Hi all - earlier this year, we launched a wiki to get input from government agencies into our standards development process. (I've included the press release below.) We'd be happy to have anyone interested use the site or better yet, register and post. Any and all feedback very welcome.
www.webstandards.govt.nz The Web Standards team have launched their standards wiki, and invite you to visit, login and post. The wiki is a collaborative space for anyone interested in New Zealand government web standards (and web standards in general) to comment, add good use examples, link to new trends and resources, and generally share their advice, questions, bouquets and brickbats. The site, a one-year pilot, has three major aims: to make using standards easier, to educate on why they are the future of the web, and to harness the expertise of the New Zealand and international standards community in shaping how and why we make websites. Input from wiki users will be integrated into the standards evaluation process, with the web standard unit's advisory group taking into account wiki-generated submissions in all major decisions. In the spirit of e-participation, they will regularly let wiki users see how their suggestions have been used in the finished products. Those users new to standards - who often suspect bureaucracy at work - can read the rationale behind each. Practical examples show that implementation doesn't have to be difficult, and that the "good graphic design vs web standards" debate is more of a myth than ever. The pilot is also about spreading the word that standards are more a matter of site quality rather than site compliance. It's a message not just for web professionals, but for their comms and management colleagues as well. The wiki ties in with the team's belief that the standards approach, in order to be applied at the start of projects, needs a wider audience than hands-on developers. Because of this, the wiki carries advice on building business cases and how to make sure vendors add compliance into the core of web projects. This level of rolling online consultation is still fairly new in New Zealand government. These are the exciting and fairly uncharted waters of web-based public consultation, and the standards team are keen to share their experiences with interested agencies and units. The site is built on the mediawiki engine and moderated by a team of experienced web professionals, mainly from the public sector. While the wiki is open to everyone to read, only registered users can post. Accounts are easily set up via the site. -- Anthony Hawkins Business Analyst State Services Commission DDI: +64 4 495 6718 Fax: +64 4 495 6669 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.ssc.govt.nz | www.e.govt.nz | newzealand.govt.nz New Zealand's State Services Commission: Leading the state sector to world class performance ........................................................................ .................... Caution: If you have received this message in error please notify the sender immediately and then delete this message along with any attachments. Please treat the contents of this message as private and confidential. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of James Pickering Sent: Monday, 10 March 2008 11:43 a.m. To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [WSG] RE: Sitemap and accessibility There are actually two types or "flavors" of Site Maps. The first is the type that is loaded up to your Web server and that is used by Search Engines to spider your pages thereby playing a significant role in Page rankings. These Site Maps are constructed and formatted according to strict protocols. The Site Map protocol specified by Google: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=34575& hl=en is the classic model. The second type of Site Map is the one that you load onto your Home page and that plays such a prominent role in insuring Web Accessibilty (W3C WCA). There is no precise protocol for this type although traditionally such Site Maps consist of a Hierarchal list of links to all pages of the site. In some cases, depending on the format selected, you can use your Search Engine submittal Site Map on your Home page. James Pickering Pages http://jp29.org/ - XHTML+RDFa (application/xhtml+xml) ~ XHTML 1.0 text/html) Served via content negotiation according to Browser capability ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ******************************************************************* ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *******************************************************************
