After discussions with the client we decided that my role would be to ‘webify’ (new word) the content. So the client would write to the agreed site map, and then I would reshape it in plain language to make it findable (optimised) in search engines, usable and accessible. I documented everything in a content style guide to help future writers and content managers maintain the rage. http://www.ess.gov.au went live in January 2012.
{extended} ]]>So you may have heard that the Australian Government has endorsed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0). Having done this they now expect that Australian government websites will have the lowest level of compliance (‘A’) by December 2012. And then improve their compliance to AA level by December 2014. This will affect the states and others sometime after this.
Sounds like the public sector and their web consultants are going to be busy.
One of the pitfalls of working freelance is that you have to foot your own professional development bill. Which makes you choosey. I chose well lately, when I attended the 4 Syllables Web Accessibility for Writers and Editors workshop in Melbourne.
Our instructor Dey Alexander knows her stuff about making content accessible and compliant with WCAG2.0 standards – she waded through the tomes of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0), identified the 6 success criteria that relate to written content on the WWW, and explained them. With notes and examples.
There’s always more you can learn about producing great content. This course was a great way to get on with it.
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Did you know that almost 50 per cent of Australians aged 15-74 years have literacy issues (source: ABS Adult literacy and lifeskills survey 2006). Think about them next time you write lengthy passages of text dotted with acronyms and jargon. The recommendation is to write content to a target audience of an year 7-9 high school student.
Make it clear, concise and use plain language. Cut out the long words.
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Difficult to determine our expectations, of uncertain requirements and a flexible launch date - this project has brought immeasurable pleasure and satisfaction to his target audience (a small circle of family and friends).
And so I am now slowly gettting back to work.
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Curious? Read the Queen's speech for yourself
{extended} ]]>Two-and-a-bit years’ of work and we have a new website for the National Gallery of Victoria. This comprehensive project included new designs, new technology and content reviews. My role? A bit of everything. This project was a rare joy for a content specialist – the content really was treated as king, and informed, influenced or dictated all aspects of the site.
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Decided to celebrate my fourth year of working for myself as a content specialist (predominantly) in the online world, with a new look. Elliot from eliptus designed my much-admired business card, and I was so happy with it that I decided to ask him to extend the design to a letterhead and design for my website. Ben Bailey cleverly took the design and wrote nice clean html and css and integrated it into my CMS. So now you can read what I have to say against a backdrop of super hero flying Ms and that lovely swimming pool turquoise/blue. Thanks Elliot. Thanks Ben.
{extended} ]]>Famous for its diet of parochial, sensational news served up by the likes of Fox and CNN, the USA is also home to some really wonderful publications. I LOVE the New York Times (and am happy to admit that I might be influenced by the fact that it comes from one of my favourite places in the world). Why do I love it? Mainly for its tone and use of language.
I also love the diverse range of publications on the newsstand in this country. I tripped over Mother Jones while in Washington and was blown away by the quality of the writing and the ideas and issues tackled. Their claim on the cover of producing 'smart, fearless journalism' is confirmed as you flick through the formidable table of contents (March and April issue: articles about the why the US food system is rotten, Obama, the environment and the economy, adoption, inside forgotten psychiatric hospitals, and more) and for the low low price of $5.95.
{extended} ]]>I love Helen Thomas. She's an 88-year-old who is still working at the White House press pool as a reporter, who is not afraid to criticise the administration, the mainstream media and the journalists working for it, and says she has always planned to die in her boots. I found an interview by John Greenya in the free Washington Flyer that contained a few exquisite quotes:
"The more we know the better off we are. An informed people is very important to democracy - and we might be able to prevent some bloodshed."
"The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself."
"...So many presidents do not rise to the people's expectations, because to be president is top of the mark - ain't no other place to go..."
{extended} ]]>I have started getting really interested in the educational opportunities that the Web offers students and their teachers.
For the past 18 months I have been project manager of the National Gallery of Victoria's Broadband Innovation Fund project (known as 'BIF'), which was funded to create innovative online resources for education audiences using works from the NGV collection.
Today at Museums and the Web, i attended a presentation about ArtsEdConnect is a particularly good example of the power of the Web and its benefits to education audiences. Its presenters claimed 14,000 teachers trained, 1 million users, and 200,000 art collector 'sets' devised by teachers since it launched in 1997. It will be great to see the new redesigned website when it launches on 4 May.
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