Lithographic picture of Smiffy

Speaker Notes

Before we talk about being tired, I will tire you with a brief introduction of myself.

I am a freelance IT consultant and Web applications developer, living in regional South Australia. Prior to coming to Australia in 2001 to get married, I was IT manager for a UK business unit of ITT Industries and member of ITTs European Network Management Team.

Whilst I was writing intranet applications and doing a bit of Web development in my old job - and as a bit of a hobby - I am a relative newcomer to the Accessibility world, having first come across the concept back in 2002, after reading a Wired News article on how they were upgrading their site to make it more accessible.

I have attended OzeWAI twice, in 2003 and 2005. This year, 2006, and 2004, I have missed due to ill health. Whilst I can't actually be with you in person this year, by the wonders of modern technology, I am able to be here by "telepresence". If the technology lets us down, as it is wont, you will actually be listening to a recording rather than Smiffy Live.

If you would like to know anything more about me and what I do, some of which is quite interesting, there are links on this slide, which is accessible via the public Web and should hopefully be linked from the OzeWAI site.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Liddy for encouraging me to do this out-of-body attendance, Jonathan O'Donnell for help with logistics and testing of the presentation system and my wife, Jane, for trying to keep the dogs quiet when I was doing the recording.

If you are listening to the recorded version, now might be a good time to change the slide.