Archived Fellowship Program & Workshop Call

This is an archival copy of the CUU 200 Workshop Fellows Call for Participation, kept for historical reasons only.

Fellowship Program Objectives and Process

Computing researchers and HCI designers need to address a challenging question: "How can information and communications services be made accessible and usable for every citizen?"

The purpose of the Fellowship Program of the Conference on Universal Usability is to elicit and organize a broad range of insights on the problems and prospects of universal usability, by bringing together people who represent a diversity of needs and expectations in the international community (e.g., minorities, low-income, elders, children, disabled users, community groups, non-profit organizations, Third World, etc.)

Twenty individuals (more if funding permits), representing different constituencies will be invited to participate as Universal Usability Fellows at the Conference on Universal Usability.

Fellows will be provided with financial support intended to cover all essential expenditures: conference registration, travel, and subsistence (possibly for accompanying carer as well). In return, they will be required to participate in electronic discussions in advance as well as in a workshop that will take place the day before the conference (i.e., November 15, 2000).

The workshop will be organized to share experiences and set up a realistic program of actions for making universal access a reality; it will be attended by the Fellows and by the committee members of the CUU fellowship program. The results of the workshop will be presented at CUU and published in selected ACM and SIGCHI publications.

Workshop Fellow Application

A small number of persons known to have specific experiences and concerns with universal access issues will be invited to serve as Fellows.

The remaining Fellows will be selected through an open application process. Applicants will be selected based on answers to a questionnaire. Applicants are not required to have any computer experience. Fill out the questionnaire as soon as possible, and no later than August 15, 2000.

• Fellowship Program Questionnaire

For applicants without access to a computer, the questionnaire can be sent either:

• by Fax (33) 4 76 44 66 75 to the attention of Joelle Coutaz
• by postal mail to Joelle Coutaz, CLIPS-IMAG, 385 rue de la Bibliothèque, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France

Receipt of the questionnaire will be acknowledged. Applicants will be notified of acceptance and provided additional information about conference participation by September 15, 2000.

Selected applicants will be invited to participate in the electronic discussion via email. As a starting point for sharing experience, the questionnaires of the accepted applicants will be made available electronically to the participants. For accepted applicants who do not have access to a computer, someone will be designated to send them copies of the discussion on the mailing list by fax.

Selection criteria include:

• Your ideas and opinions about the special need you represent regarding access to computing technology and its current and potential impact on your life
• Your ability to communicate your ideas and opinions in English
• Your interest in participating in a workshop to make a contribution in this area

We will attempt to organize a group of Fellows whose concerns complement each other, to stimulate discussion and encourage mutual learning. Please note that you are expected to actively participate in the discussions before the workshop.