HTML Writers Guild Newsletter
Web Accessibility Special Edition
Volume 5, Number 6, 15 April 1999
http://www.hwg.org/
editor@hwg.org
Table of Contents
1. April is Web Accessibility Month at the HTML Writers Guild!
2. AWARE: Guild Announces Accessible Web Authoring Center
3. This Month's Town Hall Meeting: Thursday, 22 April 1999
4. "Designing for Universal Accessibility" Course Begins Monday!
5. HWG Online Classes: Teaching The Skills You Want To Learn
6. Volunteers Wanted for Toronto WWW8 Conference
7. Frequently Asked Questions About HWG-News
This issue of HWG-News is sponsored by:
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1. April is Web Accessibility Month at the HTML Writers Guild!
(Kynn Bartlett, Guild President, kynn@hwg.org)
The entire month of April has been designated "Accessibility Month" at
the HTML Writers Guild. The purpose of this annual month-long event is
to highlight the value and importance of designing all web sites with
complete accessibility in mind -- meaning, the pages you write should
be equally useable in the latest versions of major browsers as in a
voice-reader for blind users, or by anyone else with a non-"standard"
means of accessing the web.
During the month of April, we'll be using the Guild's resources to
educate both our membership, numbering over 95,000 web designers, and
the web industry as a whole about this important issue, through a
number of special projects and events.
Projects and events scheduled for Accessibility April include:
* Announcement of the special month-long focus on accessibility on
the Guild's monthly newsletter, and the HWG homepage, to bring
attention to this important issue
* Launch of the Guild's new accessible design resource center --
AWARE (see the next news item for details!)
* The fourth session of the HWG's popular online course, Designing
for Universal Accessibility with HTML 4.0 (more information below!)
* Interactive member chats on accessibility-related topics, with
recognized authorities in the field as guest speakers and
panelists at HWG Interactive (interact.hwg.org)
* A tutorial at FedWeb 99 (www.fedweb.org) on accessible web design
by AWARE Center director Kynn Bartlett
The schedule for online chats will be announced via the HWG-Announce
mailing list. See http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-announce/ for
subscription details.
The overall goal of Accessibility Month is to create a greater
awareness, both within and outside of the Guild, of the need for and
importance of accessibility considerations in web design. The Guild's
first Accessibility Month focus was held in April 1998.
Questions regarding Accessibility Month can be directed to Kynn
Bartlett, kynn@hwg.org. The Accessibility Month web page is:
http://www.hwg.org/opcenter/events/april1999/
2. AWARE: Guild Announces Accessible Web Authoring Center
(HWG Press Information, pressinfo@hwg.org)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Kynn Bartlett
15 April 1999 09:00 PDT Director, AWARE Center
Fullerton, Calif. (714) 526-5656
New AWARE Center Promotes Creation of
Web Pages Usable by Everyone
The HTML Writers Guild is pleased to announce the opening today of
the Accessible Web Authoring Resources and Education (AWARE) Center,
an online resource for web designers who want to make web sites that
can be used by everyone.
"Many World Wide Web pages are completely unusable by people with
disabilities or older computers," explains Kynn Bartlett, President
of the Guild and Director of the AWARE Center. "Most web page authors
simply aren't aware of the problems with their designs, and that's
where we can help. We make web authors aware of how their design
practices can affect accessibility."
Created as part of the Guild's April 1999 Web Accessibility Month,
the AWARE Center, located at http://aware.hwg.org/, features an
introduction to web accessibility, tips and techniques on improving
access to web sites, and links to disability and universal access
web sites.
"The must-read document for all web authors is the Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C),"
said Bartlett. "The W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative has created
the definitive reference for ensuring that all users can access
information placed on the web."
The HTML Writers Guild is the only association of web authors to
join the World Wide Web Consortium, and it takes an active role in
the development of both web standards and guidelines on applying
those standards to improve the web, such as those of the Web
Accessibility Initiative.
"Web accessibility is a major focus of the HTML Writers Guild,"
said Leanne Phillips, HWG Vice-President of Member Education.
"The Guild's primary purpose is to expand the body of knowledge
regarding web design, including the creation of accessible web
sites. The AWARE Center, by serving as a central resource for
accessible web authoring techniques, moves us forward in that
direction."
Other activities by the Guild that support web accessibility
include a yearly, month-long focus on accessible design each
April, participation in the Web Accessibility Initiative's
working groups, web conference presentations and tutorials by
AWARE Center staff on accessible design, and a popular online
course on web accessibility through the HWG's Online Education
Program.
"Our focus on accessibility is a natural part of the Guild's
mission to teach effective web design," noted Ann Navarro,
HWG Vice President of Finance and Director of Online
Education. "The techniques used in accessible web design
improve a web site's performance across different platforms
and browsers. This saves development time and cost by creating
one highly accessible web site that can be used by everyone."
The resources of the AWARE Center are open to all web authors and
may be accessed online at:
http://aware.hwg.org/
ABOUT THE HTML WRITERS GUILD
With a membership of over 95,000 web authors in more than 130
countries, the HTML Writers Guild, Inc., is the world's largest
international organization of web authors. The Guild's purpose
is to assist its members in developing and enhancing their
capabilities as web authors; to compile and publicize information
about standards, practices, techniques, competency, and ethics as
applied to web authoring; and to contribute to the development of
the web and web technical standards and guidelines.
Through online classes in web development, active email discussion
lists, extensive resources for web authors, membership in the World
Wide Web Consortium, and special projects such as the AWARE Center,
the HTML Writers Guild works to improve the quality of the World
Wide Web for all users.
The HTML Writers Guild's main web site is http://www.hwg.org/.
3. This Month's Town Hall Meeting: Thursday, 22 April 1999
(Kynn Bartlett, HWG President, president@hwg.org)
Each month, the Guild provides an opportunity for real-time discussion
and chatting via HWG Interactive. These monthly meetings are hosted by
members of the Governing Board (with most of them in attendance),
and give our members the chance to voice your views about the HWG.
The details for April's meeting are:
22 April Town Hall Meeting
Date: Thursday, 22 April 1999
Time: 6:30 p.m. PDT, 9:30 p.m. EDT, 01:30 (23 April) GMT
Server: HWG Interactive, http://interact.hwg.org/
IRC: irc.hwg.org, port 6667
Channel: #townhall
To connect, either go to the URL above and use the Java-based client
available via the web, or use your favorite IRC client and join channel
#townhall.
We look forward to meeting you there!
4. "Designing for Universal Accessibility" Course Begins Monday!
(Ann Navarro, Director of Online Classes, classes@hwg.org)
As part of the Web Accessibility month, the HWG Online Classes program
is pleased to present another session of our course in accessible
web authoring, "Designing for Universal Accessibility with HTML 4.0"
taught by AWARE Center director Kynn Bartlett.
The catalog description for this course is:
The days of designing for only one or two web browsers are long
gone. Today's Web surfers use anything from non-visual screen
readers to the latest version of Netscape Navigator, Internet
Explorer or Opera, and the future will bring even more
Internet-enabled 'Net appliances -- televisions, phones, watches,
refrigerators, cars, and more. Designing for universal
accessibility is vitally important to ensure that the sites you
create today will continue to work tomorrow and beyond, into the
21st century. This course will show you how to use HTML 4.0 to
make your pages accessible to everyone.
The pre-requisite for this course is Intermediate-level HTML
proficiency. With hands-on laboratory exercises, weekly review
questions, and project assignments, you'll explore the issues of
accessible web authoring in a self-paced online learning environment
over the span of six weeks. HWG courses are designed to work around
your schedule and provide you with quality web design education from
fellow Guild members with expertise in their chosen fields.
The tuition fees for this course are $25 for Full members, and $50
for Trial members. A completion certificate is available for an
additional $5. No textbook is required for this course; all readings
are provided online as essays or references to electronic documents.
The course runs from 19 April 1999 to 30 May 1999; late enrollment
closes on 26 April 1999. There are 100 seats available in this course,
so if you would like to enroll, this is the time to do it! Register
online for this class by going to:
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/d201.4.html
5. HWG Online Classes: Teaching The Skills You Want To Learn
(Ann Navarro, Director of Online Classes, classes@hwg.org)
The Guild's online classes program provides our members with convenient,
affordable instruction on a wide spectrum of web authoring subjects.
Instruction is done via a web-based interface and allows for interaction
with the instructor and other students at a time convenient for each
participant.
In addition to the web accessibility course (see previous news item),
other classes currently open for enrollment include:
H101: INTRODUCTION TO HTML 4.0
Dates: May 3, 1999 - June 11, 1999 (6 weeks)
HTML is the foundation of the web! Learn the basics of HTML
4.0 and the joy of a well-crafted web page.
A131: USING MACROMEDIA DREAMWEAVER - Part 1
Dates: May 3, 1999 - May 28, 1999 (4 weeks)
Learn how to craft pages using Macromedia's popular Dreamweaver
software -- this course is designed to take advantage of the
FREE four week trial version of Dreamweaver!
P101: BEGINNING PROGRAMMING WITH PERL
Dates: May 10, 1999 - June 18, 1999 (6 weeks)
Perl is one of the most useful programming languages in the
webmaster's toolbox -- learn it now!
MS101: ACTIVE SERVER PAGES FOR NON-PROGRAMMERS
Dates: May 17, 1999 - June 25, 1999 (6 weeks)
*** New Course! Create dynamic server-side programming in this
new course that will teach you the fundamentals of ASP! No
programming experience is necessary, only a willingness to learn!
H151: INTRODUCTION TO CASCADING STYLE SHEETS
Dates: May 24, 1999 - July 2, 1999 (6 weeks)
Learn how to use CSS to create vibrant, accessible pages with
detailed control over placement, presentation, and appearance.
B101: BUSINESS WRITING BASICS
Dates: May 24, 1999 - July 16, 1999 (8 weeks)
There's more to authoring a business web site than simply writing
HTML tags; learn what all web authors need to know about business
writing and content creation!
H301: WORKING WITH DYNAMIC HTML
Dates: June 7, 1999 - July 17, 1999 (6 weeks)
This course will allow you to blend your current talents in HTML,
Scripting, and CSS into what's commonly known as Dynamic HTML.
Go beyond the mouseover into engaging effects that can be viewed
by most of today's most popular browsers.
[Pre-requisites: HTML, Javascript, and CSS experience, such as HWG
Online Courses H101, P151, and H151.]
COURSE FEES
For all courses, Full and Discounted members may register for $25,
Trial members for $50. Upgrade your membership before registering,
and save money! Payments may be made online via secure transaction;
all figures are in U.S. funds.
A certificate of completion is available for an additional $5;
the request needs to be made at the time of registration. Textbooks
(when required) are separate and may be purchased through the Guild's
online bookstore, The Bookmark. Books should be purchased before the
first week of class! In addition, students should have regular access
to the web and the ability to post completed assignments on a
public (non-Intranet) web server.
Sign up today through our online enrollment forms or get more
information at:
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/
Make the most of your HWG membership -- enroll in an online course
today!
6. Volunteers Wanted for Toronto WWW8 Conference
(Ann Navarro, VP of Finance & Personnel, vp-finance@hwg.org>
The HWG will be promoting our organization with a booth on the exhibit
floor at the WWW8 Conference in Toronto, Canada, May 11 through May
14. We are looking for volunteers to man the booth, answering questions
for show attendees about the Guild. Free HWG t-shirt to any volunteers
who work a shift in the booth!
We're looking for people who fit the following criteria:
* Friendly and outgoing, with a desire to meet other web authors
and fellow HWG members.
* Local to the Toronto area, or attending the conference on your own.
(We cannot reimburse booth volunteers for attendance expenses.)
* Available for a minimum of one four (4) hour shift.
(Exhibit hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday May 11 to Thursday
May 13.)
* Familiar with current Guild programs, aims, and membership levels.
* Willing to assist Guild staff as directed at the show (Heavy
lifting or other physical activity should not be required.)
If you are interested, please email your date(s) and hours of
availability, name, email address, postal address, telephone number,
and age to ann@hwg.org, using the subject line "WWW8 Volunteer".
For more announcements about the Guild's participation at WWW8,
see the next newsletter in two weeks, or subscribe to HWG-Announce!
7. Frequently Asked Questions About HWG-News
(HWG-News Newsletter Editor, editor@hwg.org)
Some questions you may be asking:
Q: Why did I get this mail?
A: You received this newsletter because you are a member of the
HTML Writers Guild. This message came from hwg-news, the Guild's
mandatory mailing list for all members. If you need more information
about hwg-news, please see the List Charter at:
http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-news/index.html
Q. Why doesn't this newsletter talk about web design or HTML?
A. The newsletter is the Guild's administrative bulletin to the
membership. If you are interested in the topics of Web design
and HTML, then you might want to subscribe to some of our
discussion lists devoted to those topics. More information on
the Guild's offering of discussion lists can be found at:
http://www.hwg.org/lists/mailinglists.html
Q. How can I find out more about Guild activities?
A. The Guild has set up a one-way announcement list, HWG-Announce,
that carries bulletins of day-to-day Guild business. For details
on how to subscribe, please see:
http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-announce/
Q: How do I unsubscribe from hwg-news?
A: Since this is a required list in order to maintain your
Guild membership, unsubscribing is the same as resigning from
the HTML Writers Guild.
If you have your Member ID and password, to resign your membership
in the Guild and to unsubscribe to hwg-news, visit:
http://www.hwg.org/member/resign.html
Fill in the pertinent information, and submit it.
If you don't have a Member ID, or have forgotten your password, send
mail to:
newapps@hwg.org
with a Subject of: Resign membership
In the body of the message, provide the following information:
* Your email address(es)
* Your member ID if you have one.
* The list of discussion lists you are on.
Please remember that unsubscribing to hwg-news automatically resigns
you from the Guild. If you have problems with unsubscribing,
please contact the Database Manager for help.
Q: Can my company advertise in the Guild's newsletter?
A: Yes; the Guild is offering sponsorship opportunities in HWG-News
on a limited basis. If you are interested in advertising your
web related product or service here, please send email to
advertising@hwg.org or call (714) 526-4963. Discounts are available
to Guild Business and Corporate members, as well as for multiple
placements. The Guild's newsletter reaches over 95,000 web authors
worldwide each month.
(Note: The Guild does not make our member database available for
third party use. We have a strong privacy policy and will not
release our members' personal information; our mailing list is
not for sale. Any questions regarding the Guild's advertising or
privacy policies can be directed to advertising@hwg.org.)
Q: What if I want to comment on this newsletter?
A: The HWG-News Mailing List is a "Read-Only" list -- please do not try
to reply to this message directly.
If you wish to contact the editor of this newsletter, you may do
so by sending email to editor@hwg.org. Each article begins with
the contact information for the author as well.
This issue was edited by Kynn Bartlett.
Copyright 1999, HTML Writers Guild, Inc., All Rights Reserved.
Published monthly via email and WWW.