Jan Richards

USER INTERFACE (UI) DESIGN LEAD

Jan Richards, M.Sc.
Research Group, Adaptive Technology Resource Centre
Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
130 St. George St.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5S 1A5

TEL: (416) 946-7060
FAX: (416) 971-2629
EMAIL: jan.richards@utoronto.ca

Current projects:

LDAO Web-Based Teaching Tool (2005-)

Software Development Coordinator

WAI Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (1998-)

Editor on ATAG 2.0 update to ATAG 1.0 W3C Recommendation.
Acting staff contact.

Selected past projects:

WAI User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (2006-2008)

Acting staff contact.

Culturall (2005-2008)

Coordinating ATRC contribution to "Intersections" area.

Signing Web Project (2003-2009)

UI designer for the signlinking mechanism the Signlink Studio application.

FirstStory.ca (2005-2006)

Coordinator and UI designer. Included managing the development of a variant of Signlink Studio, called Storylink Studio.

A-Communicator (2003-2004)

Tool development coordinator and UI designer for this accessibility-aware Java-based chat/whiteboard application.

Canadian Network for Inclusive Cultural Exchange (CNICE) (2003-2004)

Theme coordinator for rich media component of this project.

A-Prompt 2.0 (2003-2004)

UI consultant for this update to A-Prompt 1.0.

A-Chat (2003-2004)

Tool development co-ordinator and UI designer for this accessibility-aware PERL-based chat application.

The Inclusive Learning Exchange (TILE) (2003-2004)

Some UI consulting and content development.

Web-4-All:

Some UI consulting.

A-Prompt 1.0 - Korean Version (2002-2003):

Project co-ordinator for ATRC work.

BarrierFree Learning Environment (2000-2002):

UI consultant for authoring tool and player, authored some material for learning object repository.

Early Intervention Screening Tool [for Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario](2002):

Some UI consulting.

Digital Fieldtrip to the Rainforest AT [by Digital Frog International](2000):

Consulted on the UI of the first educational interactive CD-ROM to incorporate full keyboard accessibility, voice output, and multimedia descriptions.

A-Prompt 1.0 (2000):

Contributed to the specification and UI design of the first tool to detect and help repair inaccessible HTML markup.

Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines v.1.0 (1998-2000):

Editor on this W3C-WAI recommendation and techniques for its implementation.

HotMetal 4.0 (1997):

Consulted to Softquad on the first HTML authoring tool to provide built-in prompting for accessibility information.

Panel Discussions:

• "Designing for the User" (August 2001). With Dr. M. Schraefel, Prof. R. Baecker, Dr. G. Moore, and Prof. A. Clement, at the Fifth IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering in Toronto, Canada.

Papers:

• Fels D. I., Richards, J., Hardman, J., and Lee, D. G. (2006) "Sign Language Web Pages". American Annals of the Deaf (2006)
• Fels, D.I., Richards, J., Hardman, J., Soudian, S., and Silverman, C. (2004) "American sign language of the web". CHI Extended Abstracts 2004. p. 1111-1114.

Articles:

• Richards, J. (2004) "Signing Web Sites", deafness.about.com.
• Richards, J. (2002) "Authoring Tools Accessibility Guidelines, Take 2", SAP Design Guild.

Conference Presentations:

• Richards, J., Wemigwams, C. and Berti, R. (2006) "Intersections: On-line Barriers to Oral Cultures and Parallels with Accessibility Barriers", CulturAll Summit 2006.
• Richards, J. (2006) "Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) Update" [Narrated powerpoint - large download] . OZeWAI Web Adaptability Conference 2006.
• Richards, J. (2006) "Sign Language Web". Innoversity Summit 2006.
• Richards, J. (2005) "Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) Update". OZeWAI Web Adaptability Conference 2005.
• Richards, J., Fels, D., and Hardman, J. (2005) "The Educational Potential of the Signing Web". Instructional Technology and Education of the Deaf 2005
• Fels, D.I., Richards, J., Hardman, J., Soudian, S., Silverman, C. (2004). "American sign language of the web." Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Extended abstracts of the 2004 conference on human factors and computing systems.
• Lee, D., Richards, J., Hardman, J., and Fels, D.I. (2004). "Creating sign language web pages." ICCHP 2004. Paris.
• Richards, J., Silverman, C., Fels, D. and Hardman, J. (2004) "Signing Webs: A Method For Creating Video-Based Sign Language Web Content." Proceedings of CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
• Richards, J. (2004) "GOK - The Dynamic On-Screen Keyboard". CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
• Richards, J. (2003) "Developing a new version of A-Prompt: An HTML Evaluation and Repair Tool", WWW2003 Developer's Day Session (Authoring Techniques for Accessibility and Device Independence), Budapest, Hungary.
• Richards, J and Treviranus, J. (2003) "Why accessibility is done the way it is", WWW2003, Budapest, Hungary.
• Richards, J. (2002) "Automating for Accessibility: The practicality of supporting accessibility's many dimensions". WWW2002, Honolulu, HA, USA.
• Porch, W. and Richards, J. (2001) "Approaching Software Developers Regarding Accessibility." State of the Science Exchange at CHI 2001, Seattle, WA, USA.
• Richards, J. and Porch, W. (2001) "Making Educational Software Accessible." Proceedings of CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
• Treviranus, J., Richards, J., Jacobs, I. and McCarthieNeville, C. (eds.) (1999) Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0: W3C Recommendation.
• Harrison, L., Richards, J. and Treviranus, J. (1999). "Authoring tool support: the best place to improve the Web." Proceedings of CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
• Shumila, D and Richards, J. (1996). "Increasing access to the world wide web for blind and visually impaired computer users." Proceedings of CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Lectures and Workshops:

• "Introduction To Accessible HTML Authoring For Users Of Adaptive Technology" Pre-Conference Workshop with Laurie Harrison at CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
• "Introduction to Universal Design" (2002) for 2nd year course on Human Factors, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto.
• "Evolving Solutions: The Basics of Using Genetic Algorithms with Special Emphasis on Animal Behavior" (March 2001) at Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park.
• Richards, J. (1999) "One fish, two fish, red fish, robo-fish: implementing action selection and learning with a Siamese fighting fish animat". Talk given at graduate student ecology-evolution forum, University of Toronto, Toronto Canada.
• Richards, J. (1999)"Behaviour selection and learning in an animat". Invited by Dr. Robert Huber, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA
• Richards, J. (1998)"Building a Simulated Fish". Talk given at graduate student ecology-evolution forum, University of Toronto, Toronto Canada.

Posters:

• Richards, J., Fels, D., Hardman, J., Pereira, S., Soudian, S., and Laurel Williams (2005) "Building a Web of Sign", Instructional Technology and Education of the Deaf 2005.
• Richards, J. and Porch, W. "Accessibility Compliance of Telecommunication Products: An On-Line Toolset" (July 2001). Nortel Institute for Telecommunications (NIT) Day, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.