Task Forces' Latest
Accessibility TF
The Accessibility Task Force works with accessibility organizations, technology vendors and others to help promote Web accessibility.
WebAIM screenreader survey…the results are in
Hat-tip to ATF member Jared Smith:WebAIM recently conducted a survey of preferences of screen reader users. With over 1100 responses, the results of this survey provide much useful information about screen reader user demographics and preferences. Some of the ...
By Patrick Lauke | January 31st, 2009
Acid3
Acid3 is a test of dynamic browser capabilities which exists to encourage browser vendors to focus on interoperability.
Acid3 receptions and misconceptions and do we have a winner?
Acid3 progress and what it really means.
By Lars Gunther | October 2nd, 2008
Adobe TF
The Adobe Task Force collaborates with Adobe on products that output Web code or content and advocates Web standards to users.
Announcing the Adobe Task Force
Today WaSP announced that the Dreamweaver Task Force will be renamed the Adobe Task Force to reflect a widened scope.
By Stephanie Sullivan | March 10th, 2008
Education TF
The Education Task Force works with educational institutions to promote instruction of Web standards and standards-compliant public sites.
Shared Passion
Something magical happens when you put a group of people that have a shared passion in the same room together. We're not just talking "excitement" here, either. We're talking passion -- the kind that keeps the fire in the belly ...
By Derek Featherstone | February 15th, 2009
Microsoft TF
WaSP and Microsoft work collaboratively on issues related to Web standards support in Microsoft products, including Internet Explorer.
Microsoft rethinks IE8’s default behavior
Perhaps it was our complaining or perhaps it was a reconsideration of its own interoperability principles, but Microsoft has decided to change its course on IE8 and will opt-in to its new standards mode by default.
By Aaron Gustafson | March 3rd, 2008
Street Team
The WaSP Street Team runs community projects to get the message about Web standards out everywhere.
Street Team: Make Your Mark
The WaSP Street Team launches its first community project: bookmarks which you can place in libraries, schools, and bookstores to help signal to readers that the material is out of date.
By Glenda Sims | March 8th, 2008
The Web Standards Project is a grassroots coalition fighting for standards which ensure simple, affordable access to web technologies for all.
Recent Buzz
Web Standards in Indonesia - a university web developer perspective
By Henny Swan | February 20th, 2009
When in Indonesia Bruce Lawson, co-lead of the Accessibility Task Force, got the opportunity to interview Widianto Nugroho from Institut Teknologi Bandung. What follows is the transcript of their chat as well as links to useful resources for anyone interested in web standards in Indonesia.
Take it away Bruce!
I was recently lucky enough to travel around some universities in Indonesia, lecturing on emerging web standards as part of an Opera University Tour. In Indonesia, web standards are not widespread although interest is growing. One group who are really on the ball are the team behind the website of Institut Teknologi Bandung, a technology institute who hosted a lecture. I spoke to one of the team, Widianto Nugroho about his work, and standards in the world’s third most populous country.
How big is the ITB web team?
Our team consists of five people, two web designers, and three programmers. We are responsible for development of web application of the ITB website as well as maintaining its day-to-day operation. Websites of other sub-units (faculties, schools, programs, offices, etc.) are run by each unit’s webmasters/admins. We work with other teams, such as the reporter team that is responsible for the content, and sys admin team that responsible for running the servers.
When and why did you decide to use web standards?
Tableless layout was implemented in 2004. Before that, we still used tables for layout purposes due to the lack of browser support before that time, but used valid tags and a proper doctype. We use web standards because:
- we want our web site to be accessible with any browser. During the browser wars, we decided that this was the right direction for developing our site.
- we need interoperability in our information system. There are many applications developed by many teams. The ITB main website is just one of those applications.
Did you meet your goals by using the standards?
Yes. standards make our web works better in any browser, and they give us a good foundation for developing our website in the future.
What is the hardest part about trying to use standards?
It is hard, trying to use standards in the beginning. After that, our job became a lot more easier with standards; we can make any improvement more easily.
Do you have any connection with the W3C?
No, not yet, but my team has proposed ITB to join W3C in the next year. I hope ITB can participate in the development of standards, especially for web technologies for developing countries.
Looking more broadly, how wide-spread are standards in Indonesia? Why? What could be done to encourage use of standards?
I don’t know exactly, but some of web designers/developers and blogger activists that I know are very concerned about web standards. What could be done is through education and workshops about why web standards are important.
What are the biggest challenges facing the web in Indonesia today?
The biggest challenges in my opinion are:
- the habit of developers, especially those who come from pre-tableless era.
- there are no government regulations relating to the technical implementation of the web, such as regulation for governmental websites. The government policy that relates to the IT area is legislation called Undang-undang tentang Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik or the Law Information and Electronic Transactions, which does not cover web standards, browser compatibility or accessibility issues.
Are web standards taught in schools, universities and other places of education?
No. In secondary school level, there is a vocational type of school that specializes in Informatics/Computer Science (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan Informatika/SMK Informatika) where web design and development are taught. However, the content of the curriculum in this level is more concentrated on the Web in general, how to build it, and make use of the available tools/software.
The educational system currently employed in primary and secondary schools in Indonesia is decentralized in nature. With this system each educational unit (school) can tailor their own curriculum based on their localities, needs, etc. Hence, the implementation of the web design/development curriculum can be different from one school to another. It is similar to the higher education system; for example, in the Informatics Program here at ITB there is no course about web standards, neither is there in our Visual Communication Design Program.
In other places, most of the courses relate to the tools/software, programming languages and databases such as PHP/MySQL, or to particular platform such as .NET.
How aware is the average web designer about web standards and, if not, why not?
I believe that awareness of web standards is growing among web designers in Indonesia. However, I can’t yet say that all of the designers are using web standards properly. Some designers are submitting their work to CSS showcase such us the CSSmania.com, etc. This situation is supported by significant contributions by some individuals who promote web standards through blogs, mailing lists and forums.
Are there many resources in Bahasa Indonesian?
There are some resources:
Mailing list/Forums:
- Massive Lab Forum massivelab.com (design in general)
- Teknologia @googlegroups (information technology in general)
- WebPM @yahoogroups (practicing web designers/developers)
- Wordpress Indonesia @googlegroups
- Drupal Indonesia @drupal.org
Blogs:
Who are the influential bloggers?
Influential bloggers that I know:
A huge thank you from WaSP and for taking the time to be interviewed, and for carrying the web standards torch in Indonesia!
Filed in Accessibility, International Liaison Group, Web Standards (general) | Comments (0)