June 2008 Contents

Overcoming Environmental Barriers

On May 3, 2008, something extraordinary happened: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities went into effect. The goals of the Convention are lofty: it insists that all persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms and sets out 8 guiding principles and obligations to meet them.

By Whitney Quesenbery

Thumbnail: Carol Righi

Do usability engineers make good managers? It depends. It's a profession that highly values its practitioners, is famous for its consultants and gurus, and also attracts its share of introverts.

By Cliff Anderson

Working to Improve the Civic Experience

What has UPA done to encourage more useable and accessible government? Quite a lot, it turns out. UPA supports efforts to improve the usability of elections, support plain language, and remove barriers to civic access for people with disabilities through an alphabet soup of projects and events.

By Josephine Scott