All Things Great and Geeky - and Girly!

I've spent the last two days at Access U, and it's been a royal geekout! I've had a great time getting to know some inspirational women who are leaders in the web accessibility realm. Just to name a few:

Glenda Sims
UT Austin's self-proclaimed Accessibility Goddess, and one of the founders of AIR-Interactive and Access U. This amazing and fun woman - also known as Glenda the Good - has an infectious energy, and by the end of the day I'll make another technological leap, from my disappointing little Samsung phone to a Blackberry Pearl in red and internet connectivity. I'm resisting the Second Life, that's instant crack. Twitter, anyone?

Kathy Keller
This woman is legendary. It's said that Kathy told her web developers to get their pages compliant with web accessibility standards by September 1, 2006. Any pages that weren't ready would not be loaded on the new server, not only meeting but EXCEEDING the requirements. This meant that Texas Parks and Wildlife was the first state agency to address and meet compliance, leaving everyone else in the dust. A wonderful role model, due to her proactive approach and determination.

Sharron Rush
As co-founder and Executive Director of Knowbility, Sharron brings together great minds to teach web developers current technology. She is committed to using the power of technology to support the independence of people with disabilities , and the value of collaboration in building stronger, dynamic communities.

Teenya Franklin (Knowbility)
Does this gal ever sleep? She keeps things movin' and groovin' through Access U. Playing devil's advocate at dinner last night, she managed to provoke some very interesting intellectual and philosophical debates on the role of technology in our lives, and whether it's affected our physical communities.

Erica O'Grady
The world gets even smaller - after a bit of conversation, I realized that I had met Erica of Reinventing Erica at the last Dim Sumday through Linear, but that she is also good friend of whurley.

Andrea Hill
A young woman I'd seen about, but didn't realize until today that she is the mystery blogger - she is live blogging about Access U, so if she's fine with it I'll be linking to her blog.