When life is difficult and seems incredibly unfair, it is so easy to slip into a funk. But moping about doesn’t do a damn bit of good. I’d rather use my energy in positive ways. I want to see barriers as opportunities and challenges. Thank goodness I have friends who hug me, feed me dark… Continue reading Focus on What is Really Important
Save the Accessibility Institute – Sign the Petition
My university has decided to close the UT Accessibility Institute effective today. I have voiced my concern directly to the decision makers and provided data and context to explain why I believe it is critical to continue funding for academic research on accessibility at UT.
If you share my concern, I encourage you to sign the petition to Save the Accessibility Institute.
Targeting Accessibility
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and Target made accessibility history today when they announced a $6 million class action settlement. The lawsuit originated when the NFB sued Target alleging that target.com is not accessible to people with disabilities using screen-readers. Highlights of the settlement include
The Survey for People Who Make Websites 2008
I encourage y’all to head over to A List Apart and participate in their 2nd Annual Survey for People Who Make Websites. Help ALA collect data that will allow them to draw the picture of the ways web design is practiced around the globe. And even better, by making this kind of data available we could have a positive effect on best practices and employment, and even enhance public understanding of, and respect for, our profession.
Who should take the survey? Designers, developers, information architects, project managers, writers, editors, marketers and everyone else who makes websites.
Web Standards Curriculum: Coding in Harmony
With all my heart, I want to see the web reach it’s full potential. To do that, I think we must stop wasting our time coding for different browsers and focus on developing with web standards. Yes, yes, that means that the browser vendors have to play by the same rules. Good news is, IE8 is coming out soon with the best standards mode ever released in a Microsoft Browser. I do believe that MS has seen the light!
So, while it may seem surreal that we no longer have to beg browser vendors to care about web standards…this opens up a whole new arena for web standards adoption. The arena is education. Have you dropped into your local high school or college web class to see what is being taught there? Is their curriculum up to date? Or (shudder) is it the same curriculum that the instructor has been using for 10 years?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the web community worked together to build a Web Standards Curriculum that was up to date? Well, close your eyes, make a wish and then head over to the Opera Web Standards Curriculum. And realize that this is only the beginning!
FireFox Download Day!
I love the smell of a new version of a standards compliant browser freshly installed on my laptop. (inhale, sigh). Care to join me? Head on over to Spread Firefox.
And I’m curious, what is your browser of choice these days?
bizjam08: July 9-10 in Seattle
What is the best way to learn about social media?
Face-to-face!
Can’t I just read a book and hang out on Twitter and Facebook and figure out how to use social media to promote my business?
Sure, but if you really want to dive deep, step back from your keyboard and come out and play/learn at BizJam08 Seattle July 9-10.
10 Years of “Think Different”
Do you remember 1998?
- The Bronco’s won the Super Bowl.
- The first XML spec was released.
- Titantic won 11 Oscars.
- Viagra was approved by the FDA.
- Google, Inc. was founded.
- Apple unveiled the iMac and reminded us to Think Different.
Today, as I was rearranging some books on a shelf, I ran across the limited edition publication to commemorate the first year of the Apple Think Different Series, “1998: The Year of Thinking Different”.
10 years later, this ad campaign still strikes a chord in my soul. I can’t resist sharing this quote from Apple with you.