Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities, including employees and members of the public. The CHI 2003 Conference offers 3 tutorials that examine important design considerations when developing technologies that comply with Section 508.

• Section 508 expert Gregg C. Vanderheiden (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Shawn Lawton Henry (UIAccess.com) teach the essentials of accessible design in Designing Flexible, Accessible Interfaces That Are More Usable by Everyone This tutorial offers hands-on experience of problems with IT products faced by people who are aging or have disabilities, along with presentations of specific design techniques to address these problems in a commercially practical way. In addition to being a Section 508 expert, Gregg Vanderheiden gave the CHI 2001 Keynote on Accessibility.
  
  
• A key focus in accessibility work is designing in consideration of aging. Something Old, Something New: Designing for the Aging Population presented by Krista Coleman (Enhanced Mobility Technologies), Shelly Heller (George Washington University), Laura Leventhal (Bowling Green State University) will give participants a better understanding of the dynamic and interrelated nature of social, physical and psychological characteristics of aging. Such characteristics does impact computer-human interaction and the instructors will explain why the elderly are not easily represented by universal accessibility issues.
  
  
• In Designing for Users with Special Needs you will learn how the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI) and assistive technology can work together to design technology to enable all users. Instructors Alan Edwards (Consultant), Alistair D.N. Edwards (University of York), Elizabeth D. Mynatt (Georgia Institute of Technology) will discuss how we are all disabled and how interfaces should be designed for all users; survey five major types of impairments (mobility, vision, speech, hearing, and cognitive) and technology that addresses these impairments; review US and European legislation; discuss technology for elderly individuals; review design guidelines and you will participate in a group design problem. User interface designers, developers, managers, and researchers will find this tutorial of benefit.
  
  

CHI 2003 is the premier worldwide forum for the exchange of information on all aspects of how people interact with computers. On April 5-10 over 2000 researchers, practitioners, educators, and students will meet from over 45 countries in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA to explore the new horizons of human-computer interaction. This year's conference features six days of world-class presentations including 36 tutorials, plenary speakers, dynamic panels, paper sessions and more. To see the complete conference offering, go directly to the CHI 2003 Advance Program

Participation in CHI 2003 is open to all with an interest in Human-Computer Interaction. Register before March 20th, 2003 and you can really save on your fee.

The anchor's up, and it's time to come aboard CHI 2003 and help us steer a course... bring distant shores into view... chart new routes to new destinations. Explore new design horizons at CHI 2003, the premier international forum for the exchange of the latest information on all aspects of Human-Computer Interaction. Plan to attend CHI 2003.

CHI 2003 is sponsored by ACM's Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction ACM SIGCHI, In addition to ACM, various organizations support CHI 2003. Champion sponsors include: Diamond Bullet Design, Google, Microsoft, Unisys and Yahoo! Contributing sponsors include: eLearn magazine, IBM, Intel Research Menlo Technology Group, Nokia, OSDN Slashdot, Sun Microsystems and User Interface Engineering.

The annual CHI conference attracts a lot of attention from the media. A number of articles about the conference and the work presented there are written each year. Some interesting articles include:

ComputerWorld:

• Spreading the Word on XHTML
• XHTML
• The Interface Revolutionary
• Know Who You Know

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

• Taming the Digital Beast
• Ubiquitous Chips
• Interactive Barney: Good or Evil?
• Bob is Dead
• I say it's Spinach

Electronic Engineering Times (EETimes):

• Tomorrow's computers will let the dead speak, panelists say
• Designers learn a thing or two from Barney

Forbes

• Banks that chat, and other irrelevancies

San Jose Mercury News:

• Designers Adapting Computers to Human Behavior

Scientific American:

• Taking Computers to Task

USA Today:

• Conference tackles ease-of-use issues
• Anthropologists adapt technology to world's cultures

Hope to see you in Fort Lauderdale at CHI 2003.