HighEdWebDev 2006 :: Collective Intelligence

Program Sessions and Tracks

Accessibility, Usability & Security

AUS1: Versatility and Usability — Getting Back to the Basics

Rene Shei, IceCube — University of Wisconsin, Madison

Two of the biggest problems we run into when designing Web sites, particularly in higher education, are the constantly changing nature of the content we need to provide, and the extremely varied audiences that we cater to: from students to people with Ph.D.s and everyone in between.

With all the things we need to consider, often we lose track of the basics: how do people interact with a Web site, and at what point do they give up on finding the information they need? We sometimes sacrifice navigation for graphics, or flexible design for specifics, particularly under the pressure of the academic community.

This presentation will address some of the key points to remember when creating a Web site, cover how people browse the Web, and define how to improve the flexibility of our designs to cope with the trials we face everyday in the higher education Web field.

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 23, from 9:45 AM to 10:45 AM.

AUS2: Web Accessibility 3.0

Rick Ells, University of Washington

As rich media (AJAX, Atlas, Flash, etc.) fill the minds of Web developers around the world, what steps must we take to ensure that those using adaptive and assistive software can participate in using the Web? The first step is to clarify the value and role of (X)HTML and CSS and use them when they are most appropriate. Developing rich media implementation methodologies that build from accessible base designs is the next step. The third, and most challenging step, is to implement tools and methodologies for true Web application APIs that can interact with adaptive technologies. This presentation will review these ideas and summarize work in each area, ending with a vision of why and how we can build a rich, accessible World Wide Web.

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 23, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

AUS3: Setting the Standards: How Web Standards Lower Costs & Increase Accessibility

Bryan Hantman, University of Maryland, School of Nursing

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has established technologies for creating and interpreting Web content. These technologies, called Web standards, are designed to deliver the greatest benefits to the greatest number of Web users while ensuring the longevity, or forward compatibility, of pages on the Web. Although today's browsers support standards, many professional Web designers and developers, especially in higher education, continue to use outdated and structurally meaningless methods of marking up Web pages.

Through lecture, handouts, and audience participation, I will demonstrate how sites can be redesigned with Web Standards without losing School branding, functionality, or artistic flare.

Through a utility like "WebSiteOptimization," I will present quantitative analysis of pages from two School of Nursing sites—one built with Web standards and one without. The analysis will give us one way to compare actual savings and increased accessibility. I will also share personal experience of how designing semantically and with Web standards in mind saves money and other resources.

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 23, from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM.

AUS4: Usability: Practical Methods for Web Managers

Drew Hill, Campus Web Coordinator, SUNY Oswego

So you have a nice, shiny new Web site (or perhaps one that's more mature). Now what? Hopefully you included usability testing during development, but it's never "over." Learn about the methods used by SUNY Oswego to test the usability of its award-winning Web site and the implications for change that testing made for current and future development. Topics include: * Usability Testing Philosophy * Tools and Techniques * Planning for Usability

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 23, from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

AUS5: The Counselor Workplace and the Academic Department Director Workplace

Mary Carmen Garduño Campos, Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey—Campus Estado de Mexico

There are two main activities that make the difference between the TEC and other universities in our country: the teaching and research of our faculty, and the counseling and advisory services provided for students. In order to try to get these activities to work together, we provide Web services. Using our content manager portal services, and based on an effective role-person assignment, we can offer these Web services in a nice seamless way for end users.

The activities that academic department directors and counselors do were defined in mental map structures, that clarify the activities and role. These mental maps were translated to Web services giving only one unique entrance point to different information systems without the end user even noticing. Some of these activities are available in our information services are: verifying class times, making sure all classes are listed, making faculty research production available, checking homework and sending feedback to students, and providing immediate personal and academic information for students' academic and personal behavior. We have called this the "Counselors' Workplace" and the "Academic Director Workplace." We are currently changing our graphic interface so it looks like the mental maps in which the roles were defined, making the end user more comfortable with the application.

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 23, from 4:15 PM to 4:45 PM.

AUS 6: VoiceXML - Talking to the Web

Martha Carrer Cruz Gabriel, Universidade de Sao Paulo Universidade Anhembi Morumbi

The potential of bringing the Web to all existing phone devices, through voice recognition and interpretation, is explosive: this is the alliance of the widest computing network - the Internet - with the most pervasive device on Earth - the telephone. VoiceXML is the bridge between the phone and the Web. Also, VoiceXML can be used with the Opera browser. The presentation will cover the basic aspects of building a voice recognition interface/system using VoiceXML and GSL (Grammar Specification Language). Also, it will present the uses and challenges of voice interfaces. A Web application accessed via a voice gateway will be shown to illustrate the steps of development and deployment.

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 23, from 5:00 PM to 5:30 PM.

AUS7: Is Your Online Application Turning Off Prospective Students?

Sharon Trerise, Cornell University

Extensive testing with individuals with disabilities and control groups revealed that the majority of online admissions forms evaluated did not meet the guidelines for accessibility or usability. This session will summarize the results of the user testing as well as the three other methods of testing that were employed to evaluate online admissions applications on a sample of college Web sites. We will also talk about materials that are currently being developed to address this and related issues in higher education.

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 24, from 8:15 AM to 9:15 AM.

AUS8: Building Customizable, Accessible Web Site Templates for Faculty

Jean-Jacques Medastin, Clayton State University

This year, I was invited to participate in an effort to bring our faculty up to speed with accessibility on their Web sites. We obtained a grant, and our work resulted in my appointment as the sole designer for the universal templates. "Universal Design" was the main goal and the outcome is worth sharing with HighEdWebDev 2006.

My key objectives will be to demonstrate how to:

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 24, from 9:45 AM to 10:45 AM.

AUS9: Creating Successful Interactive PDF Forms for Higher Education

Cal Anderson, Truckee Meadows Community College

The days of publishing static PDF forms with the traditional print-and-fill methodologies are coming to an end. Stay current and keep your end users happy by allowing them to fill out and submit data directly into your PDF forms online. Using Adobe Acrobat Professional 7, this presentation will focus on the steps and details to create engaging, user-friendly interactive PDF forms.

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 24, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

AUS10: Web Security and Service: Finding a New Balance (Part III)

Dale B. Grady, University of Rochester

Ten years ago, if your server went offline, or the Iranian Hackers defaced your homepage, the administration might not have noticed. Today the phone rings before the crash or the hack is complete. The deans and the president notice immediately. It must stay online! At the last two HighEdWebDev conferences, we have discussed the University of Rochester's "Deploy" solution to protecting the server, controlling access, screening code, and blocking selected code deployment.

This presentation will provide a demonstration of "Web Publisher Services," a secure utility merging "Deploy," for moving pages and entire sites from development to production, blocking restricted code, providing code advice, controlling allowed actions, and notifying publishers; "Watcher," for watching for content hacks, servers outages, and database operation; and "IPA Database," for controlling user accounts. We will describe, demonstrate, and review the technical specifications of a development/production server system implemented in a university environment, and examine security issues, vulnerabilities, and solutions. Real incidents will be discussed.

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 24, from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM.

AUS11: Web-based Framework for Review, Approval, and Management of Proposal-Initiated Workflows

Donald B. Thomason, University of Tennessee College of Medicine

Many institutional workflows begin with a proposal that is subsequently reviewed, revised, and approved (e.g., course and curriculum management, animal care and use committee (ACUC), human subjects institutional review board). Approved "legal" documents are usually available for distribution in a variety of formats while preserving a requirement for revision or updating. The difficulty is keeping track of various versions.

A modular, general-purpose, Web-based framework was developed for curriculum management and ACUC protocol management in which proposals begin as XML documents and are processed with the Apache Cocoon engine. The XML document serves the entire lifecycle of the proposal from data entry, editing, review, approval, and management. Error checking, security, and tamper-evident data encryption are incorporated as required. Throughout the workflow, the XML document can be accessed in a variety of forms, including html, xml, wml, sql, pdf, and rtf. For example, faculty proposing a new course provide required information on a Web form, the program chair "signs-off" by submitting the form, and the curriculum committee reviews and requests revisions online. Approved courses are dynamically listed on each program's Web site and, during a "window of opportunity" for each term, program chairs select approved courses for offering in the upcoming term. The selections are then transmitted to the registrar and dynamically listed on a Web site. The automatically updated course catalog also becomes available for printing from pdf or rtf formats.

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 24, from 2:45 PM to 3:15 PM.

AUS12: M-Cubed: Mentor-Mentee Matching

Joe Huggins, University of Colorado Heath Sciences Center

The session will demonstrate a Web-based strategy for matching mentors and mentees. M-Cubed has approached this project with two different paradigms. The first approach is similar to that used in singles sites such as Match.com. It places equal emphasis on the mentor and mentee for creating a profile that can be matched with like-minded individuals. The second approach looks more like a real estate site by collecting data pieces for each mentor from common sources (publications and grants) and allowing mentees to set search criteria based on these sources. Both approaches utilize ASP and an MS Access database for the backend and presentation.

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 24, from 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM.

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