October 2005 Contents

Hurricane Katrina's Impact on UPA Members
Hurricane Katrina illuminated UPA's sense of community this past month when the UPA Board of Directors acted quickly to attempt to contact our members who are/were located in the significantly affected regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. We received responses from several.

By Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus

UPA2006: Usability through Storytelling
The UPA Conference Committee is planning next year’s conference. We are currently evaluating excellent submissions for Tutorials, Workshops, Panels, Presentations, Advanced Topic Seminars, and 10 Minute Talks. We are really excited about the program we see evolving.

By DeeDee DeMulling and Carol J. Smith

Overcoming Resistance to Change: The North Carolina Board of Elections Tackles Accessibility

Many usability professionals are also responsible for the accessibility of the products they work on. We often find that the hardest step in creating an accessibility program is making it a “way of life,” a goal supported throughout the organization. McLean’s public testimony to the EAC describes North Carolina’s program to do just that throughout an entire state’s elections offices.

By Johnnie F. McLean (with an Introduction by Whitney Quesenbery)

NYC-UPA Talk by Andrew Purcell: How FreshDirect Delivered e-Commerce Success
FreshDirect, the fantastically successful Long Island City, N.Y.–based online grocery store, began developing its web site in 1999 with the goal of providing “the freshest perishable food at great prices, delivered.” The site opened to the New York–area public in 2002. By 2004, over 100,000 regular customers were ordering through freshdirect.com, generating $100 million in sales. How did the business thrive in New York’s competitive food scene?

By Alan Seiden

UPA Code of Conduct Approved
I am very pleased to report that the Code of Conduct for UPA has been accepted at the September 2005 Board meeting. Basically the “interim” wording, which has been on our web site for the past year, is the new code. The Advisory Committee is in place and many of them will participate in a seminar at next year’s conference.

By Richard Bellaver

Meet Sue Leitner: Public Relations Support for World Usability Day
The World Usability Day Committee has already succeeded in generating interest far beyond its original goals. It has been my pleasure to support that effort by tracking and amplifying the efforts of the hard-working local organizers. My specialty is media relations, and it’s been my privilege to work with the many volunteers on this project to help make headlines (and the fine print of event calendars) about World Usability Day.

by Sue Leitner