Revisioning the uw.edu/accessibility Web Site

AccessibleWeb@U Meeting
May 26, 2010

• What should be on the http://uw.edu/accessibility/ site?
  • First we took a tour through the current site
    • Need to update W3C and 508 information
    • Some controversy whether the DIS guidelines apply to us
    • Accessibility policies at other higher education needs review and update. List currently on site is a bit old
    • Web Accessibility page defines what accessible Web design is about.
    • Procurement information is a bit out-of-date. Purchasing has not taken much interest.
    • IT Tools and Resources page is fairly up-to-date (Terry has been working on it).
      • We have an ARIA page but it is out-of-date
    • Link to other disability resources on campus
    • Frequently asked questions, mostly about how someone gets accessibility support
    • Getting Help - repeats much of what is in the FAQ page
  • Discussion
    • Need to review the Procurement information because of the new eProcurement system, which does offer energy efficient hardware, but not accessibility
    • Be nice to have AccessibleWeb@U more visible
      • UW Inclusion Network email list was just created. Might want to connect/include them
    • Who is the audience for this site?
      • People who do not understand accessibility
      • Technical people who want to know more about it
      • People who are sent here because they want to buy accessible stuff
      • Intent was to be the go-to resource for information, particularly technology
        • A resource that could be useful as a place to send people
      • More people are building sites with WordPress, Plone, or Drupal
        • Standard designs are being created that can be shared access the systems
        • Many people simply put content into an existing environment
      • There are still many people at college and school level hand managing their Web sites
        • Pharmacy still does not have a Web person
        • The new model of centrally administered CMS with distributed people providing and maintaining content is only just arriving.
      • We should visit the major ones at least every couple of years
        • Drupal
        • Plone
        • SharePoint
        • WordPress
      • Need to connect with people who are making decisions on how to set up CMSs and blog sites
        • Want to have ideas on which templates, widgets are more accessible
        • Would break into two groups - people setting up CMSs and blogs and people managing content in CMSs and blogs
      • Could we connect better with other people working on accessibility at the UW
        • Get feedback from UW Inclusion Network people
        • Groups are meeting regularly, meeting on Thursdays at 7pm seem to be the most active, but has a big social aspect
        • Planning is underway for an accessibility camp, but when is not clear
      • Should uw.edu/accessibility be a portal for accessibility for the entire campus?
        • Different groups addressing accessibility all have their own Web sites, each from their own perspective
        • What could this site be in the way of a general accessibility portal for all of the UW?
      • Could we be one of the first sites into the new Plone site? We should talk to Gina.
    • Topic for discussion: Accessibility issues of information architecture of page templates (including their site level navigation), the content placed within the template, and the relationship between the two
    • Short term project: Can we fit the YUI keyboard navigable menu into the Marketing page template.