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Re: Accessible Open Source CRM

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From: John Foliot - Stanford Online Accessibility Program
Date: Apr 3, 2007 1:50PM

Gareth Dart wrote:
> Joomla's secure branch is currently at 1.0.12. Their 1.5 branch is
> currently in beta, but this may have more accessible output by
> default: I know they're trying to chop out a lot of table-based
> formatting that currently blots their copybook and move toward a more
> 'divs-with-CSS' oriented approach.

Having attended the Open Source CMS conference Mar. 22/23, I had the
opportunity to see first-hand the new Beta version of Joomla! They also
have a template known as BEEZ which appeared to be quite good. They have
moved the system to the point that you can completely re-write your own
template, using ID'd divs, so from the brief look I had it seems to be
pretty good. I will be taking a closer look over the next few weeks.

>
> I've also heard good things about Drupal and Textpattern, although I
> could not vouch for their accessibility.

The latest version of Drupal also appears to be pretty good in terms of
functional accessibility. The new default install template - Garland -
seems pretty good out of the box, with few major issues.

In terms of "power", Drupal appears to be pulling ahead, with numerous
third-party plugins that extend the functionality of the core tool. With
this however comes a more complicated set-up and install, although the
Drupal folks have done a great job with their installer. Joomla! still
seemed to be slightly easier to set up, but with fewer extensions or
plugins.

At this point in time, it appears to me that the key difference between the
two is in overall sophistication (not that Joomla! is not sophisticated); if
you need a basic, quick and easy set-up CMS then look at Joomla! If you
need a powerful, highly configurable CMS then probably Drupal is your better
choice. Both seem to be taking accessibility very seriously, and while
there may still be some minor flaws, they both have come a long way.

HTH
JF
---
John Foliot
Academic Technology Consultant
Stanford Online Accessibility Program
http://soap.stanford.edu
Stanford University
560 Escondido Mall
Meyer Library 181
Stanford, CA 94305-3093
Tel: 650-862-4603