, and will be compiled into a proposal to my university. If I am successful with this, I would like to approach other universities about this. Thank You. Juan Hernandez San Diego State University E-mail: juanh at cox.net
