Equity, Access and Inclusion: A World Usability Day Event Nov. 8

The University of Maine will host “Equity, Access and Inclusion: A World Usability Day Event” 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Nov. 8.

World Usability Day, established in 2005, is a day that brings together communities of professional, industrial, educational, citizen and government groups to promote the values of usability, accessibility and universal design to ensure that services and products important to life are easier to access and simpler to use.

The UMaine event is a conference designed to provide the opportunity for the campus and surrounding community to come together to help promote the core values of equity, access and inclusion.

Presentations and workshops will be held throughout the day, with most sessions taking place in the Memorial Union.

Featured events include welcoming remarks by Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Robert Dana; keynote speaker Kelly Nye-Lengerman, who will discuss “Tapping into Potential with Expectations: Making Employment and Post-Secondary Education the New Norm for Individuals with Disabilities”; the 70,273 Project commemorating individuals with disabilities who were murdered during World War II; and tours of the Virtual Environment and Multimodal Interaction (VEMI) Laboratory.

There is no cost to attend this conference, but registration is highly recommended; space is limited for the tour of the VEMI Laboratory with simulation experience. Individuals who need accommodations can make requests through the registration form.   

UMaine Student Accessibility Services, part of the Division of Student Life, is hosting the conference with support from the Alton ’38 and Adelaide Hamm Campus Activity Fund, and in collaboration with the UMaine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, UMaine Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, and the VEMI Laboratory. It is supported in part by a grant from the Cultural Affairs/Distinguished Lecture Series Fund.

More about the event is online.

For more information, contact Sara Henry at 581.2319, shenry@maine.edu.