A librarian at a Web Standards Meetup? What gives?

As I was drafting the post about the 2nd WebSG meetup, the following question came to mind: "Why would a librarian/ non-web-developer like me be interested in Web Standards and participate in a meetup?"

I suppose there are three reasons:

1) I'm interested in how this particular community thinks.
What are the possible role(s) the library can play to engage such a community, especially one that shows potential for growth? My interest comes partly from this aspect of the NLB L2010 Report: "Organise around Customer Communities"

NLB will work towards an end-to-end customer relationship management process, offering personalisation and customised services to customer communities. NLB will require customer intelligence to offer users a satisfying experience. Real time customer information, preferences and profiles will enable the library to provide users with leads and connect them to other users with similar interests.

I've taken a more literal interpretation of "organising around customer communities". But somehow I believe (and I'm trying to verify) that establishing a working relationship with self-help communities like Web Standards Singapore would be one of the many ways for public libraries to remain relevant. After all, a group like Web Standards Singapore have setup their website, organised their own meetings, and probably obtain their own reading materials -- all without the involvement of the library. And they will continue to do so. If they are a community that will grow, then why not make some sort of symbiotic relationship?


2) Because Library Classification and Cataloguing systems are about standards.
Sometimes a good way to understand or analyse something is to look for parallels or similar examples. In this case, how a community advocates and adopts a "standard" could provide some insights relevant to a library setting. OK, I'm stretching this a little... maybe it will. Maybe it won't. Doesn't hurt to "try and see how".


3) The knowledge or awareness would come in handy when dealing with web development projects for the library.
I'm certainly more conscious of web standards and "standards compliance". In a recent discussions with colleagues about requirement specifications for a proposed web development project, I asked if we should include web standards as requirements. I know little about web development and coding but I'm interested in what the vendor would propose re: standards. The site will need maintenance and it may not be the same vendor who will do it. If they propose Flash as the main navigational feature of the site, that says something about potential maintenance issues (Flash is not W3C-recommended).


4) I'm learning a new concept outside of my immediate job scope.
Doesn't hurt to know an extra piece of knowledge. At least if colleagues ask me, "What's Web Standards", I'd be able to articulate something coherent. Let me try it now...

'Standards' are akin to a common "language" to share information and/ or maintaining process. We use standards all the time. Spelling & grammar are standards used in writing. If we can appreciate the need for consistent practices in spelling & grammar (which become rules) then we'd appreciate the need for web standards. Imagine you spell "intelligent" one day, and "inteligen" another. And another person spells it "inntelegent". You could decipher it eventually but it would take that much longer. Where web development is concerned, translate that inefficiency to the time and cost of hiring a developer to redesign your library website.

Makes sense? Did I pass? : )

Web Standards Group (WebSG) Singapore Meetup #2

Around 35 people turned up at tonight's Web Standards Singapore Meetup #2, held at the Central Lending Library. I didn't do a count for the first meetup. Seems to have more people this time round (I didn't see the two teenaged students though). During the presentations, there was a quiet, even subdued, atmosphere. But the brains were churning, judging from the spontaneous questions and comments during Q&A.

My personal notes from the presentations:

1) “Reality check: Beyond the hype of web standards” by Yuhui

• Flash is not W3C-recommended. Better to deploy Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG).
• ACID 2 test for web compliance browser verification (apparently, after you run through the test, the more compliant your site, the more of the smiley face would appear)
• Browser market still dominated by IE (Yuhui showed a chart with 84% share by IE) which isn't Web Standards compliant (partly the reason why Web standards are not widely adopted).
• Yuhui maintains there's still a need for Web Standards. Implementing Web standards tends to result in lower maintenance costs in longer run (in brief, there's less work involved to effect changes in the site)
• Some suggested sites for developers: Layoutgala (free layouts); alistapart.com (source codes & loads of stuff); browsershots.org (site for testing webpages by emulating various browsers); www.w3schools.com (tutorial for W3C-recommended standards)
• Q&A: I asked if vendors would charge more to develop Web Standards Compliant projects. Responses from Yuhui and the floor was that generally it shouldn't cost more. Even if it did (e.g. increased time taken to verify that the codes work across different platforms), the difference shouldn't be too significant.
• [I would have wanted to ask how a client could verify if a web developer knows about Web Standards Compliance, but we needed to move on to the other topic. Guess I'll ask at the next meetup]
  

2) Firefox Tips & Tricks by Chu Yeow

• Even for a non-techie like me, I found this segment interesting. Chu Yeow showed his favourite developer tips, tricks, Firefox browser hacks and cool Firefox extensions that mac users will appreciate. I was just enjoying the "show" and didn't bother to take down specific notes. Oh man, Siva you didn't know what you missed! LOL
• Also showed keyboard shortcuts like CTRL-Shift-T (opens a tab and loads the last page that was closed)
• To me, this segment was a peek into "what a web developer does". I don't know why knowing something like that is comforting (from a client's point of view) but it just does. It was also comforting to hear an experienced web developer like Lucian say , "There are things I don't know as well"
• Lucian also quipped, "Now we know 'what we need to know'". That simple statement may just sum up the spirit and intent of such meetups, i.e. more for participants to get an idea and follow-up on it later, should they choose to do so.

3) - Introduction to Microformats by Lucian

• I didn't really pay attention to this segment, as I was fiddling with the light switches for the room to make Lucian's presentation show up better. Something about XFN and "Microformats to organise the web". Well, read more here atmicroformats.org

Out of curiosity, I requested Lucian to asked the following questions before the participants left:

• How many were visiting the Central Lending Library for the first time? (Responses = Five out of 35);
• How many were visiting a NLB library for the first time ever? (Responses = Two)
• How many are NOT web designers/ developers? (Responses = Five)

Too bad there wasn't time left for the participants to hang around more to chit chat, and maybe give them a quick tour of the library (maybe prompt some of them to borrow books or graphic novels, heh).

A few of them said it was nice to have the session at the library (free WIFI at CLL) but some felt the session was too short, i.e. the library had to close at 9pm; they would have loved to stay longer to chat and network.

WebSG meetup

What was I doing at a meet-up on Web Standards? What did I know about web standards prior to the meetup?

Very little, that's for sure. I had some sense what it's about (i.e. standardisation of something that's web-related) but not enough to articulate or define it. Nonetheless, when I learnt about the meet-up, I signed up for it anyway, mentally bracing myself for an evening of Geek-talk galore.

But the Geek-talk didn't happen. According to Lucian (the main mastermind behind this meetup), the real geeks were at home logging into the new release of WOW, heh.

What I recall from the presentations:
"Google is Blind", as in, websites coded entirely in Flash don't get ranked very high. So that's something to consider if web developers suggestion that option.

Lucian (who made us take photos of ourselves, with a Mac, on the way in) gave what I thought was an excellent overview of the background, context, issues, trends & development regarding Web Accessibilty. He elaborated on the web design/ development framework -- "Presentation, Structure & Behaviour". I thought it was a useful framework in planning web projects. I could see how it can help me understand and approach current and future developments of the NLB blogs and I'm involved in, as well as some possible web projects in the pipeline.

Coleman (who already blogged about his presentation as soon as he got home) did a nice presentation on Web Accessibility. I like how he put things in context by relating Web Accessibility with Building Accessibility. He also elaborated on something he came up with -- what he called the "evil-good continuum" -- to get people to think of where their sites (personal or business) were at the moment. He also showed a nice video where there was a Blind person explaining how he used Text/ Web-readers, and some problems when designers don't consider how non-sighted people would navigate the layout. I thought Coleman made a good point about how Web Accessibility was not just about making websites accessible to the disabled; it was ultimately about making the site accessible to all (at least more than one popular platform).

Nick Pan gave a working level demonstration of applying Web Standards to an actual client's site. He also pointed us to this diagram (from Natalie Jost) that brilliantly illustrates what Web Standards was about:

[An enhanced/ updated diagram available here]

It was nice to see some familiar faces -- Herry, Vanessa (read her account of the event) , "Wandie" (who's posted pictures of the meet-up). Was pleasantly surprised to meet Nimbupani (a blogger whom I've read but not met prior to this evening).

Then there were new ones like Jimmy (whom I learnt was one of the original advocates for WebSG two years ago) and two 16-year old students (!) who found their way to the meet-up.

I had a brief chat with the two 16-year olds (going on 17). They were both into "designing websites for fun". The guy found his way to the meet-up via Tomorrow.sg while the girl said she was "dragged along by him". I asked the guy if he had a blog. He said yes. I asked if I could read his blog. He gave it to me. The girl went, "What? You're willing to let someone read your blog? What if he laughed at your nonsense?" and I said, "It might not matter what others feel about your writings. What you might want to think about is whether you'd feel embarrassed by your posts when you look back at it five years from now. Or if your employers look at it". Then she said, "Since you (the guy) gave it to him, then I'll also give mine and maybe I can get comments." LOL

How did the two youngsters feel about being in a meet-up with a bunch of oldsters, I wonder? I'd be interested in what they have to say (btw, don't ask me for their blog URLs as I'm not sure if they'd mind).

So what do I know about Web Standards now?
Still not a lot but at least I've some understanding of why there's a bunch of Web Standards advocates in Singapore who's passionate about the whole issue. And I probably enough (for now) to have a decent conversation with potential web developers -- or to drill the web developers decently -- if I'm in some web project for the library.

Oh, apparently I'm a geek -- according to Lucian, that is. It happened when Coleman asked who's a geek (to get a sense of how much or how little to delve into technicalities during his presentation). I raised my hand and asked, "Define a geek." Lucian said only geeks asked for definitions. Heh.

Funny thing -- it's only now that I realised "WebSG" stood for "Web Standards Group (Singapore)". Alamak!

You may wish to signup at their mailinglist.


Technorati Tags: web standards, web accessibility