HTML Writers Guild Newsletter
Volume 5, Number 5, 30 March 1999
http://www.hwg.org/
editor@hwg.org
Table of Contents
1. April is Accessibility Month!
2. Learn With HWG Classes! ASP, DHTML, Dreamweaver, Perl, & more!
3. Your Feedback is Wanted! Complete our Conference/Show Survey!
4. Internationalizing the Logo Program: Your Help Requested!
5. April's Online Town Hall Meeting: April 22
6. Mentor/Apprentice Program Closure
7. FAQ: All About the HWG-News Newsletter
This issue of HWG-News is sponsored by:
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1. April is Accessibility Month!
(Kynn Bartlett, Guild President, kynn@hwg.org)
The entire month of April has been designated "Accessibility Month" at
the HTML Writers Guild. The purpose of this annual month-long event is
to highlight the value and importance of designing all web sites with
complete accessibility in mind -- meaning, the pages you write should
be equally useable in the latest versions of major browsers as in a
voice-reader for blind users, or by anyone else with a non-"standard"
means of accessing the web.
During the month of April, we'll be using the Guild's resources to
educate both our membership, numbering over 90,000 web designers, and
the web industry as a whole about this important issue, through a
number of special projects and events.
Projects and events scheduled for Accessibility April include:
* Announcement of the special month-long focus on accessibility on
the Guild's monthly newsletter, and the HWG homepage, to bring
attention to this important issue
* Interactive member chats on accessibility-related topics, with
recognized authorities in the field as guest speakers and
panelists at HWG Interactive (interact.hwg.org)
* The fourth session of the HWG's popular online course, Designing
for Universal Accessibility with HTML 4.0
* A tutorial at FedWeb 99 (www.fedweb.org) on accessible web design
by the Guild's President, Kynn Bartlett
* Launch of a new accessible design resource section on the Guild's
website
Other events to be determined -- subscribe to HWG Announce to catch all
the latest news! See http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-announce/ for
subscription details.
The overall goal of Accessibility Month is to create a greater
awareness, both within and outside of the Guild, of the need for and
importance of accessibility considerations in web design. The Guild's
first Accessibility Month focus was held in April 1998.
Questions regarding Accessibility Month can be directed to Kynn
Bartlett, kynn@hwg.org. The Accessibility Month web page is:
http://www.hwg.org/opcenter/events/april1999/
2. Learn With HWG Classes! ASP, DHTML, Dreamweaver, Perl, & more!
(Ann Navarro, Online Classes Manager, classes@hwg.org)
The Guild's online classes program provides our members with convenient,
affordable instruction on a wide spectrum of web authoring subjects.
Instruction is done via a web-based interface and allows for interaction
with the instructor and other students at a time convenient for each
participant.
Courses you can sign up for now include:
H301: WORKING WITH DYNAMIC HTML
Dates: March 29, 1999 - May 7, 1999 (6 weeks)
*** Limited late enrollment available, sign up now! ***
*** New Course! This course will allow you to blend your current
talents in HTML, Scripting, and CSS into what's commonly known as
Dynamic HTML. Go beyond the mouseover into engaging effects that
can be viewed by most of today's most popular browsers.
D201: DESIGNING FOR UNIVERSAL ACCESSIBILITY WITH HTML 4.0
Dates: April 19, 1999 - May 30, 1999 (6 weeks)
Learn and apply principles of accessible web design to create
pages that can be used by anyone! One of the Guild's most
popular and informative courses!
H101: INTRODUCTION TO HTML 4.0
Dates: May 3, 1999 - June 11, 1999 (6 weeks)
HTML is the foundation of the web! Learn the basics of HTML
4.0 and the joy of a well-crafted web page.
A131: USING MACROMEDIA DREAMWEAVER - Part 1
Dates: May 3, 1999 - May 28, 1999 (4 weeks)
Learn how to craft pages using Macromedia's popular Dreamweaver
software -- this course is designed to take advantage of the
FREE four week trial version of Dreamweaver!
P101: BEGINNING PROGRAMMING WITH PERL
Dates: May 10, 1999 - June 18, 1999 (6 weeks)
Perl is one of the most useful programming languages in the
webmaster's toolbox -- learn it now!
MS101: ACTIVE SERVER PAGES FOR NON-PROGRAMMERS
Dates: May 17, 1999 - June 25, 1999 (6 weeks)
*** New Course! Create dynamic server-side programming in this
new course that will teach you the fundamentals of ASP! No
programming experience is necessary, only a willingness to learn!
COURSE FEES
For all courses, Full and Discounted members may register for $25,
Trial members for $50. Upgrade your membership before registering,
and save money! Payments may be made online via secure transaction;
all figures are in U.S. funds.
A certificate of completion is available for an additional $5;
the request needs to be made at the time of registration. Textbooks
(when required) are separate and may be purchased through the Guild's
online bookstore, The Bookmark. Books should be purchased before the
first week of class! In addition, students should have regular access
to the web and the ability to post completed assignments on a
public (non-Intranet) web server.
Sign up today through our online enrollment forms or get more
information at:
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/
3. Your Feedback is Wanted! Complete our Conference/Show Survey!
(Ann Navarro, Vice President of Finance, ann@hwg.org)
As announced in the last newsletter, the HTML Writers Guild will
host a booth at the 8th Annual World Wide Web Conference (WWW8) in
Toronto, Canada, May 11 through May 14, 1999. This will be our first
major show presence of the 1999 year, and we welcome volunteers from
the local area or conference attendees who would like to assist with
our booth or other conference efforts! Please write to Ann Navarro
at ann@hwg.org if you would like to help in this way.
In addition, the Guild would like YOUR feedback on what conferences
YOU attend and would like to see the HWG present for! We have created
an online survey you can fill out at the following URL:
http://www.hwg.org/opcenter/events/showsurvey.html
Additionally, you can tell us where you'd like to see a HWG-sponsored
event! Input from international members is especially encouraged on
the survey!
4. Internationalizing the Logo Program: Your Help Requested!
(Steve Mount, Logo Management Team Manager, logo@hwg.org)
The Logo Management Team ensures that the HWG logo is used properly on
registered web pages. A recent change to the logo rules allows for
not only the (English) phrase "The author is a member of" to accompany
proper logo usage, but also for translation of that phrase into the
native language of the page, so that readers of that page can understand
completely what the logo is for.
The current members of the Logo Team are all primarily English speakers;
thus we would like to request that non-English-speaking HWG members
provide translations of "The author is a member of", "The designer is a
member of", "This company is a member of", and "This business is a
member of". The logo guidelines also allow formats such as "John Smith
is a member of" and "XYZ Web Design is a member of", and so generic
equivalents of those phrases are welcome also. We ask for so many
variations because we are aware that some languages may use different
gender or conjugation depending on the subject.
If you would like to help with this internationalization project, please
send translations (along with a note of both the language and the
country from which you come) to logo@hwg.org. Thanks!
5. April's Online Town Hall Meeting: April 22
(Kynn Bartlett, HWG President, president@hwg.org)
Each month, the Guild provides an opportunity for real-time discussion
and chatting via HWG Interactive. These monthly meetings are hosted by
members of the Governing Board (with most of them in attendance),
and give our members the chance to voice your views about the HWG.
The details for April's meeting are:
22 April Town Hall Meeting
Date: Thursday, 22 April 1999
Time: 6:30 p.m. PST, 9:30 p.m. EST, 02:30 (22 April) GMT
Server: HWG Interactive, http://interact.hwg.org/
IRC: irc.hwg.org, port 6667
Channel: #townhall
To connect, either go to the URL above and use the Java-based client
available via the web, or use your favorite IRC client and join channel
#townhall.
We look forward to meeting you there!
6. Mentor/Apprentice Program Closure
(Leanne Phillips, VP of Member Education, vp-education@hwg.org)
The HWG's Governing Board regularly reviews all Guild programs to make
sure that they are meeting the program goals and the needs of the
membership. During the most recent review, the Board concluded that the
current Mentor/Apprentice program's goals have been met by a
combination of existing, well-developed programs within the Guild.
The goal of the Mentor/Apprencie program was to provide two services
to our members: A guide to learning an entire suite of skills (such
as Javascript, HTML, or graphics); and a contact person whom the
apprentice could ask for assistance. Both of these services are
currently being met by the relatively recent addition of the Guild's
Online Classes program and the open discussion between experienced
and beginning members afforded by the public mailing lists.
Therefore, the Board has decided to phase out the Mentor/Apprentice
program, allocating those resources currently used by the program to
projects that better meet the members' needs.
Current mentors and apprentices can, of course, continue their
correspondence if they wish; however, the Guild will discontinue
future administration of the program, including no longer matching
new apprentices with mentors or monitoring apprentice/mentor
progress.
Anyone with questions about this change may write to Leanne Phillips,
Vice President of Member Education, at vp-education@hwg.org.
7. FAQ: All About the HWG-News Newsletter
(Kynn Bartlett, HWG-News Newsletter Editor, editor@hwg.org)
Some questions you may be asking:
Q: Why did I get this mail?
A: You received this newsletter because you are a member of the
HTML Writers Guild. This message came from hwg-news, the Guild's
mandatory mailing list for all members. If you need more information
about hwg-news, please see the List Charter at:
http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-news/index.html
Q. Why doesn't this newsletter talk about web design or HTML?
A. The newsletter is the Guild's administrative bulletin to the
membership. If you are interested in the topics of Web design
and HTML, then you might want to subscribe to some of our
discussion lists devoted to those topics. More information on
the Guild's offering of discussion lists can be found at:
http://www.hwg.org/lists/mailinglists.html
Q. How can I find out more about Guild activities?
A. The Guild has set up a one-way announcement list, HWG-Announce,
that carries bulletins of day-to-day Guild business. For details
on how to subscribe, please see:
http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-announce/
Q: How do I unsubscribe from hwg-news?
A: Since this is a required list in order to maintain your
Guild membership, unsubscribing is the same as resigning from
the HTML Writers Guild.
If you have your Member ID and password, to resign your membership
in the Guild and to unsubscribe to hwg-news, visit:
http://www.hwg.org/member/resign.html
Fill in the pertinent information, and submit it.
If you don't have a Member ID, or have forgotten your password, send
mail to:
newapps@hwg.org
with a Subject of: Resign membership
In the body of the message, provide the following information:
* Your email address(es)
* Your member ID if you have one.
* The list of discussion lists you are on.
Please remember that unsubscribing to hwg-news automatically resigns
you from the Guild. If you have problems with unsubscribing,
please contact the Database Manager for help.
Q: Can my company advertise in the Guild's newsletter?
A: Yes; the Guild is offering sponsorship opportunities in HWG-News
on a limited basis. If you are interested in advertising your
web related product or service here, please send email to
advertising@hwg.org or call (714) 526-4963. Discounts are available
to Guild Business and Corporate members, as well as for multiple
placements. The Guild's newsletter reaches over 75,000 web authors
worldwide each month.
(Note: The Guild does not make our member database available for
third party use. We have a strong privacy policy and will not
release our members' personal information; our mailing list is
not for sale. Any questions regarding the Guild's advertising or
privacy policies can be directed to advertising@hwg.org.)
Q: What if I want to comment on this newsletter?
A: The HWG-News Mailing List is a "Read-Only" list -- please do not try
to reply to this message directly.
If you wish to contact the editor of this newsletter, you may do
so by sending email to editor@hwg.org. Each article begins with
the contact information for the author as well.
This issue was edited by Kynn Bartlett.
Copyright 1999, HTML Writers Guild, Inc., All Rights Reserved.
Published monthly via email and WWW.