On-the-fly use of networks at events

On hearing that she did have a Skype ID, we set about setting up a teleconference using Skype. As the PC used for the presentations was also running the Skype software we needed to use another PC to provide a chat facility.

We made use of Gabbly , associated with a specific URL (to avoid chatters on the Gabbly home page. This on-the-fly use of technologies at an event worked well – and something I would advise others to be able to deploy if needed. An additional approach I would suggest (and something I did at the “ Exploiting The Potential Of Wikis ” workshop) is to be able to easily upload PowerPoint files (if they are being used) to allow the remote participant to view them. I have used Slideshare.net to do this, which seems to work well.

It was particularly appropriate to do this at the Accessibility Summit, as it provided a good example of on-the-fly / just-in-time accessibility for a user who couldn’t otherwise hear and take part in the discussions or view the presentations.