Judge: Disabilities Act doesn't cover Web By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com October 21, 2002, 3:04 PM PT update A federal judge ruled Friday that Southwest Airlines does not have to revamp its Web site to make it more accessible to the blind. In the first case of its kind, U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz said the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies only to physical spaces, such as restaurants and movie theaters, and not to the Internet. "To expand the ADA to cover 'virtual' spaces would be to create new rights without well-defined standards," Seitz wrote in a 12-page opinion dismissing the case. "The plain and unambiguous language of the statute and relevant regulations does not include Internet Web sites." http://news.com.com/2100-1023-962761.html jeremy hunsinger jhuns@vt.edu on the ibook www.cddc.vt.edu www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments
Greetings AoIRfolk, I'm looking for a good text to use in an undergraduate web production class (Comm Dept)-- something technically sound but accessible, preferably grounded in some solid design principles. Any suggestions? Has anyone used Weinman's creative html design.2? Also, the last time I taught a web production class was four years ago, and I know things have changed since then (it was a straight HTML class, no stylesheets even!). I'd love to hear from others who have more recent experience both teaching and coding. What languages/skills/technologies/etc. do you consider to be crucial nowadays? As in, "You'd be doing those students a HUGE disservice if they leave the course without learning --X---!" Thanks, Nicole
I, too, am teaching a web production course in the spring and would be quite eager to hear what others consider good texts and essential areas to be covered. ~Jenny
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-admin@aoir.org [mailto:air-l-admin@aoir.org] On Behalf Of Nicole Ellison Sent: Saturday, October 26, 2002 12:04 AM To: air-l@aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] Undergraduate HTML text
Greetings AoIRfolk,
I'm looking for a good text to use in an undergraduate web production class (Comm Dept)-- something technically sound but accessible, preferably grounded in some solid design principles. Any suggestions? Has anyone used Weinman's creative html design.2?
Also, the last time I taught a web production class was four years ago, and I know things have changed since then (it was a straight HTML class, no stylesheets even!). I'd love to hear from others who have more recent experience both teaching and coding. What languages/skills/technologies/etc. do you consider to be crucial nowadays? As in, "You'd be doing those students a HUGE disservice if they leave the course without learning --X---!"
Thanks, Nicole
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I, too, am teaching a web production course in the spring and would be quite eager to hear what others consider good texts and essential areas to be covered.
Core components of CSS (Good inventory of CSS resources at http://www.web-graphics.com) box model display types (block, inline, table, none) Javascript for dynamically changing styles Core components of DOM (document object model) and Javascript methods -- This provides the essentials for cross browser DHTML, functional in Win/IE Mac, all platforms in Mozilla. See http://www.zvon.org for useful DOM reference. document.getElementById() document.getElementByAttribute() Parent/child node operators innerHTML (not w3c, but de facto standard) Accessing form element values. Enabling/disabling form elements. See http://uzilla.net/uzilla/using_uzilla/design.cfm or http://clemsontraining.com/schedule.html for demos of the power of w3c compliant scripting methods. At this point, Netscape 4 is only worth dealing with in the context of graceful degradation (see wired.com design in NS4). Mozilla is a great way to teach this stuff. The DOM Inspector and, to a lessor degree, the Javascript debugger provide excellent tools and otherwise unavailable tools. It turns out, the UI in Mozilla is written in an alternate to HTML (called XUL, pronounced "xool") that has a largely w3c based DOM, so there are more advanced opportunities there. The full text of the O'Reilly book on Mozilla is available btw: http://books.mozdev.org/chapters/index.html Chapter 5 on scripting offers a good introduction to DOM. There's a college curriculum development effort just getting underway: http://mozilla-university.dnsalias.org/cgi-bin/wiki?HomePage Alas, I don't have much input on the low end of a curriculum -- I teach a couple from MacroMedia classes that involve hands-on project based instruction, drilling in table construction and presentation markup through practice with a touch of css (http://www.macromedia.com/support/training/instructor_led_curriculum/ft_to_ html.html) hth, Andy Edmonds Human Factors, Clemson Univ 864-624-9776 http://www.clemson.edu/~kedmond
I guess it depends on the level and the amount of time, but i'd suggest (in a sorta technical level order): Basic HTML concepts and then build through Dreamweaver Some combination of Photoshop/Illustrator/Fireworks/Freehand Flash PHP & MySQL And possibly throwing in basic setup/design of Webblogs (i.e. MoveableType) and that movement (which is still new and interesting, always a motivation for students and can definitely get into the comm perspective). Of course, this is just the technological section of it... danah On Fri, 25 Oct 2002, Nicole Ellison wrote:
I'm looking for a good text to use in an undergraduate web production class (Comm Dept)-- something technically sound but accessible, preferably grounded in some solid design principles. Any suggestions? Has anyone used Weinman's creative html design.2?
-- - - - - - - - - - d a n a h ( d o t ) o r g - - - - - - - - - and they say that the truth will set you free but then again, so will a lie it depends if you're trying to get to the promised land or if you're just trying to get by - - Bring V-Day to your community: www.vday.org/organize - -
I've had some success going in the other order. Talking about higher-order design issues up front, then doing some work in Photoshop, and THEN talking about HTML and Dreamweaver. I've also run into the "Comm majors aren't computer science" argument more than once. HTML isn't rocket science, and in my experience students have a harder time with computer *anxiety* than they do with actually learning some of the basic coding. In fact, they often are surprised at how easy it is, and have a really good time with it, once they get over that initial timidness. Dreamweaver is great (I use it a lot), but it is a helpful tool and not a replacement for knowing some HTML. I tried a couple of texts, and found the students liked Elizabeth Castro's book. It does a good job of demonstrating each new bit of information with a chunk of working code. Finally, for flexibility's sake, I would push Python rather than PHP, if I were to do any scripting in an intro class. I've tried, but at least in the quarter system it usually turns out that we run out of steam before we hit anything on CGI. Were I to teach it again, I'd follow Danah's advice and instead do a couple of weeks on installing existing scripts, including some of the basics out there as well as Moveable Type, etc.. Of course, you need to have that HTML grounding to be able to do this effectively, I think Alex -----Original Message----- From: air-l-admin@aoir.org [mailto:air-l-admin@aoir.org]On Behalf Of aoir.z3z@danah.org Sent: Saturday, October 26, 2002 1:26 PM To: air-l@aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-l] Undergraduate HTML text I guess it depends on the level and the amount of time, but i'd suggest (in a sorta technical level order): Basic HTML concepts and then build through Dreamweaver Some combination of Photoshop/Illustrator/Fireworks/Freehand Flash PHP & MySQL And possibly throwing in basic setup/design of Webblogs (i.e. MoveableType) and that movement (which is still new and interesting, always a motivation for students and can definitely get into the comm perspective). Of course, this is just the technological section of it... danah On Fri, 25 Oct 2002, Nicole Ellison wrote:
I'm looking for a good text to use in an undergraduate web production class (Comm Dept)-- something technically sound but accessible, preferably grounded in some solid design principles. Any suggestions? Has anyone used Weinman's creative html design.2?
-- - - - - - - - - - d a n a h ( d o t ) o r g - - - - - - - - - and they say that the truth will set you free but then again, so will a lie it depends if you're trying to get to the promised land or if you're just trying to get by - - Bring V-Day to your community: www.vday.org/organize - - _______________________________________________ Air-l mailing list Air-l@aoir.org http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l
Dear all, Recently I've started working on my Ph.D. on P2P technology and online games. I've been wondering who is studying P2P as well, not only in the field of computer science but for example media studies, etc.? Are there any organisations 'out there' that I can join? Another question: I've heard about a P2P-congress in Australia (sometime this year), does anyone know about that or know where I can find some info about the topics? Thanks!!! Shenja Vandergraaf ******* Communication and Information Studies, Media & Re/Presentation Universiteit Utrecht / MIT (USA) Kromme Nieuwegracht 29, #1.10 NL - 3512 HD Utrecht phone: +31 (0)30 253 7734 fax: +31 (0)30 253 6167 email: shenja.vandergraaf@let.uu.nl *******
Shenja, We've been studying p2p in the context of online learning and community formation. Check out http://educommons.org/ as well as our Computer Mediated Social Networks and Informal Learning (cm-snail) pages at http://wiley.ed.usu.edu/snail/ David On Sun, 27 Oct 2002, Shenja Vandergraaf wrote:
Dear all,
Recently I've started working on my Ph.D. on P2P technology and online games. I've been wondering who is studying P2P as well, not only in the field of computer science but for example media studies, etc.? Are there any organisations 'out there' that I can join? Another question: I've heard about a P2P-congress in Australia (sometime this year), does anyone know about that or know where I can find some info about the topics?
Thanks!!! Shenja Vandergraaf ******* Communication and Information Studies, Media & Re/Presentation Universiteit Utrecht / MIT (USA) Kromme Nieuwegracht 29, #1.10 NL - 3512 HD Utrecht phone: +31 (0)30 253 7734 fax: +31 (0)30 253 6167 email: shenja.vandergraaf@let.uu.nl *******
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Shenja, My dissertation topic is community and social capital in online games, and I'm in the communication department at Michigan, so yes, there are media people doing related work. I think there are a handful of researchers doing non-effects work on games, primarily other Ph.D. and Masters students, but a few notable faculty as well. Most of this work seems to be done in England and Northern Europe. There are some good web resources out there I can suggest. Probably the best listserver to join is the Digiplay listserve run via Topica.com by two good researchers in England who have been very active in organizing the research community. It also has some interested industry types on it. joystick101.org is a good site for researchers and students. The professional industry lists that are useful are located at gamasutra.com and the igda.org. I taught a class on game technology, policy and social issues earlier this year (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dcwillia/Comm479.html), and I maintained a page of some useful links at http://www- personal.umich.edu/~dcwillia/Gamepages.html Hope that helps, Dmitri On Sunday, October 27, 2002, at 07:50 AM, Shenja Vandergraaf wrote:
Dear all,
Recently I've started working on my Ph.D. on P2P technology and online games. I've been wondering who is studying P2P as well, not only in the field of computer science but for example media studies, etc.? Are there any organisations 'out there' that I can join? Another question: I've heard about a P2P-congress in Australia (sometime this year), does anyone know about that or know where I can find some info about the topics?
Thanks!!! Shenja Vandergraaf ******* Communication and Information Studies, Media & Re/Presentation Universiteit Utrecht / MIT (USA) Kromme Nieuwegracht 29, #1.10 NL - 3512 HD Utrecht phone: +31 (0)30 253 7734 fax: +31 (0)30 253 6167 email: shenja.vandergraaf@let.uu.nl *******
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**************** Dmitri Williams Ph.D. Candidate University of Michigan Department of Communication Studies dcwillia@umich.edu http://www.umich.edu/~dcwillia
I know these exist - where people have produced plays (embodied ones on "real" stages, I mean) based on internet interactions etc. Does anyone have info on such performances and stagings and scriptings? sorry if I sound really vague... I'm trying to remember from a few years ago when I saw one such event advertised. r
Rich MacKinnon and others at UT-Austin's ACTLab wrote and performed an opera...see http://www.cyberopera.org/ Sj At 7:53 AM -0500 10/27/02, radhika gajjala wrote:
I know these exist - where people have produced plays (embodied ones on "real" stages, I mean) based on internet interactions etc. Does anyone have info on such performances and stagings and scriptings?
sorry if I sound really vague... I'm trying to remember from a few years ago when I saw one such event advertised. r
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thanks! r At 07:01 AM 10/27/2002 -0600, you wrote:
Rich MacKinnon and others at UT-Austin's ACTLab wrote and performed an opera...see http://www.cyberopera.org/
Sj
At 7:53 AM -0500 10/27/02, radhika gajjala wrote:
I know these exist - where people have produced plays (embodied ones on "real" stages, I mean) based on internet interactions etc. Does anyone have info on such performances and stagings and scriptings?
sorry if I sound really vague... I'm trying to remember from a few years ago when I saw one such event advertised. r
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Radhika Gajjala _______________________ http://www.cyberdiva.org
Check out NYU. I vaguely remember a group of students creating plays such as this/these. -Robert On Sun, 27 Oct 2002, radhika gajjala wrote:
I know these exist - where people have produced plays (embodied ones on "real" stages, I mean) based on internet interactions etc. Does anyone have info on such performances and stagings and scriptings?
sorry if I sound really vague... I'm trying to remember from a few years ago when I saw one such event advertised. r
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Radhika, you might be thinking of Adriene Jenik at UCSD. she produces "desktop theater" which is a fascinating (and fantastic) project. more here: http://visarts.ucsd.edu/faculty/ajenik.htm and http://leda.ucsd.edu/~ajenik/main/files/m_1.htm david silver On Sun, 27 Oct 2002, radhika gajjala wrote:
I know these exist - where people have produced plays (embodied ones on "real" stages, I mean) based on internet interactions etc. Does anyone have info on such performances and stagings and scriptings?
sorry if I sound really vague... I'm trying to remember from a few years ago when I saw one such event advertised. r
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Hi, I've got a set of class notes for an introductory Internet Design class up on my site at: => http://www.dannybutt.net/teaching.html (Scroll down for the zip file) The notes above are more from a design perspective, and are 18 months old. They precede an Advanced course that covers CSS, Javascript, etc.. Weiman's book is OK, but not straightforward and contains conflicting advice. I would probably recommend Elizabeth Castro's book which I've seen used with great success: => http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321130073 IMHO it's important to think about whether your students are primarily coming from a writing background, a technical background, or a visual design background. I would caution against a general approach where students attempt to resolve ambitious projects incorporating content, design, and coding. If your students will go into professional environments in 2003 it's highly unlikely that they will be coding individual pages from scratch, as sites are increasingly produced through Content Management Systems (of which weblogs are a variety), where the technical and visual aspects of the site are set via prebuilt templates and functionality.
participants (14)
-
Alexander C Halavais -
Andy Edmonds -
aoir.z3z@danah.org -
Danny Butt -
david silver -
David Wiley -
Dmitri Williams -
Jennifer Stromer-Galley -
jeremy hunsinger -
Nicole Ellison -
radhika gajjala -
robert m. tynes -
Shenja Vandergraaf -
Steve Jones