Re: Training page -- new draft, please comment

Karl,

At 04:51 PM 6/8/00 -0400, karl.hebenstreit@gsa.gov wrote:
>
>This will be a great resource, and is quite timely.  

Great. Thanks for all your comments here, these are helpful.

>As Judy and Chuck are
>aware, my office is providing auditorium-style training to webmasters in
>the federal government.   Our next classes won't be until June 27th, so it
>might be possible for us to test some of these ideas on a large sample size
>(our first four sessions had about 450 registrants -- haven't had time to
>identify the number of actual attendees, and we have 14 more sessions
>scheduled).    

It would be good if we can spend some time tomorrow discussing the ideas on
the resource page, then, because not all of these have been equally well
road-tested.

>An additional resourcethat would be EXTREMELY useful would
>be to have "one-page" guides (print on a single piece of paper) on specific
>problem areas, such as PDF, Java, JavaScript, dynamic webpages. 

There are many resources mentioned on the list that would be helpful to
develop further -- as you and Chuck have mentioned, the "How People with
Disabilities Use the Web" is critical to get in a usable format as soon as
we can. I'll be editing in some of our previous comments to that shortly,
and putting it out for more discussion. 

But there's a bit of a problem with W3C developing guides on accessibility
approaches or concerns with non-W3C, proprietary technologies. W3C is not
necessarily in a position to make unilateral representations regarding
problems or issues in other technologies -- however, it is possible that
such guidance might be developed jointly with other organizations, and in
fact WAI is beginning one or two such discussions.

>I would
>see this as an separate page, such as "Topic Guides",   "Topics", or
>"Guides".

Depends how many things we'd be putting on there that would be specific to
training. There's also the possibility of linking back to a central "WAI
Resources" page -- (different from the "WAI References" page which includes
a number of external links (and which needs to be updated) and different
from the "Training Resources" page. The "WAI Resources" page which we've
talked about quite a while ago will either be a directory of or include
very short blurbs on the whole range of WAI-produced W3C Recommendations,
Proposed Recommendations, Working Drafts, Notes, and WAI EOWG Resource Pages.

>Planning
>
>   Good framework for training development.  It's really a cyclical process
>   where trainer perspectives can provide valuable feedback for determining
>   needs and managing expectations

Can't wait to read those trainer perspectives. Karl, can you draft one,
based on the GSA trainings you've been organizing? We'll may
mix/match/combine topics and perspectives, but might help to set a blurb
about your trainings.

>Learning Objectives:  What does the audience need?
>
>   This should be part of any registration form/process.   I can try to
>   incorporate this into our online registration process (retroactively get
>   feedback from people who have attended one of our first four sessions).
>   I know we need to address the NOSCRIPT part of our registration form,
>   but I'd welcome feedback on any outstanding accessibility issues:
>        http://w3.gsa.gov/web/m/cita.nsf/CourseRegistration2?OpenForm

The trouble with giving people the whole list would be making sure to
manage expectations. Realistically, only a fraction of the objectives can
be addressed in any one session.

>Learning Objectives:  What are the audience's learning objectives?
>
>   This should be part of any registration and evaluation or feedback
>   form/process.   I can try to incorporate this into our online
>   registration process (retroactively get feedback from people who have
>   attended one of our first four sessions).   Registration forms are much
>   easier to deal with online than evaluation forms, unless participants
>   each have access to a computer with web access.
>
>Resources and Approaches
>
>   Great to have resources and approaches linked to specific learning
>   objectives.   Encouraging trainers to submit perspective documents
>   could lead to additional learning objectives, and help identify more
>   resources for each objective.   

I don't think we should have unlimited perspectives, though.

>Subsequent trainers would have more
>   "raw" material readily available to use in their course, although our
>   experience so far raises substantial issues with the need for printed
>   and alternate format materials (we distributed about 300 copies of a
>   28-page, double-sided handout).    What is the best method for providing
>   alternate formats for a slide show presentation?

Several methods. Large print, braille, disk, Web...

>Arranging Resources for Trainings
>
>   Online or offline?    Working offline requires extensive copying of all
>   files (all graphics as well as HTML), although only copying the HTML
>   file provides a clear indication of whether or not people are using ALT
>   text since all images are "broken links".   Online is particular
>   effective if you include a live demonstration of real webpages by one or
>   more people with disabilities.  Having one or more representatives of
>   the disability community presenting also provides better discussions,
>   since they can relate actual experiences.
>
>
>Karl Hebenstreit, Jr.
>US General Services Administration
>Office of Governmentwide Policy
>Center for Information Technology Accommodation
>http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov/cita
>Federal IT Accessibility Initiative
>http://www.section508.gov
>
>
>
>
>
-- 
Judy Brewer    jbrewer@w3.org    +1.617.258.9741    http://www.w3.org/WAI
Director, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) International Program Office
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
MIT/LCS Room NE43-355, 545 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA,  02139,  USA

Received on Thursday, 8 June 2000 20:38:59 UTC