CSS, colors and accessibility

I’ve enhanced my blog so the navigator can customize color and font size.

This is done through a new set of CSS files where I defined a green pattern (in fact, the original one), a blue pattern and a big sized font pattern. I’m proud of if but not glad, as green layout and blue layout look a little bit different and I still have to found where the error is. Expectedly, they neither look the same way in Internet Explorer or in Mozilla :(

The big fonts layout is not even a beta version, but I’d rather have it uploaded than remaining inaccessible (I actually am, but feel less guilty about it ;)

The CSS change is done through some javascript I borrowed from tintachina, which was original by Paul Sowden at A List Apart. Thanks to both of them for sharing their knowledge – hope I can help back sometime.

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Reasons not to set up an intranet

Update: See also Reasons to set up the NGO’s intranet

I’ve reached The intranet gets serious: Part 1 by Gerry McGovern following a post in Column Two.

There’s something I will use in my daily work: when talking to NGOs about what an intranet will mean for them in terms of corporate effort or resources, it is difficult to make people realize that an intranet is not something trendy or something you must have. No, it is something you need and you can maintain.

McGovern’s statements are:

The best intranets have matured

  • Senior management now genuinely believe
  • Somebody with real authority has been put in charge
  • Productive collaboration is being encouraged
  • Quality content is getting rewarded
  • Appropriate training is being put in place
  • Information architecture is being centralized
  • Application development is taking a publishing focus
  • Return on investment is getting attention

I totally agree. His further hints are to be read plenty of times. Here a one sentence abstract: The intranet is something you need and you can maintain. If you don’t need it or can maintain it, forget it. No one will blame you for being “off” mainstream ;)

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John Daly on ICT Volunteering

Take a look at John Daly‘s article Volunteers, Information and Communication Technologies, and Development on Development Gateway. It’s right.

One useful thing and a remark.

The useful thing is, in fact, two useful sites appearing there and recently included in my links list:

The remark is: ICT volunteering or e-volunteering?
Ok, I know it’s not the same. But I think e-volunteering should be taken in more consideration, as it is ICT volunteering but not in the contents point of view but in the instruments, as Literature deals with the things I say and the way I write them.

In fact, experience shows more and more than e-volunteers do teach other content and ICT by learning/teaching by doing, which is a plus. I agree with specific capacity building in the field of ICT, but let’s not forget that ICT training per se is not the issue.

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Free on-line courses evaluation by TechSoup

This morning I received TechSoup newsletter and the article Curriculum Evaluation for CTCs and Other Organizations really caught my attention. I sometimes felt there was a little lack of concretion, a kinda blurred focus that doesn’t help in finding out the real goal of the article (i.e. there’s a 12,000$ course along with plenty of free or low cost ones).

Anyway, I think the author’s effort is worth giving the article the maximum diffusion and, in my case, highlight the most relevant items I’ve found. Let’s go for it.

GFC Global Learning
“At GCF Global Learning, we offer Self-Paced courses and Instructor-Supported classes. All classes are free and conducted online.” Mainly MS Office courses.
Good one: have I told you before of the importance of e-teaching? ;)

Land-Grant Training Alliance Lessons
Just right. Free self-paced courses. I agree with the author of the article: guess no one else is giving a damn out of Microsoft: Corel suites found there.

Training Cafe
Mmm, oh, well, neither Microsoft this time! ;)
Macromedia courses for free. Con: self-paced again.

Technology For All
That one looks really great. It reminds me of the Campus for Peace but the sponsor relationship with SkillSoft gives them soooo much content… :)
The site is about free (or nearly free) content in an e-learning platform with coaching personnel: quite “full service”, but I don’t totally agree with this statement:

“CTC learning coaches can be volunteers or paid staff. They are not necessarily subject matter experts, but persons who can support and encourage individuals in the program. They are persons who are trained by TFA in the effective utilization of the SkillSoft e-Learning platform for the benefit of the individual student.”

It is right there are coaches, specially if they’re volunteers, as this is the way to close the circle of e-training for development at reasonable costs, but I’d like them not to be supporters or e-learning platform managers but teachers.

Anyway, Rome wasn’t built in a day: I’ll keep a very close eyesight to this project.

TrainingPoint
Course repository for non-profits.
Interesting the target approach: there are other repositories but usually targeted to the world of Education. In this case, it is not about training for educators but training for non-profit personnel, and this makes a difference.

WebJunction
Not really intended for non-profits, but you can use it anyway.
Free and self-paced.

Free-Ed
http://www.free-ed.net/
Course repository. Good organization.

Conclusion: again and again, focus on content but lack of e-teaching.

I think there are three steps in digital divide bridging (promise I’ll be back on this issue):

  • Infrastructure
  • Training and capacity building
  • Content and sercies

We first came with all complex infrastructures and wired the whole planet. That was right, but with no contents and services infrastructures are useless.

We then came with our contents and services, but they were not adapted to the target neither we intended sharing knowledge instead of information.

It is now time to have people things done their way. And this is about knowledge sharing, not information charity.

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ICTlogy favicon

That was really FUN!

Following Matt’s instructions on how to create a favicon I created my own, say, ICTlogy favicon.

And again: that was really FUN! :))

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Soft and template updates in WP blog

It’s clear I have to spend more time on this.

Updating to new features

Last week I tried to enhance the blog with the new features at the “bleeding edge” development of WordPress. It surely was my fault, but after downloading the required files at the CVS repository, I really had a deep disappointment as nothing worked as expected. Worst thing of all was not being able to post anything (Calling out… post was written directly on MySql phpMyAdmin).

After tracking back all errors and, actually, not finding the bug, I had to reinstall my backuped version of the site – just navigation files, not database.

Next time I’ll pay more attention on what I do and not do it all at once but step by step. Promised.

New link organization

Yesterday I replaced get_links() function by get_links_list() function. I think that was a good thing: it will allow having plenty of links not in a pile but in categories, automatically sorted, alt-tag-commented and out-of-the-html-editing-loop-updated.

Having a good selection of links is not good but a must: it will help me focus on the subjects I’m supposed to be interested in and, over all, show the reader my main sources for information and further readings I find of personal/professional interest. Links and my own content do have to walk hand in hand and be considered as a whole. All in all: I want to add value, that simple, even if this value means only putting some order to my personal chaos ;)

By the way, struggling with wp-layout.css was not that simple :D

PS: hope this time I don’t have to come back for ortography orthography errors and so. Thanks Chess for linguistic surveillance: MS Word corrector did great job too ;)

PS2: I’ll keep my more or less personal stuff under newly created Z-files link category :)

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