Web Accessibility Resource for Technology Stewards

I received an email today from a kind woman named Lilly Ward who pointed out that one of the resources I often promote, http://www.timeanddate.com for planning multi timezone meetings was not so friendly for people with different kinds of access issues.

I am Lily Ward, I noticed that you link to timezoneconverter.com (http://fullcirc.com/wp/2009/05/29/technology-stewardship-at-libraries-free-online-event/) Unfortunately, it isn’t very accessible for sight impaired individuals. Would you consider adding a link to a more accessible site like thetimenow.com which is WCAG 2.0 compliant? (Edit, 9/21/16 – thetimenow.com has asked us to remove all links so you just see the name, not the link. This is interesting because Lily keeps emailing me to ADD this link, and now I have to remove it. NW)

Also, if you ever want to see how accessible a page is, I recommend http://wave.webaim.org. It is really helpful.

First, thanks, Lilly, I appreciate that you took the time to share your knowledge. Second, the web accessibility tool I used to use disappeared, so I’m happy to see http://wave.webaim.org . The only downside is realizing how many challenges my own site offers people with accessibility differences. Uh oh…

webaccessibility

 

Relate and Liberate: Techniques for Online Learner Engagment

threelegsOne of the events from Novembers ISS Fellowship in Victoria State, Australia, was at Melbourne Polytechnic. We had a handful of people interested in participating virtually, but I really wanted to give them my FULL attention, not split between the F2F and the online group. So earlier this month we did an hour together online. You can watch the recording here – please note, there is a LOT going on in the chat, so read it if you decide to look at the recording.

The slides and notes artifact is here: RelateandliberateOnlineVersionFinal

So You Want to Host a Web Meeting? A Resource

webconferencingA long time ago in a planet far far away, a group of people asked if I could share some of my web meeting tips. I have a lot of tips, most of them learned from many many colleagues from all over, both from watching the masters work and from resources they have created. Finally, I got around to starting the project. It was supposed to be a “tip sheet” of 1 page, both sides. hahahahahaha…

Because I love my smart friends like Pete Cranston (the instigator, I might add) http://uk.linkedin.com/in/petercranston, Susan Stewart http://guidedmeetings.com/ and Bonnie Koenig http://www.goinginternational.com/about/, I started a google doc. They added ideas, and I started writing.  You can see the genesis here.

Many pages later we have  So Yo Want to Host a Web Meeting? I hope you find it useful, and as always, I welcome comments, suggestions for improvements, additional resources, and catching me if I did not attribute properly. The latter was very difficult because so much of this has been learned along the way and ingrained into my practice. The challenges of standing on so many shoulders!!

Edit: 2/17/16 A great pre-webinar activity for when people are logged on and waiting for the meeting to begin from Rachel Smith at The Grove: http://www.grove.com/pdfs/Do-Nows.pdf 

ISS Fellowship Part 6 – It’s A Wrap!

Just over a week after I returned from Australia, I’m putting the finishing touches on the blog series documenting my ISS Fellowship in Victoria State, Australia. (Part 1, Part 2,  Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5).This last post is to share a few final thoughts and the rest of the photos! (Are you a glutton for punishment? The set below is compiled from all the workshops. I estimate I was in front of over 180 people across 13 events, include a few I had not documented in previous posts. This includes meeting with some of the Better Evaluation team at RMIT, meeting with a group of my long-term edu-network-friends in Melbourne, and a planning meeting with the Chisholm team to collaborate on a project they are cooking up.

It hardly seemed like it was four years ago I was last in Australia. I have deeply benefited from my professional and personal connections made over my 4 trips “down under,” and count many educators and education innovators as inspirations and fellow travelers in this learning journey. Special thanks to Brad Beach and his family, without whom this adventure would have never happened, his team at Chisholm, especially Malcolm Jolly who had to constantly remind me where I was headed next and the topic(!!). Patricia Rogers and Arthur Shelley offered me both friendly home hosting and setting up great gatherings in Melbourne. Joyce Seitzinger set up our great social gathering in Melbourne. And of course, to the good folks at the ISS Institute for sponsoring my fellowship.

All the Workshop Photos:

All Work and Now Play – No Way – Part 5 of ISS Fellowship

This is the fifth and penultimate in a series of posts about my ISS/Chisholm Fellowship in Victoria State, Australia. You can find the previous posts here: Part 1, Part 2,  Part 3 and Part 4.

Besides my iterative round of cafe visits in Melbourne, I have also had the chance to hang out with my Aussie friends and see some of beautiful Victoria State. No fellowship journal would be complete without a hint of that beauty. So this slide show speaks for itself of what I saw. And, I must say, I got lost in the Ashcombe Mazes on the Mornington Penninsula, and ate some fabulous chocolate at Mornington Penninsula Chocolates. 🙂 I had cake to die for at Moo’s in rural Gippsland, and spent most of my nights in Karramburra. I even got to go to a school fete! (Ah, I loved the bake sale.)I went to the Night Noodle Market, the Victoria Library and ate/drank at many of the fabulous Cafes in Melbourne. Mama mia, y’all have a great Cafe Culture! And yet again, I saw no roos. I think they avoid me.