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.
