Although AOL settled that suit, many observers are unsure whether more sites will be compelled to improve their accessibility. Concept maps, a learning tool created in the 1970s, use diagrams to illustrate how a topic is related to other subjects. Joseph Novak, professor emeritus of education and biology, and his colleagues at Cornell University developed concept mapping to help researchers explain huge amounts of information in an effective format. The project led to the pageless browser software, which allows users to easily create concept maps, alter the information, and add links to other resources. Geoffrey Briggs of NASA's Ames Research Center used the software to create an online concept map of Mars.
Users can open new maps by clicking on different concept box icons.
The researchers offer the software for free to nonprofit users. Read more. . . The companies think their collaboration will hasten the adoption of open standards and interoperability while encouraging the development of competitive streaming media software. The alliance intends to adopt elements of existing standards and to contribute to those still in development. The first ISMA specification will define an implementation agreement for the streaming MPEG-4 video and audio format over IP networks.