[Nfb-web] : Web Design as a Career

Fri Mar 6 11:59:15 UTC 2009

To respond to Peter's comments, I agree that the podcasts and conferencing
are vehicles that should be looked at.

To comment on Everett's observations, what I am focused on is the middle and
high school, college age students. It could be someone older that seriously
is interested and motivated to learn about programming as a career. I really
believe that we don't spend very much time on this group. So, thinking of
that group, there needs to introductory, hands-on learning of programming. I
view it more like using conferencing (skype) and working within groups
(teams). I will be placing on the webmaster drupal site a "Framework of NFB
Applications" which will be a list of areas to investigate, explore, solve
and implement. This certainly will be up for review and comment. I'm a super
big believer that down and dirty, self learning beats a class environment.
There is more commitment, hard work and satisfaction at the results. That
doesn't mean that podcast and other vehicles cannot be used. In fact, these
vehicles themselves are a great learning exercise for them. I agree totally
that accessibility technology and software development must be a core part
of the instruction. One of the key skills to get an edge on sited
competitors, is the accessibility software expertise.

Arnold

On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 7:59 PM, E.J. Zufelt <everett at zufelt.ca> wrote:

> Good evening,
>
> I am not writing to disagree with what you have said.  However, I would
> like to know how NFB related web training is different than any other web
> development training that a student could receive from a university,
> college, o self education?
>
> My thought is that NFB related web training should focus on the things that
> are not taught very well in other programs, primarily accessibility and
> usability.
>
> Everett
>
>
>
> On 5-Mar-09, at 6:14 PM, Peter Donahue wrote:
>
>  Good afternoon everyone,
>>
>>   Joe's a great student. I had the pleasure of training him several months
>> ago. One idea would be a podcast to instruct students in the basics of Web
>> design.I've had multiple individuals urge me to start a Web Design
>> Podcast.
>> Another would be via online conference rooms such as those operated by
>> Talking Communities, EASI, and similar services. The Youth SLAM isn't the
>> only venue through which the federation could offer introductory and later
>> on advanced Web design training. Others have done it with a pretty good
>> degree of success. Our challenge would be to see what we can do to build
>> on
>> what they have done and take it to the next level. This will be an
>> exciting
>> endeavor in the coming year.
>>
>> Peter Donahue
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Joe Orozco" <JOrozco at ysa.org>
>> To: "NFB Webmaster's List" <nfb-web at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 1:25 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-web] Web Design as a Career
>>
>>
>> Never mind talking about it.  There is clearly a collection of good
>> talent here.  Get a web site going and start teaching.  I'll be one of
>> your first students.  If something formal is organized with the Jernigan
>> Institute later, great, but in the meantime, don't let time rob us of a
>> learning opportunity.
>>
>> Joe Orozco, Associate Grants Manager
>> Youth Service America
>> 1101 15th Street NW
>> Suite 200
>> Washington D.C. 20005
>> Phone: 202-296-2992 Ext. 122
>> E-Mail: jorozco at ysa.org
>> www.ysa.org
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfb-web-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-web-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Peter Donahue
>> Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 11:53 AM
>> To: NFB Webmaster's List
>> Subject: [Nfb-web] Web Design as a Career
>>
>> Good morning everyone,
>>
>>   Following on with Arnold's comments this is something I've been
>> thinking
>> about for a while. Web Site Design and Management falls under Technology
>> in
>> the STEM acronym we often hear discussed in conversations concerning our
>>
>> science initiative. We have a Youth SLAM coming up this summer; a
>> wonderful
>> opportunity to introduce blind youngsters to the World of Web Site
>> planning,
>> design, construction, and management. Will a Web Design Track be a part
>> of
>> this year's Youth SLAM Program? If you asked me it should be! Given all
>> of
>> us who successfully build and manage Web sites for our affiliates and
>> other
>> entities and the all-ready rich amount of resources available to assist
>> blind Web developers we should be doing more to inspire more blind youth
>> to
>> consider Web Development as a career.
>>
>>   Gary Wunder and I have had some correspondence concerning this
>> matter. I
>> believe one of the biggest issues to be resolved is how best to do it. I
>>
>> suggested to him that a portion of this year's Webmasters Workshop be
>> devoted to developing strategies as to how to inspire more blind people
>> to
>> seriously consider becoming Web developers.
>>
>> In discussing building Web sites for some of our affiliates the
>> question
>> has been asked, "Whose going to fill your shoes" when you leave this
>> World.
>> Although I enjoy creating and servicing affiliate Web sites I recognize
>> that
>> I'm not going to live forever. This and the all ready significant number
>> of
>> blind Web professionals has lead me to believe that this is a career
>> more
>> blind individuals should give serious consideration and that we as a
>> group
>> should play a part in making that happen.
>>
>> I've given this matter some thought and have casually tried out some
>> ideas
>> for teaching particular concepts to other blind people. The NFB Jernigan
>>
>> Institute doesn't run from a challenge. I'm hoping we can partner with
>> them
>> to develop new and innovative ways of instructing blind persons in Web
>> site
>> design and maintenance to ensure that our Web resources will continue to
>>
>> grow and be cared for and to create new Web entities if and when they're
>>
>> needed. I'll look forward to reading the feedback.
>>
>> Peter Donahue
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Arnold Bailey" <arnoldbail at gmail.com>
>> To: "NFB Webmaster's List" <nfb-web at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 6:19 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-web] NFB-WEB Sandbox
>>
>>
>> Mike.
>>
>> Thanks to Everett and yourself for the comments.
>>
>> My interest in Drupal is twofold.
>>
>>  1. Curiosity and to expand my knowledge.
>>  2. I have this vision of creating a platform to draw blind and
>> visually
>>  impaired students into investigating programming as a career. It
>> would be
>>  great if it was at a national level; but, a chapter level is ok. With
>> 70%
>>  unemployment in our community, there is obviously a great need. I
>> must
>>  admit, though, that, other than Peter D,, I've found zero support.
>> But, I
>>  can't give up the vision without feeling I've let down a lot of kids.
>> The
>>  Drupal development platform and learning support activities that it
>>  requires, I think, is a great learning mechanism.
>>
>> Arnold
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 11:28 AM, Michael Hansen <mhansen4 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  Arnold,
>>>
>>> Everett is correct. My thought on the matter would be how much do you
>>> want the ISP to take care of versus how much are you the Admin willing
>>> to take care of?
>>>
>>> Mike
>>> ---
>>> Mike Hansen
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 9:20 AM, E.J. Zufelt <everett at zufelt.ca> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Good morning,
>>>>
>>>> If the ISP supports mysQL and PHP it takes about 20 minutes to
>>>>
>>> install
>>
>>> Drupal for a hosting account.
>>>>
>>>> HTH,
>>>> Everett
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 4-Mar-09, at 8:37 AM, Arnold Bailey wrote:
>>>>
>>>>  Mike,
>>>>>
>>>>> Very nice work. I did notice that in firefox the navigation side
>>>>>
>>>> bar is
>>
>>> located into the center of the webmasters sandbox page. In IE it's
>>>>> fine.
>>>>>
>>>>> One question I have. Is there any thoughts given to affiliate and
>>>>>
>>>> chapters
>>>
>>>> usage of drupal? It seems like it would make sense for the
>>>>>
>>>> affiliate
>>
>>> and
>>>>> chapters to pull a drupal theme and NFB applications and use them
>>>>>
>>>> on
>>
>>> their
>>>
>>>> site, The problem is that drupal is not usually found on most ISPs.
>>>>>
>>>> I
>>
>>> would
>>>>> think that a single ISP that has drupal support would be cost
>>>>>
>>>> effectively
>>>
>>>> justified.
>>>>>
>>>>> Arnold
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 11:38 PM, Michael Hansen
>>>>>
>>>> <mhansen4 at gmail.com>
>>
>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>  The Sandbox is now up and running on our website. If you want to
>>>>>>
>>>>> play
>>
>>> around with a drupal install and not have to worry about breaking
>>>>>> something there is one there for you. If you want to experiment
>>>>>>
>>>>> with
>>
>>> other things just create a sub directory off of the root and dorp
>>>>>>
>>>>> in
>>
>>> your code. Complete login information is posted on our website.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Let me know if you have questions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Mike
>>>>>> ---
>>>>>> Mike Hansen
>>>>>>
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