6 - 7 April Face to Face Meeting of the HTML Accessibility Task Force

Hosted by Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB)

Participation

Participation is open to participants of the HTML accessibility task force.

A teleconference bridge will be available for remote participation. Dial +1.617.761.6200 and use conference code 2119.

Minutes will be taken in an IRC channel. Use irc.w3.org:6665 on channel #html-a11y.

Registration

Please use the web-based registration survey to indicate if you will attend. Please register by 25 March 2010.

Venue

Please note due to unforeseen circumstances, the meeting venue has now changed. It will not be at RNIB offices but five minutes away from the RNIB offices at Holiday Inn.

The Bentley Suite
Holiday Inn Birmingham City Centre
Smallbrook Queensway
Birmingham
B5 4EW
UK
Tel: +44 (0)121 634 6200

Travel

By Air

The closest airport is Birmingham International Airport. Ground transportation is available by train, coach, and taxi. From Birmingham International Airport there are frequent train services that operate between Birmingham International and Birmingham New Street station, from which you can follow walking directions below under "by train". For train times please visit the National Rail Website. Should you prefer to travel by taxi, RNIB is approximately 9.8 miles (24 minutes) away from Birmingham International Airport. A taxi depending on traffic can cost approximately £21.00 one way.

Some people may find it more expedient to fly into the London airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, London City Airport). Birmingham is approximately a two hour train ride from London. From Heathrow Airport there is a National Express coach service that runs between Heathrow Airport and Birmingham International train station, or Birmingham Coach Station. Then from Birmingham International train station there are frequent train services that operate to Birmingham New Street station, from which you can follow walking directions below under "by train". For more information visit the National Express website.

By Train

Please note a train strike has just been announced and will affect those who need to travel by train 06:00 and 10:00, and between 18:00 and 22:00 each day from Tuesday 6 April to Friday 9 April. The Easter weekend will not be affected.

There may limited service available. If you are travelling from London Euston you will be travelling on Virgin Trains, from Birmingham International will be Virgin Trains or London Midland trains. If you are travelling from Gatwick or Heathrow you will be using the Gatwick or Heathrow Express.

Birmingham may be reached by train from other points in Great Britain. Your destination should be Birmingham New Street Station.

When leaving the train, there are two possible exits from the platforms. You can leave the station via two routes

• The central stairs and escalators in the platform centre between ends a & b lead to the main exit.
• The Victoria Square exit which is at the b end of the platforms.

Distance is the same, and choice of exit may depend on which end of the platform the train stops at. Directions from both exits appear below. Walking directions are also available.

Main exit

On passing through the ticket barriers, out onto the main concourse you will find a set of stairs and escalators directly ahead of you, and two ground level exits: (1) to the left of the stairs and (2) to the right. Take the right hand exit (2). Immediately on leaving the station turn right & right again keeping the station on your right. Walk down the slope (Queens Drive) crossing over the exit and entrance to the NCP car park on your right. At the bottom of the slope you will come onto Hill Street where you should take the zebra crossing to the other side of the road. On exiting the zebra crossing, turn immediately left and continue along the road until you get to an intersection with traffic lights. Holiday Inn will be on your right on the corner.

Navigation Street exit (for Victoria Square)

On leaving the station, turn left into Navigation Street. When you reach the busy cross roads, where there is a controlled pelican crossing, but unfortunately this does not have audible sounders. There are usually many people around to offer assistance to cross if needed. Cross over Hill Street and turn immediately left, walk past the casino and the Select and Save shop and continue along the road until you get to an intersection with traffic lights. Holiday Inn will be on your right on the corner.

By Car

Driving from the M6:

• From Junction 6 of the M6 follow the signs for the A38 (M) Birmingham Central.
• Follow the A38(M) for 2 miles (signs for the city centre)
• At the end of the motorway, continue over the flyover signed M5 South West.
• After the flyover, continue under the St Chads tunnel.
• Continue into the Queensway tunnel.
• On surfacing filter across to the left hand lane and turn third left directly before the Alexandra Theatre.
• Follow the road round to the right and then the left, and turn right into St Judes Passage. The NCP Albany Car park is on your right hand side.
• Upon exiting the car park the Holiday Inn is the building to your right

Driving from the M5:

• From junction 4 follow the signs for Birmingham along the A38 through Rubery, Northfield, Selly Oak and Edgbaston (approx. 7 miles).
• Going over the traffic lights at Bristol Street (McDonalds on your left), move into the left lane (signed BR New Street) to avoid the underpass.
• On approaching the island, move into the right hand lane.
• Turn right at the roundabout (Holloway Circus) into Smallbrook Queensway.
• Turn first left into Hill Street at the traffic lights
• Take first left into Station Street
• Take the first left into St Judes Passage
• NCP Albany Car park is on your right hand side
• Upon exiting the car park the Holiday Inn is the building to your right

If you get lost, follow signs to New Street Station car parks, park here and follow the directions from the train station.

Transport within Birmingham

For bus, rail and metro tram enquiries, please visit the Network West Midlands Website.

To book a TOA taxi, call TOA on: +44 (0) 121 427 8888 (TOA taxi's are the only taxi's that can be hailed/flagged. - if you get in a unbooked private hire taxi you are not insured!

For more information about Birmingham and public transport the Visit Birmingham website should have all the information you require.

Hotel

This is the venue hotel:

Holiday Inn Birmingham City Centre
Smallbrook Queensway
Birmingham
B5 4EW

The following hotels are within a short walk or taxi journey:

Copthorne Hotel Birmingham
Paradise Circus
Birmingham
B3 3HJ

Jurys Inn Birmingham Hotel
245 Broad Street
Birmingham
B1 2HQ

Agenda

All times are in British Summer Time (BST, UTC+1). Remote participants, use the time zone converter to find your local time.