Schewanick Computer Services

10 June, 2004, West Midlands, UK

User-Lab to host West Midlands' web accessibility workshop

User-Lab to host West Midlands' web accessibility workshop to promote better usability practice and community within the region

----Begins----

User-Lab http://www.biad.uce.ac.uk/research/userlabSite/user.html, the user-centred design centre is to run a web accessibility workshop on the 23rd June 2004. The workshop will allow attendees to share practical tips and techniques for developing accessible Web sites with the Birmingham Usability Group.

The workshop has been organised as a result the inaugural meeting of the Birmingham Usability Group on 15th April 2004. The meeting led by John Knight, Usability Engineer at User-Lab, brought together practitioners involved in user-centred design from across the West Midlands. John Knight spoke of the need for a usability group in the West Midlands, and from this discussion fifteen delegates including IBM's usability group from Warwick have agreed to convene a Web Accessibility Workshop on 23rd June 2003.

"I have been aware of a growing number of practitioners working away in development teams and consultancies; with little connection to the usability community for quite some time. There is a lot going on in the West Midlands in mobile telephony, software and digital media and I hope that this group start can take the city of 1,000 trades to the forefront of the experience economy" explains, John Knight, Usability Engineer.

The web accessibility workshop will feature an overview of the legal aspects of web accessibility and a series of practical demonstrations of design and evaluation techniques.

The workshop, to be held on 23 June 2004 at User-Lab (Birmingham Institute of Art and Design http://www.biad.uce.ac.uk/), costs 50.00 GBP and is free to members of The Usability Professionals' Association http://www.ukupa.org.uk/ and British HCI Group http://www.bcs-hci.org.uk/.

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----Notes to editors----

This press release in available in PDF, plain text and Word formats. Photographs are available of the User-Lab team.

The workshop, to be held on 23 June 2004 (from 10:00 until 16:30) at User-Lab (Birmingham Institute of Art and Design http://www.biad.uce.ac.uk/), costs 50.00 GBP and is free to members of The Usability Professionals' Association http://www.ukupa.org.uk/ and British HCI Group http://www.bcs-hci.org.uk/.

The media spokesperson for User-Lab is John Knight, Usability Engineer.

About User-Lab:
http://www.biad.uce.ac.uk/research/userlabSite/user.html

User-Lab is a non-profit making organisation based at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design http://www.biad.uce.ac.uk/. The lab is part of the Institute's Research Department and is staffed by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in digital media design, human-computer interaction, psychology and software engineering.

The lab comprises three purpose built testing and design labs that are equipped with the latest technology for conducting behavioural, physiological and psychological research. The lab has two related functions: to carry out research into the digital experience and, based on the results of this work, to develop an innovative commercial service.

In the two years since its inception, the lab has been involved in a number of collaborative projects with RDAs, FEs, charities and the public and private sector. The outcomes of these projects range from assisting start up businesses to training, as well as the lab's core business of user-centred design services.

User-Lab runs Web Accessibility Training with the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) http://www.rnib.org.uk/ and ECOTEC an international research and consultancy organisation http://www.ecotec.com/.

----Contact----

Elemental PR:

Rachel Hawkes, Account Executive, Elemental PR
Email: user-lab@elementalpr.co.uk

Direct Telephone: +44 (0)870 745 9292, Mobile: +44 (0)7930 375663,
Fax: +44 (0)870 745 9293, Website: http://www.elementalpr.co.uk

Address: Second Floor, 145 -157 St John Street, London, EC1V 4PY, England, UK

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