Month: October 2004

Posted on

a long ramble

Last night I went to C’s nonprofit capstone (think senior project) class to talk weblogs, accessibility, and whatever. It turned out to be a fascinating experience, talking all over the map; lots of talk about syndication, which is still not being well expressed outside tech circles.

One woman uses My Yahoo and had seen the RSS thing, but had no idea what the hell it meant. Also, she had already heard of blogs through her college-age son. (Apparently, it’s what all the college kids are doing these days.)

Why blog? was the big question, and I found myself coming back again & again to: let the tech/tools get out of the way so (a) non-tech people can be involved and (b) they can focus on content instead of technology.

Another woman is working on a local hospital for her project, and I mentioned Keith’s work with Seattle Children’s and Mike Kelley’s work with wherever it was he used to work. (Should probably link that stuff.)

Talked about advantages of blogs over Blackboard: pretty much all the students complained about not being to access (BB) resources from previous classes, and that they’d want to be able to get at them as professionals after they graduate. C brought in the idea of integrating BB & a blog.

He had a lot of good stuff to say, and it was kinda cool for me to see him jump in with things that I think he’s acquired by osmosis from me. 🙂 And then synthesized with his own intense thought process, experiences, etc. to form really quite powerful ideas. Someday I’ll get him blogging, I swear.

Accessibility ended up being sort of a sidebar…covered the basics of what 508 and WCAG *are*, but with much less tech than if they were, say, a web design class. 🙂 Talked about some of the specifics of technologies used, wished I had the demos that the keynote speaker at HEWD had had. Made most of the points that I wrote down yesterday re: reasons for accessibility. This was an audience for which “it’s the right thing” really resonated, which is nice. The Joe Clark quote got a chuckle, but also nodding of heads in re: professionalism and cache of having that additional thing.

A little bit about the role of weblogs in developing communities of practice: C tried to bring it up early in re: nonprofit orgs, but got garbled in his own thoughts (his comment, not mine), and I brought it up again at the end in re: web designers, mentioned meeting Keith at WebVisions. (which was darn cool.)

Demonstrated how to blog with WordPress: the ease of adding a link got oohs and ahs. 🙂 Same deal with categories. Some confusion about how does it know where to publish, talked about setup, user accounts, the group blog.

Didn’t get a chance to mention The Kitchen as I wanted to. 🙁

All in all, it was a bit of a ramble, moving back and forth over various subtopics: not a bad thing, but I wish I’d had a tighter presentation ready beforehand. I think I can be more flexible if I’m more prepared up front, oddly enough. (I don’t have C’s gift for extemporizing.) But I’m very happy with the experience. It’s energizing to be able to talk about the things I love with people who are engaged.

Posted on

my mobility needs

(riffing off of Tim Bray)

I had a work PDA…well, I still have one, but it’s old and flaky, and I opted out of an upgrade this year. I discovered that I need my calendar at meetings less often that I thought, and the PDA isn’t as good for taking notes as I thought.

We bought a laptop a little bit ago, but I’m not as perma-attached to it as Tim seems to be: C uses it at school, I think, and I *love* having it for wifi & writing on the couch, but it’s not my constant companion.

I have a cell phone, and it’s something I now couldn’t do without. The camera idea seemed cool, but integrating it with my cell phone service is a PITA. What I do love is my stupid mp3 player, which is chintzy and drains the battery like crazy, but it was on sale, and I use it on the vanpool and the bus. As a non-driving commuter, music is a must.

I wouldn’t mind being able to get to my calendar on my phone, but that would be my work calendar, which I imagine being too much trouble.

As for texting, my fingers and brain just don’t work that way. I’d much rather have an honest-to-god keyboard. Same goes for handwriting, I think, though I’d love to have something that did a combo of the two: type where typing is best (long bits of text), write/draw where that makes sense (circles, arrows, etc).

There’s a quasi-ideal gadget concept that I carry around in my head, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon…and it would almost have to be a combo: a tiny phone that would fit in my pocket, to use essentially as a walkie-talkie, and a very small laptop that would do everything else. Except take pictures, I think. I don’t know if I want either of those devices to be picture-taking.

Not that I could afford such things, of course. As it is, I probably won’t upgrade my phone until/unless we change service, and we’ll be paying off the laptop for a while….

Posted on

interlocking pieces of accessibility

consider this a rough version of my thoughts on accessibility and the reasons why. hopefully will fill out as I go.

The worst reason: lawyers
The law in some countries is very clear on Web accessibility. (At least that it’s required, whatever the standard itself may look like.) The United States isn’t one of those countries. If you’re a federal government agency, it’s clear: Section 508. But does 508 apply to other sorts of things that get federal money (like state agencies, schools, non-profits)? Maybe. Does the ADA apply? Maybe.

But that’s a crappy reason, anyway. Here are some better ones:

Google will like you better
Most of the things that get in the way of visually-disabled people get in Google’s way too. Add alt attributes, don’t use frames, make JavaScript unobtrusive: better for both.

Get the benefits of standards
“Web standards” and accessibility are often found intertwined, and with good reason. It’s easier to make a page accessible if it follows standards. Using valid code has some interesting benefits of its own: done well, it’s easier to maintain and saves bandwidth.

(Usually) make it more usable
Many specific techniques that are suggested for accessibility also make your site more usable in general. (no “click here”, clear difference in link color, clear writing) Sometimes the goals of usability for the non-disabled and accessibility for the disabled are in conflict, but those tend to be edge cases.

Do the right thing
If you incorporate accessibility at the beginning of every project, then it’s not (usually) any more expensive, so why not? (There are edge cases, mostly revolving around multimedia.) Would you be such a jerk as to not hold open a door for someone who had both hands full? Then why slam the door on someone who wants to use your site?

For non-profits and schools, it’s not just a matter of being polite; our missions are to serve, in whatever capacity. Our values are (usually) inclusive. Having an accessible website is an opportunity to live our mission and values.

Warm and fuzzy, efficient and effective: plus if the lawyers ever knock at the door, you won’t have to break a sweat. Sounds good to me.

Joe Clark also talks about reasons to go accessible in his excellent book…

Once you learn accessible design techniques, you heighten your sophistication, and may then stand taller in the saddle. ?You mean you don?t know about accessibility?? you may archly ask your inferiors, rolling your eyes and sharing a knowing grin with your compadres.

Posted on

on weblogs

(some notes/talking points)

what is a weblog?
* asterisk
* eowyn797
* Talking Points Memo
* Metafilter
* Pierce College News
* (this!)

what services? (login where I have an account) big 4:
* Blogger
* LiveJournal
* Movable Type
* WordPress
* lots more, including “home-grown” (missouri! but the about missouri link is broken)

syndication
* specs blah blah blah
* easy to read lots of stuff
* oddball uses
* readers: Bloglines (show Dorothea’s feeds), Feed on Feeds (ouroboros, show mine), FeedDemon, NetNewsWire

why would you? (as org)
* easier to write
* Google likes ’em
* build communities (comments, syndication)

how to start
* figure out what you need & know
* budget? (0 to hundreds, depending)
* evaluate the tools (where’s that grid?!)

things to watch out for
* problems with comments (spam, flames, etc)
* writing becomes more important
* reinforces web as a process, not a product: are you ready for the committment?

resources
* books (essential blogging, we blog, rebecca blood’s handbook, genius strategies)
* sites (tool-specific, plus The Kitchen)

Posted on

bleh

tired and uninspired. suddenly reminded, on this rainy day, of all the things I probably should’ve done yesterday, when it was nice out.

although I did wash a few of the windows, and isn’t it lovely to look out of a perfectly clear window onto…the rain?

and our trees are the kind that don’t do beautiful colors. honestly, they haven’t even really started doing anything at all. only the handful of yellow/black leaves on the uncut lawn give any clue that the leaves are going. (yes, black. aphids leave this gnarly honeydew stuff that turns black on the leaves. yes, ew.)

Saturday I was tripped out by a bit of google-snooping. my first big crush? now a poli sci professor. even funnier? the last time I did a bit of vanity googling, including him, and blogged about it: that’s now on the first page of results under his name.

also, my feet are cold and kinda damp.

Posted on

…the more things stay the same

someone in my department had a birthday earlier this week, so we went out to lunch. she had suggested the East-West Cafe in Tacoma.

the last time I went was in the summer of 1996, before I met C. WP took me there for a date, the only time we actually went out anywhere during our 2-week fling that summer. I think it may have been one of the first times I had Thai food, and I just loved it. I remember the place being tiny and charming: a little bitty house converted to a restaurant, and it still felt more house than restaurant. (the location gave it a surreal air, being just a block from the freeway.)

they’ve expanded drastically since then around the framework of the house: it looks nothing like a house from the inside. beautiful elegant decor (too fancy for us, one of my colleagues said), a back garden with a patio & fountain, even a bar.

in a weird fit of nostalgia, I ordered exactly the same meal I had 8 years ago: swimming angel, which I’ve seen elsewhere as swimming rama, and which I make myself as “gai tua.” it’s a bit less peanut-flavored than most places, more curry. but the flavor was what I remembered, as was the entirely elegant presentation.

a strange push-pull of memory and the present, sitting with my co-workers chit-chatting over lunch, overlaid with the memory of dinner with WP.

Posted on

the more things change…

doing a bit of tweaking: added a new home page header (sunflower!) and a link to The Kitchen, plus a new album of pictures from Rochester. I have more, of course, but it’s taking me time to work through them.

Posted on

bad sleep

Piko and Sasha (then, later, Maddy) kept waking me up, and I had a strange dream which has faded down to a mere outline, but which still disturbs me. (airplane flight, giving birth, betrayal, firey death that was transmuted to puppet-like animation on a tv screen.)

which means now I’m working very hard at just being awake & coherent.