The John Slatin Fund Accessibility Project
If those who can help spread the load, it’ll be beneficial to all.
If you’re savvy in the art of accessibility, volunteer yourself to be paired with a company that signs up for an evaluation of their site. You do have to commit to getting it done within ten days, and it will be a generous contribution of your time, but it is a good cause. And if you are a company with a web site, this is worth your while. It’s an ideal opportunity for companies that wonder about the accessibility of their site
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This is from Knowbility.org…
John Slatin was an important person in many of our lives. He had a unique ability to connect the disconnected, find the common ground and bring us all together. John brought an energy to accessibility that inspired us all. He was an engineer. He was an artist. He was a friend.
The John Slatin Fund Accessibility Project matches accessibility experts with companies that would like a brief review of their site for accessibility. In return, the site owner is asked to contribute a minimum of $500 to The John Slatin Fund. The John Slatin Fund was established to help John’s beloved Anna offset the medical expenses incurred during John’s long illness. Our goal is to raise $25,000 for that purpose.
This is an ideal opportunity for companies that wonder about the accessibility of their site — whether the site is brand new or aging, knowledge of what type of experience users with disabilities have on your site will help you make decisions about what repair may be warranted.
— Knowbility.org: John Slatin Fund Accessibility Project
Please consider doing this. If those who can help spread the load, it’ll be beneficial to all. And, as Jeffrey Zeldman wrote, Spread the Word.
Dan Schulz responds:
Posted: April 3rd, 2008 at 5:51 am →
I’ve put in my application to volunteer. Who else is stepping up?
Yvette responds:
Posted: April 3rd, 2008 at 5:55 am →
Sadly, John Slatin passed away last week (http://leukemialetters.blogspot.com/2008/03/john-passed-away-peacefully-10pm-mon.html). I don’t know what this will mean for this fund. It would be a great idea to continue the fund in John’s memory and put the money towards another related goal, like providing assistive technology for people who need it.
Dan Schulz responds:
Posted: April 3rd, 2008 at 7:24 pm →
Those medical expenses will still need to be paid, and unfortunately there are also the final expenses to consider as well. I’m sure that what’s left over could go to other causes as well.
Not only that, but volunteering our expertise will hopefully impact far more than those that John left behind (I’m specifically talking about the people who use the sites that are being reviewed). It’s surprising how well a reception someone can get for just taking some time out of their day to help another while asking for nothing in return - I do this all the time on various forums (including SitePoint).
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: April 3rd, 2008 at 7:54 pm →
To me the benefit doesn’t really have anything to do with the money (for the family, though, this will be helpful). The real benefit in my eyes will be the service being provided and the positive result of such. The list of volunteers is getting lengthy, and for each there will be one business benefiting and hopefully acting on the suggestions and recommendations. And for each site that does get transformed, so to speak, hundreds, maybe thousands of people will benefit.
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: April 4th, 2008 at 12:07 pm →
The list of volunteer experts is brimming. What is needed now is to get companies to actually sign-up for an inspection. Please pass the word to candidate companies, perhaps, as Jeff Zeldman suggested, pass the info along to your own past clients… as just one place to start.
Max responds:
Posted: April 8th, 2008 at 8:55 am →
I will try my best for the contribution and will also gieve reference of this page so that others can know about this work.