Archive for December, 2005

Monthly Archive

Tue 13 Dec 2005

No Place Like Home: UT Home Page Modernized

Posted by theGoodWitch under accessibility, web design, web standards
[11] Comments

I have a dream…that the UT Home Page will be modernized. It has been over 3 years since our last major redesign, and while the information design, branding and content are still on the mark, there is plenty of room for technical improvements. (Lord, isn’t that always true?)

Now my dream is coming true! So, for your preview pleasure, I’ll share the work of my fabulous team mates, Diane, Carol, PJ and Rachel. In reality, I think everyone on our team has contributed.

Preview of UT Home Page

What a great opportunity to explore the benefits of modernizing to web standards.

old new
filesize 31.54 kB 18.96 kB
doctype HTML 4.0 Transitional XHTML 1.0 Transitional
number of images 35 11
number of layout tables 5 0
fonts fixed scalable
rollovers javascript css
semantic markup title title, headers, lists, divs

Now, what do you think? What other benefits have we garnered by modernizing to XHTML 1.0 Transitional, smart CSS layout and semantic markup? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

 

Sat 3 Dec 2005

AIR High – Accessibility in High School

Posted by theGoodWitch under accessibility, web standards
[6] Comments

Ahhhhh….High School. So many life lessons learned. So many memories forever tattooed in your psyche. What a great moment in time to be immersed in the web and accessibility. What? Teach web accessibility to high school teachers and students? Yep, that is exactly what we are doin’ right here in Texas.

Thanks to the creative mind of Sharron Rush, Director of Knowbility, AIR High has begun. We are fanning out across this great state and spreading the word of accessibility and the importance of web standards. Armed with a curriculum specially developed for high school minds, we are changing the way Texas High Schools teach and create web sites.

Now, I’ve taught more accessibility classes than I can count, but all of them have been to adults. So, as we set off on this journey, I knew I wanted the perspective of an experienced high school teacher while we designed the course materials. Hmmmm….high school teacher….accessibility….that equals Derek Featherstone! Derek’s contributions to AIR High are priceless to me. As an international accessibility expert and a former high school teacher, I feel like I hit the jackpot.

Now, as my fellow accessibility evangelists and I roadtrip around Texas and spread the word, I have a wonderful sense of collective intelligence. As I look at the course we’ve developed I see the wisdom of Jim Thatcher, John Slatin, Sharron Rush, Jim Allen, Derek Featherstone and my alter-ego, The Goodwitch.

I can’t wait to see the ripple effects. My sweetest reward? To know that our work may inspire the next generation of accessibility and web standards wizards.

All for web! Web for all!