Able
TV and AT508.com Team for Web Simulcast Coverage of 2003
CSUN Conference, Sponsored by IBM, HP
Accessible
Live and Archived Streaming Video of March 17-22 CSUN Conference
on Technology and People with Disabilities sponsored by
IBM at AbleTV.net and by Hewlett Packard on AT508.com
For
Immediate Release
March 14, 2003
Chantilly, Va. – AbleTV and AT508.com, the leading Internet
TV Channels serving the community of people with disabilities
announced today that they would produce a web simulcast
of the March 17-22 CSUN Conference on Technology and People
with Disabilities, with both live and archived coverage
from Los Angeles, Ca. Able TV’s transmission of this web
simulcast is made possible with funding from IBM Corporation,
while AT508.com’s event coverage is supported by main event
sponsor Hewlett Packard in addition to AT508.com charter
sponsors, Kurzweil Educational Systems, The Paciello Group,
Keybowl, Corda, Deque and Sighted Electronics. Able TV (www.abletv.net)
and AT508.com (www.AT508.com)
are channels on the TVWorldwide.com Internet TV network,
which will be producing the live and archived webcast.
The web simulcast will include live accessible coverage
of the CSUN keynote address of renowned disability inventor
Ray Kurzweil, Wednesday, March 19, 7:30 AM PST.
"HP
is proud to sponsor the CSUN Conference," said Michael
Takemura, director of the HP Accessibility Program Office.
HP, major sponsor for the CSUN Conference since 2000, is
committed to providing products, services, programs, and
information that are accessible to persons with disabilities.
"The CSUN Conference plays an important role in providing
information and education opportunities regarding accessibility,
and HP sees the critical importance in providing access
to the conference via AT508.com to people who are unable
to attend."
“Delivering
information to the community of people with disabilities
through accessible technology, such as AbleTV, is one of
the reasons IBM is at CSUN,” said Shon Saliga, Director,
IBM Worldwide Accessibility Center, Austin, Texas. “IBM
will help shape the future through technology, making it
possible for more people, regardless of ability, to access
and interact with information on demand - - no matter what
the venue - - audio, graphical, or video.”
"We are thrilled to provide a live streaming video
with captioning of the keynote and other archived events
during the show, upon which so many of AbleTV and AT508.com
viewers with disabilities who can't make it to the show
depend," said David Gardy, Chairman and CEO of TVWorldwide.com,
Inc and Chairman of AbleTV. "Jeff Pledger, AbleTV's
president, has been instrumental in working to provide CSUN
coverage over AbleTV for the past 4 years and with the large
added audience of John Williams’ AT508.com channel, this
will be an unprecedented streaming event."
Access
to archived captioned streaming video of the CSUN conference
will be available at www.abletv.net and www.AT508.com. Participants
should have the free Real Player installed prior to viewing
the video. Technical Questions can be directed to 703-961-9250,
ext 223 and info@tvworldwide.com..
About TVWorldwide.com, AbleTV.net and AT508.com
In addition to being a video streaming service provider,
TVWorldwide.com is building a network of community-based
Internet TV channels, each underwritten by a strategic partner,
"aimcasting" to targeted B2B and 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 open captioning to aid
web site accessibility for people with disabilities, a concept
developed by disability activist Jeff Pledger, who lost
his sight 19 years ago due to illness. Now, AT508.com, has
joined the TVWorldwide.com line-up, powered by the assistive
technology and Section 508 writings and video interviews
of noted disability columnist John Williams. TVWorldwide.com
was recently named one of the streaming video industry's
"Hottest Companies" by Streaming Magazine.
About CSUN
California
State University, Northridge is a vibrant, diverse university
community of nearly 28,000 students and more than 3,300
faculty and staff, sited on a 353-acre campus in the heart
of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. Cal State Northridge
is committed to the educational and professional goals of
students, and service to the community. More information
about the campus can be found at http://www.csun.edu.
About
IBM’s Accessibility Center
The IBM Accessibility Center was created in 2000 to apply
research technologies to solve problems experienced by people
with disabilities. In 2002, the Accessibility Center team
expanded its focus to include access to information by virtually
anyone under virtually any circumstances. IBM Accessibility
Centers are located in the United States, Europe and Japan.
For more information on IBM’s Accessibility Center, visit
http://ibm.com/able
About
HP
HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies,
solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The
company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing
and access devices, global services and imaging and printing.
HP completed its acquisition of Compaq Computer Corporation
on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at
http://www.hp.com.