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Re: feedback on proposed UD for CMS class - focus on Drupal &Wordpress

for

From: John E Brandt
Date: Mar 22, 2013 2:25PM

Hi Howard,

When I read your posting, I initially thought that your audience could be
general CMS (Drupal & WP) users at the higher end of access (editors and
content developers) as well as site admins and general developers such as
myself. But then I read the proposed content for the class and saw several
sections on theming/template development - and that's a whole different
kettle of fish. I'm, thinking you could have three courses.

I've steered clear of "theming" (I work in Drupal, WordPress and Joomla) as
it can get very complicated, very quickly and is very specific to the
specific CMS application. I have taken some open themes and "theme
generator" like Fusion in Drupal and done some customizing, but this is far
from actual theme/template development. Add to this the whole new focus on
adaptive/responsive theming and you've raised the stakes even further. Then
there is the issue of major changes in the CMS core which often means a
whole new way of theming. So, I think there could be accessibility training
program just for theme developers. Lord knows, most of the CMS themes out
there are far from accessible.

Second, there is still the need for accessibility training for developers
and site admins and this one could focus on modules, plugins and extensions,
knowing how to pick a theme that is accessible and tweak it as needed. You
could talk about which text editor to use and issues related to the use of
scripting.

Lastly, since most of the accessibility errors in CMSs come from uses who
don't add ALT descriptions or know about how to embed URLs, or the proper
use of headings, or the importance of captioning video.... there is a need
for a third course to content creators and editors.

Not sure this has been of much help...I think I just increased your work
load.

~j

John E. Brandt
www.jebswebs.com
<EMAIL REMOVED>
207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA