Terrence and all: thank you for all your replies.
Lea said she thought "accessibility" was my strongest suit and I agree
with that. At least "font-size increase" is something that can be seen
on the surface, and perhaps other accessibility issues that I haven't
thought about. I did think today of making screen shots in the Lynx
emulator. its grant money but not government - yes, i guess there are
still a few out there. and, yes, they should care about accessibility
and i think they do from a "its the right thing to do" standpoint.
Most of the other suggestions people have spoken of, though i find it a
good review, are not applicable to my situation since i really am
dealing with a "what is a browser" crowd. I'd done the website
(inherited at that point) for years before i could get anyone to pay any
attention to it.
Lea, interesting you thought i was from the UK. wonder if i type with a
British accent - it should be a southern, u.s, but living in the
northeast for the last 25 years accent! :)
Oh, someone mentioned showing everyone csszengardens .... i did that
already, in a very early meeting (the first and only one i was invited
to). my intent was to show the font-size increase bit. Imagine my
surprise when it wouldn't increase! Yes, csszengardens won't increase
font size in IE. Of course, it would be different today so that's not a
criticism and its interesting to read in CSS Zen Gardens (the book)
about why the site is a "time snapshot" as far as the code. Just don't
go there to demonstrate accessibility. ;)
Terrence Wood wrote:
Why do the PR firm think they should maintain the site and not you?
Terrence, i don't think they want to maintain it, i think they want to
"deliver" the whole thing as a way to justify the amount they had
anticipated getting.
its all a bit convuloted (sp?) at this point - early on i told "my"
non-profit that i would be happy to maintain it if the code met certain
guidelines and those were spelled out and at least one place they were
written down. They were, off-the-top-of-my-head, css "floating" is the
way it was written, no tables, font-size increasble, meeting accessible
guidelines in general. I also told them I would "let it go" if they'd
rather get someone else but apparently there was no one chopping at the
bit to take it on and they didn't want to look for anyone else.
A number of months have passed .... the PR firm is saying now that
they've done a lot of work (even to the point of volunteering, heh,
can't imagine that) they want to "deliver" the whole site.
I can't use their code and have done a lot myself. so the bottom line
is how to explain that i can't use the PRs firm's code. I have a
feeling the non-profit will end up paying the full amount for
essentially two pages of design and i'll end up donating a *lot* of my
time because the budget will be spent on the PR firm.
Have they put forward any compelling reasons why they are better qualified
to look after a web site? Get them to justify their position.
What are the long term implications when the grant money runs out?
well, the PR firm would not work for free, I would - therefore, I think
I'll end up being the one responsible. Unless I "actively" quit. and
the long-term implications are that i don't mind continuing my
volunteering if its code that i find easy, and enjoyable, to work with.
I don't know what the $$ parameters are but my sense is that the
non-profit doesn't understand why i have to change all the coding and
therefore doesn't understand why i have to put all "this work" into it
and I'm afraid the budget is eaten up by the PR firm and so the NP is
"feeling badly" that I'm in the position, once again, of donating a lot
of my time. Ideally, in their view, i think, they'd like for me to say,
"yes, the PR's code is great and groovy and I'll continue maintenance,
updating, no problem .... " I've created a bit of a dilemna because i
can't, won't, do that ...
Ultimately the PR firm works for the NFP, not the other way round, get
your NFP to grow a spine. (OK.... I realise you might need a lot more tact
than that, but y'know, fire them up a bit!!!)
Yes, the woman with the PR firm is very, shall we say "assertive" ....
I'm just the "in-house" volunteer (never mind that I know what I'm doing
or am getting there or at least know where to go to get help!) and not
particularly assertive, by inclination. There was a contract signed and
i'm sure that figures into all the equations.
well, done it again, wrote another book!
best wishes,
Donna
******************************************************
The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/
See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
for some hints on posting to the list & getting help
******************************************************
