The 17th annual international conference on "Technology and People with Disabilities" will take place at two large hotels near Los Angeles International Airport - Hilton Los Angeles Airport and Los Angeles Airport Marriott hotels - from Monday, March 18, through Sunday, March 23. Attending the event will be educators, people with disabilities and people who work with them from all 50 states and some 35 different countries.

"This conference by name is synonymous with the field of disabilities and technology. This conference is the biggest and the most international of its kind in the world," said Harry "Bud" Rizer, director of CSUN's Center on Disabilities, which produces the conference each year.

Assistive technologies are those that help people with disabilities - blind, deaf and communicative, cognitive and movement impaired - function better in their daily lives. Conference sessions include accessing the internet, assistive technologies for K-12 and postsecondary educators, workplace accommodations, and blind/low vision issues.

The conference will begin Monday and Tuesday with 33 different pre-conference workshops. Then the main portion will be held Wednesday through Saturday, with more than 300 presentations.

Gregg Vanderheiden, a pioneer in the field of augmentative communication and assistive technology, will give the conference's keynote address at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday in the International Ballroom of the Hilton.

In keeping with the conference's theme, conference sessions and materials will be accessible to the blind and deaf through Braille, sign language interpreting and other means. Both hotels will have specially installed turf areas to accommodate guide dogs.

The conference will include a "Web Playroom" at the Marriott from Tuesday through Friday where participants can sample the latest in accessible software. On Thursday and Friday, Microsoft Corp. is sponsoring "In Our Own Words" at the Marriott, where 16 people will share their personal success stories with assistive technologies.

The conference also will feature exhibit halls, with products and services from more than 150 exhibitors, at both hotels from Wednesday to Saturday.

CSUN's Center on Disabilities, founded in 1993, provides assistive technology services and other forms of academic accommodations to Cal State Northridge students, offers seminars throughout the country and hosts the annual conference. More information and registration details are available at www.csun.edu/cod or by calling (818) 677-2578 V/TTY.

California State University, Northridge has more than 31,500 full- and part-time students and offers 63 bachelor's and 51 master's degrees. Founded in 1958, it is the only four-year university in the San Fernando Valley and the third largest in the 23-campus CSU system. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges recently said CSUN "stands as a model to other public urban institutions of higher education."