Schedule of Meetings and Events
for VICUG NYC
- PAGE CONTENTS (skip contents)
- 1) VICUG NYC's Next General Membership Meeting
- 2) About VICUG NYC's General Membership Meetings
- 3) Upcoming Special
Interest Group (SIG)
Meetings
- 4) Wait a Minute! Brief Accounts
of Past Meetings
- 5) Educational Materials from
Past Meetings
Due to construction at our current meeting venue, VICUG NYC has indefinitely suspended all upcoming
General Membership Meetings, which are traditionally
held on the second WEDNESDAY of every month (except
Augutst), from 6 to 7:30 PM.
Since 1996, VICUG NYC has conducted presentations and demonstrations
of technologies and strategies used by blind and low vision computer users,
providing informative -- and often ear-opening -- information to the blind
and low vision population of the greater New York City metropolitan area.
VICUG NYC has also served as a vibrant peer-support network
which enables blind and VI individuals to
discuss, trouble-shoot and resolve computer and assistive technology-related issues,
as well as a forum for introducing members and other interested parties to the
latest blindness- and low-vision related technologies. To continue this
important exchange of information, please be sure to participate in VIC-NYC, the emailing list of VICUG NYC -- we may not be able to assemble in person, but the
emailing list is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Read it; contribute to
it; respond to it. Use it as a virtual meeting space, and help keep VICUG NYC a vibrant and reliable resource for us all.
Beginning in the Spring of 2004, General Membership Meetings
have been held in room 602 of the Manhattan offices of Lighthouse
International, which are located at 111 East 59th Street, on the north
side of the street, between Lexington and Park Avenues. The closest subway
station is that located at 59th Street and
Lexington Avenue. To obtain specific and/or detailed directions to the
Lighthouse and/or information about the closest bus stops,
please contact Lighthouse International directly at:
1 212 821 9235 (or 1 800 829 0500 outside of the 212 area code).
At the conclusion of every presentation or technology demonstration or discussion,
any remaining time at General Membership Meetings is devoted to
an "open floor", which is YOUR opportunity to ask
(and answer) any question about computers, with a special focus on the night's
topic, as well as your opportunity to suggest future
topics of interest and/or to volunteer to demonstrate them to the General Membership.
Membership dues for 2005 are collected by VICUG
NYC's Treasurer at General Membership Meetings.
Dues are a mere twelve dollars, and endow you with the right to hold office,
the right to vote, and a clear conscience.
If you plan on paying in cash, please bring exact change! Thanks to all
who paid dues in the last quarter of 2004, and at the three meetings held
in 2005.
Mark your calendars:
VICUG NYC's next General Membership Meeting
is tentatively scheduled for
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER FOURTEENTH, 2005.
Please also note that, as of June 2004, VICUG
NYC meets at the Manhattan offices of Lighthouse
International, which are located at 111 East 59th Street, on the north side of the
street, between Lexington and Park Avenues. To obtain specific and/or detailed
directions and/or information about the closest subway and bus stops, please
contact Lighthouse International directly at: 1 212 821 9235
(or 1 800 829 0500 outside of the 212 area code).
Remember to check this space regularly for updates, or call the VICUG NYC HotLine, 1 212 502 7664,
to keep abreast of the latest developments.
If you have a suggestion for a
future presentation, please let us know! And, don't forget
to make a note of VICUG NYC's upcoming meeting dates.
About VICUG NYC's General Membership Meetings
VICUG NYC meets on the second
Wednesday of every month (except August) in the Manhattan offices of
Lighthouse International, from 6 to 7:30
PM.
Lighthouse International's Manhattan offices are located at
111 East 59th Street,
between Lexington and Park Avenues, on the north side of
East 59th Street. To obtain
specific and/or detailed directions and/or information about the closest
subway and bus stops, please contact Lighthouse International
directly at: 1 212 821 9235 (or 1 800 829 0500 outside of the 212 area code).
For more information about
VICUG NYC and its activities, please bookmark this
page, or call the VICUG NYC Hotline, A.K.A. Vita Zavoli's work phone number: 1
212 502 7664. To automatically receive general
meeting notices, minutes and recaps, agendas, and items of local
interest/concern via email, join VIC-NYC,
the emailing list of the Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group of
New York City. To subscribe to VIC-NYC, type the command:
SUBSCRIBE VIC-NYC
in the BODY of an emessage, and send it to:
<majordomo@columbia.edu>
- Upcoming Meeting Dates for 2005
- NO MEETING in August
- September Fourteenth
- October Twelfth
- November Ninth
- December Fourteenth: Eighth Annual Holiday Party
Don't forget to check out the minutes from past
meetings, as well as background resources and materials
from past meetings, where you'll find quite a diverse collection of
links and resources.
And, speaking of resources, if you have a suggestion for a future presentation, and/or would
like to perform a demonstration at a General Membership Meeting, please let us
know!
Upcoming Special Interest Group Meetings
- Alphabetic List of Active SIGs
- 1) Blazie (Braille 'n Speak) SIG
- 2) MIDI SIG
Blazie SIG News
The Blazie SIG meets from 10am to 1pm on the second Saturday of every
odd numbered month, except for July.
The main focus of the Blazie SIG are Blazie
Engineering's two most popular products, the Braille 'n Speak
and the
Braille Lite. The SIG
features demonstrations of basic BNS
usage, advanced features of the BNS
line of products, and discussions and demonstrations of how to use Blazie Products at work,
at school, and at home.
The Blazie SIG
meetings convene in Iris Torres' office, which is located on
the fifth floor of the Vision Resource Center. The Vision Resource
Center is located at 76 Madison Avenue. The cross-street is Twenty-Eighth Street. If
you plan on attending the next Blazie SIG meeting, please call Iris Torres at (212) 251-0531, so that
she can leave your name with the doorman. You can also call (212) 251-0531 for
directions and a list of nearby bus and subway stops. For more information about the
Blazie SIG, please
contact
the Blazie SIG Leaders--Iris Torres & Bob White--at the following eddresses:
Iris Torres <Iris_Torres@fc1.nycenet.edu>
and/or Bob White <73002.1216@compuserve.com>
MIDI SIG News
The MIDI SIG
meets on the third Monday of every month, in the studio of
SIG leader Mike
Mandel. Mike's studio is located at 400 West Forty-Third Street, Apartment
20L. The building, the Manhattan Plaza, is located on the southwest corner of
Forty-Third Street and Ninth Avenue. MIDI SIG meetings start at 6:30 pm, and last until (at least)
8:30pm.
Call Mike Mandel at (212) 868-0345, for directions and a list
of nearby bus and subway stops. For more information about
the MIDI SIG,
please contact Mike Mandel at
<mmandel@flashcom.net>
If you would like to learn more about Special Interest Group
meetings, activities, and events by telephone, please call the VICUG NYC
Hotline, A.K.A. Vita
Zavoli's work phone number: 1 212 502 7664.
Wait a Minute!
Index of the Minutes of Past Meetings
- September 16, 1996 Steering Committee Meeting
- October 29, 1996 Steering Committee Meeting
- January 13, 1997 General Membership Meeting
- March 4, 1997 Steering Committee Meeting
- March 25, 1997 Steering Committee Meeting
- April 14, 1997 General Membership Meeting
- June 4, 1997 Steering Committee Meeting
- June 9, 1997 General Membership Meeting
- July 14, 1997 General Membership Meeting
- September 6, 1997 BNS SIG Meeting
- September 8, 1997 General Membership Meeting
- September 23, 1997 Executive Committee Meeting
- October 20, 1997 General Membership Meeting
- December 3, 1997 Executive Committee Meeting
- February 4, 1998 Executive Committee Meeting
- April 4, 1998 Executive Committee Meeting
If you would like to learn more about upcoming VICUG
NYC meetings, activities, and events by telephone,
please call the VICUG
NYC Hotline, A.K.A.
Vita Zavoli's work phone number: 1 212 502
7664.
Indexed in Reverse Chronological Order
- 2004
- 2002
- 2001
- 2000
- 1999
- 1998
The Essential Internet--Why Bother?
presenter: Janina Sajka, AFB
date: January 13, 1997
- History
of the Internet
- TheDirectory: a comprehensive
list of ISPs
- The List: another listing of ISPs
- Lynx
- Blynx: Support and
Documentation for Blind/VI Lynx Users
- Internet Explorer 5.0
- Netscape Navigator & Communicator
- pwWebSpeak
- A Beginner's
Guide to URLs
Why Should I Bother Learning HTML?
presenter: Gregory J. Rosmaita
date: March 10, 1997
- Basic HTML and WWW
Resources
- PC-Based Versions of
Popular Online Editors
- The W3C's HTML
Standards
- Accessibility
Features of HTML4
- HTML 3.2
Specification
- HTML 2.0 Specification
- The W3C's Web Content
Accessibility/Page Authoring Guidelines
- W3C HTML Validation
Service
- W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
- Accessible HTML Guidelines (Trace Center)
- Dave Raggett's 10 Minute Guide to
HTML
- Designing Accessible Web Pages
- Accessibility in Theory and Practice
- Applying the ADA to the
Internet: A Web Accessibility Standard, by Cynthia D. Waddell, JD (ADA
Coordinator, City of San Jose, USA)
- Getting a Grip on
HTML (version 3.0, 1997)
- The Bare Bones Guide to
HTML (plain ASCII file)
- NCSA's Beginner's Guide to HTML
- Reformatted Doctor HTML Validation Form
- The World Wide Web Consortium's Validator
- The Web Design Group's
Accessibility Pages
- Leveling the Road
Ahead: a white paper by Judith M. Dixon
- Creating Web Pages
Accessible to Visually Impaired People
The Visually Impaired Student
presenter: Pratik Patel
date: July 14, 1997
- Blazie Engineering
- VICUG NYC's Special Interest Groups
- contact Project HELP via email
Windows Concepts: Understanding the GUI Environment
special guest: Sarah Morley
date: October 20, 1997
- WinGuide: Windows Concepts, Training,
and Tutorials
- Windows 95 Explained: A Guide for Blind and Partially Sighted Users
- Window Concepts: An Introductory Guide for Visually Disabled Users (for
Windows 3.x)
- The Empowerment Zone's excellent
collection of information about
Windows
- The DAISY Digital Talking Book System
- General Information
About the DAISY Digital Talking Book
- Frequently Asked Questions
About DAISY
- The DAISY Consortium
- DAISY Consortium
Members
- Joining the DAISY
Consortium
- The Organization
of the DAISY Consortium
- The Latest DAISY
News
- DAISY Consortium
Projects
- DAISY Product
Development
Strategies for Using (and Actually Enjoying) RealAudio
presenter: Gregory J. Rosmaita
date: January 13, 1998
- Download RealPlayer Using a
Speech-Friendly Form
Current Initiatives of the National Technology Access Program
special guest: Paul Schroeder, director NTAP
date: February 10, 1998
- full text of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (S.652)
- Detailed
Legislative Status
- Summary
- Telecommunications
Act Accessibility Guidelines
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- text-only version of the FCC
home page
- Listen to FCC Chair Kennard's
Address to the '98 JLTLI Conference (requires RealAudio)
- text of Chairman
Kennard's Address
- The W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative
- The InterNet Aural Accessibility Protocol,
submitted to Microsoft by VICUG NYC
- AFB Appeals to Bill Gates to Make a
Firm Commitment to Accessibility
- Microsoft's Accessibility and
Disabilities Web Site
- Bill Gates' NYT Op/Ed Piece on Accessibility
- An Introduction to
Microsoft Active Accessibility
- Accessibility Products
for Windows and NT
- "Simple Steps Toward Accessibility in Home Essentials 98"
- Department of Education's
Software Accessibility Requirements
Screen Magnification Programs for Windows 95
guest speaker: Hervee Blumers, De Witt & Associates
April 14, 1998
- Review of ZoomText Xtra
by J.C. Su and Mark Uslan (AFB)
- AI Squared
- ZoomText Xtra
- ZoomText for DOS
- VisAbility
- Trial Registration for
AI Squared products
- Henter-Joyce
- MAGic (Magnification
in Color) Information
- free 40-minute MAGic demo
- MAGic Timed Evaluation Information
- MAGic Software Maintenance Agreement
- Peter Verhoeven's Screen Magnifiers Pages
What You Can Do to Affect the
FCC's Proposed
Recommendations
presenter: Janina Sajka, Vice-President VICUG
NYC
May 12, 1998
- Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) (text-only version)
- FCC Disabilities Issues Task
Force
- DITF Telecommunication Act
Information
- full text of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (S.652)
- Detail Legislative Status
- Summary
- the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Section 255 is available from the
FCC's web site in the following formats:
- hypertext
- plain ASCII
- WordPerfect 5.1
- Telecommunications
Act Accessibility Guidelines
- Ann Morris Enterprises
OpenBook and Atlas Speaks
guest speaker: Teresa Sacko, Arkenstone
date: July 14, 1998
- Arkenstone
- ArkeNews: What's New at
Arkenstone
- Open Book
- VERA
- AtlasSpeaks
- Arkenstone's Catalog
DOS-Based Telecommincating on a Windows PC
presenter: Gregory J. Rosmaita
date: February 9, 1999
- download the Blynx32 zipfile
- download Blynx386
- download RealPlayer 5.0 using a speech-friendly form
- download WinZip 7.0 for Windows 95/98/NT
- PKZip 2.5 (command line interface with long filename support)
- PKZip 2.6 (GUI interface)
Survey of Windows Screen-Reader Users:
Recent Improvements in Accessibility
presenters: Crista Earl & Jay Leventhal, AFB Technology Center
date: March 9, 1999
- Survey of Windows Screen Reader Users:
Recent Improvements in Accessibility
- Access to Databases: What Database
Programs Can Windows Users with Visual Impairments Use?
Navigating the Windows Environment With a Screen-Reader:
An Analysis of Usability
presenter: Kitch Barnicle, doctoral candidate, Columbia University
date: April 13, 1999
- Jakob Nielsen's UseIt!
- About Jakob Nielsen
- Kitch Barnicle's Home Page
The Internet: The Business Perspective
presenter: Larry Chase, publisher "Web Digest for Marketers"
date: May 11, 1999
- the current issue of Web
Digest for Marketers
- WDFM Archives
- Larry Chase's bio
Creating Accessible Kiosks
presenters: Steve Mendelssohn & Karen Gourgey
date: June 8, 1999
- Baruch College's Computer Center for Visually
Impaired People
- Baruch's
Talking Directory Display System (TDDS) page
- Trace Center's
Accessible Touchscreen Kiosk Prototype
- Trace Center's
Accessible Touchscreen Kiosk With Keyboard
- Talking
Fingertip: Inexpensive Aural to the Touchscreen Kiosk
- information about the KIOSK-L
emailing list
Creating Accessible & Entertaining Games for the Blind
presenters: Steven Landau & Crista Earl
date: July 22, 1999
- TouchGraphics
- Baruch's
Talking Directory Display System (TDDS) page
- How to Obtain FREE Raised
Line Maps of the NYC Subway System
- CrissCross Technologies
HomePage Reader: IBM's Self-Voicing Web Browser
presenters: Crista Earl & Jay Levanthal
date: September 14, 1999
- Introducing HomePage Reader: A Self-Voicing Web Browser
- White Paper on HomePage Reader (Closing the Gap '98)
- Download a thirty-day trial version of HomePage Reader
- IBM-HPR: a peer support emailing list
- National
Technology Program Product Evaluations
- AccessWorld: A Magazine About Technology for Consumers with Visual
Impairments
Ensuring Audio Access in the Information Age: A Demonstration of Products from The Productivity Works
presenter: Ray Ingram, The Productivity Works
date: October 12, 1999
- products from
Productivity Works
- PWWebSpeak: a self-voicing web
browser
- PWTelephone: a telephone-based
web browser
- LPStudioPlus:
synchronized multimedia recording & editing software
- LPPlayer (supports
SMIL & Open eBook formats)
- PWColors: look up hexidecimal
values for colors (free)
-
SMIL: The Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language
- Accessibility Features of SMIL
- Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) Specification
- SMIL Boston Specification
- SYMM: The W3C's Synchronized
Multimedia User Interface Domain
- The Open eBook
Initiative
- What are Open
eBooks?
- The Open eBook
Specification
- Open eBook
Samples
- Frequently Asked Questions
about Open eBooks
- Open eBook Initiative
Members
- The DAISY Digital Talking Book System
- General Information
About the DAISY Digital Talking Book
- Frequently Asked Questions
About DAISY
- The DAISY Consortium
- DAISY Consortium
Members
- Joining the DAISY
Consortium
- The Organization
of the DAISY Consortium
- The Latest DAISY
News
- DAISY Product
Development
- DAISY Consortium
Projects
- NISO: The National Information Standards Organization
The Present and Future of Window-Eyes
presenters: Clarence Whaley, GW-Micro
date: November 9, 1999
- Since the GW-Micro web site
is not only "optimized" for javascript & frames-capable
browsers, and lacks a valid NOFRAMES equivalent, direct links to particular pieces of information are
provided below; if you are adept at, or prefer to use frames, by all means do,
but if you follow the links provided below, you may have to use your browser's
back button to return to this page in order to traverse GW Micro's site
- GW-Micro Product Catalog
- GW Micro Technical Support
- Window-Eyes
Information
- Set Files
for Window-Eyes
- Vocal-Eyes
(for DOS)
- Set Files for
Vocal-Eyes
- Technical
Support for GW-Micro Products
- Latest News About
GW-Micro
- GW Micro's FTP archive
(URL ftp://ftp.gwmicro.com)
- the latest edition of The Voice of Vision, GW-Micro's quarterly newsletter
- back
issues of The Voice of Vision
Creating a Directory of Accessible Book Sources / The W3C's Authoring Tool
Accessibility Guidelines / The Future of VICUG NYC / Open Floor
presenters: Audrey Schading, Gregory J. Rosmaita, and YOU
date: February 9, 2000
- An Overview of the Authoring Tool Guidelines
- Authoring
Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG)
- Conformance Evaluations of Authoring Tools
- ATAG Checklist (Linear Format)
- ATAG Checklist (Table Format)
- Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility
- ATAG Press
Release (3 February 2000)
- ATAG Fact Sheet
- Testimonials In Support of ATAG
- User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) --
CR Draft
- Techniques for User
Agent Accessibility
- UAAG Impact Matrix
- UAAG Implementation Report
- User Agent Responsibilities
The Career & Technology Information Bank (CTIB)
presenter: Jay Leventhal
date: June 13, 2000
- Information About the CTIB
- Request more information or an interview
Web Accessibility, In Theory & Practice
presenter: Crista Earl
date: July 11, 2000
Dancing Dots: Software for the Blind Musician
presenter: Bill McCann (president, Dancing Dots, Inc.)
date: October 10, 2000
JAWS for Windows & MAGic Demonstrations
presenter: Bill Killroy (Freedom Scientific)
date: January 9, 2001
- JAWS for Windows Product Information
- JAWS for Windows Demonstration Options
- JAWS for Windows Pricing Information
- MAGic Screen Magnification Program Product Information
- Download a FREE Demonstration Copy of MAGic
- MAGic Pricing Information
- Henter-Joyce
- Freedom Scientific (Henter-Joyce's parent company)
Current TouchGraphics Projects
presenter: Steve Landau (TouchGraphics)
date: February 13, 2001
- Touch Graphics
eSight Careers Network / Talking Typer &
Other New Products from APH
presenters: Fernando Botelho (The Associated Blind) & Audrey Schading
(Jewish Guild for the Blind)
date: March 13, 2001
- eSight Careers Network: An Online Resource for the Blind/VI
- What is the eSight Careers Network?
- Become a Member of the eSight Careers Network
- The Associated Blind
- American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
- APH's Product Catalog
- Talking Typer Product Description
- Download a Demo Copy of Talking Typer
Section 508
presenter: Steve Mendelssohn, Esq.
date: July 10, 2001
- Section508.gov:
The Federal Information Technology Accessibility Initiative (FITAI)
- Questions & Answers about Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
Ammendments of 1998
- Section 508 & Other Laws Relating to Access to Information &
Accessible Technology
- Search Section508.gov
- Freedom Initiative: Fulfilling America's Promise to Americans with
Disabilities
- Freedom Initiative text only version
- Usability.gov
Digital Talking Books
presenters: Luis Gutierez & Jay Leventhal
date: November 13, 2001
- The DAISY Consortium
- NLS' Digital Talking Book Information page
Freedom Box: A New Internet Access Product
presenter: Mike Calvo
date: January 8, 2002
- Freedom Box Home Page
- Freedom Box Product Information
- Frequently Asked Questions About
Freedom Box
- Services Offered Through the
Freedom Box Network
New Features in JAWS for Windows 4.01 and MAGic 8.0
presenter: Bill Kilroy, Freedom Scientific
date: March 12, 2002
- Freedom Scientific's Home Page
- Freedom Scientific's Software Products
- Freedom Scientific's Hardware Products
- JAWS for Windows
- New Features in JAWS 4.01
- New Features in JAWS 4.02 Public Beta
- JAWS for Windows Pricing
- JAWS for Windows Product Documentation
- JAWS for Windows Downloads
- MAGic
- MAGic 8.0 Overview
- MAGic Pricing
- MAGic Product Documentation
- MAGic Downloads
Bookshare.org
presenter: Jay Leventhal
date: April 9, 2002
HumanWare's BrailleNote: A Windows-CE Based Braille Notetaker
presenter: Marlaina Leiberg, HumanWare
date: May 7, 2002
Fleet Bank's Accessible ATM: Where to Find 'Em & How to Use 'Em
presenter: Sally Reilly, FleetBank
date: September 10, 2002
New Features of the Freedom Box,
a self-voicing internet portal
presenter: Mike Calvo, FreedomBox, Inc.
date: October 8, 2002
What's New at Baruch College's Computer Center for Visually Impaired People (CCVIP)
presenter: Karen Gourgey, CCVIP
date: November 12, 2002
- Baruch College's Computer Center for Visually Impaired People (CCVIP)
- Courses & Seminars
Offered by the CCVIP
- Equipment Consultation Services
- Tours of the CCVIP
- Courses Recommended
for High School Students
PAC Mate: An Accessible PDA
presenters: Bill Kilroy, Freedom Scientific & Myrna
Votta, Lighthouse International
date: March 11, 2004
- PAC Mate
- PAC Mate QX Series (QWERTY keyboard)
- PAC Mate BX Series (braille keyboard)
- PAC Mate: Questions & Answers
- PAC Mate Evaluation Program
- PAC Mate Trade-In Program
- PAC Mate News
- Freedom Scientific Home Page
- Lighthouse International
- Lighthouse International Text-Only HomePage
- Lighthouse International NYC
Book Courier & Book Port
presenter: Jay Leventhal, AFB
date: April 15, 2004
- Book Courier
Window-Eyes 4.5
date: May 18, 2004
Optalec's New Speech & Braille Products
presenter: JoAnn Decker, Optalec
date: September 14, 2004
PAC Mate: An Accessible Pocket PC
presenter: Myrna Votta, Lighthouse International
date: November 10, 2004
Please address any questions and
comments about this page to VICUG NYC's WebMonster, Gregory
J. Rosmaita
- Terminal Index
- 1. Directions to Lighthouse International (coming soon)
- 2. Take Aim at a Moving Target
- 3. Join VIC-NYC, the emailing list of VICUG NYC
- 4. Learn how to network with other
VICUGs
- 5. Contact and Learn More About VICUG NYC
Members
- 6. Return to VICUG NYC's front
page
- 7. Return to the top of this page
This page was created on December 16, 1996
Converted to HTML4 & CSS2 on March 9, 1999
This page was last modified July 9, 2007