Education Task Force
Mission Statement
The WaSP Education Task Force was created in 2005 to work directly with educational institutions to help raise awareness of Web standards and accessibility among instructors, administrators, and Web development teams.
Objectives
- Encourage instruction of Web standards and accessibility best practices in all Web design, interactive media, informational and computer science programs in order to prepare students for Web-related careers.
- Promote the creation of standards-compliant, accessible public Web sites and instructional tools. Understanding that legacy sites and tools exist, our goal is to help institutions aim for policies which, at a minimum, require that all new sites and instructional tools use valid, semantic markup and follow WAI Accessibility Guidelines.
- Liaise with educational institutions and related communities to promote and address the implementation of Web standards and accessibility best practices through discussion, Web standards users groups, and presentations as well as attendance and participation in industry events.
Discussion
The Education Task Force hosts a mailing list and has set up an IRC channel to encourage discussion among developers and educators working to promote Web standards in higher education.
Resources
We offer an expanding list of resources which includes a library of learning objects, archived presentations, white papers, and other resources helpful to those working with Web standards and education.
Interviews
Periodically, the Education Task force conducts interviews with those in higher education who are using Web standards, either in their curricula or in their projects. These interviews help provide information about the challenges faced and how changes are made.
Events
Find out about upcoming events such as: conferences, workshops, and webcasts. See reports from task members and others attending these events.
Examples
How institutions of higher ed are incorporating Web standards into their curricula or public sites.
We have more ideas, and would like to hear yours! Contact the WaSP Education Task Force.
The Web Standards Project is a grassroots coalition fighting for standards which ensure simple, affordable access to web technologies for all.
Recent Task Force Buzz
InterACT With Web Standards Book Released
By Chris Casciano | June 9th, 2010
You may have noticed that the InterACT curriculum team recently released its first book: InterACT With Web Standards: A Holistic Approach to Web Design. It is the first book released by WaSP, and it directly ties into the work that the Education Task Force and other contributors have put into the courses in the InterACT curriculum.
InterACT with Web Standards isn’t a paper copy (or ebook copy) of the online curriculum in textbook format but rather it takes the same motivations and wisdom that goes into the online material and creates a new tool for those trying to learn or teach the profession of building web sites in an educational setting or to the those learning in their own.
From my seat on the sidelines of the book project I found it to be one of those rare gem that provides insight from a variety of working professionals on the topics they know best — from content creation to markup to accessibility — all along the way teaching the fundamentals and craft that goes into building successful web sites. While the middle third of the book covers page building with HTML and CSS it is surrounded by discussion of topics from strategy to marketing to accessibility to something so many technical books leave off — how to use the web to keep learning about the web as it evolves.
That is the core of why I’m loving seeing the work the authors have done with this book and with the WaSP InterACT Curriculum. Education, be it in higher education settings, professional and business settings or those self educating, in our fast moving and always changing field has to cover these fundamentals and core principles as much as it is about current coding techniques or the current crop of browsers or devices. The authors, many of whom have been in the business for a decade or more, have built up knowledge of these fundamentals and work hard to pass them onto the reader.
Information about InterAct with Web Standards and its authors is available on the book’s companion website. It is worth noting that 25% of author proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the Open Web Education Alliance.
This Friday, June 11, many of the authors are participating in an online book launch event and conference. Though it is sold out, if you sign up for the waiting list you’ll be informed when tapings if the event are available.
Finally, you can read up on and support the curriculum initiatives at the WaSP InterACT Curriculum, support the Open Web Education Alliance win a grant with your vote on Drumbeat, or check out the Opera Web Standards Curriculum.
More Buzz articles
| Title | Date |
|---|---|
| Six New Courses Added to the InterACT Curriculum | March 17th, 2010 |
| Introducing The Open Web Education Alliance | June 29th, 2009 |
| The Dawn of the Education Era | March 16th, 2009 |
| Shared Passion | February 15th, 2009 |