What’s up with me?
I recently published a great new podcast on Web Axe, HTML5 and John Foliot (a transcript is also provided). I interview John Foliot, a professional peer whom I also consider a friend. John shares he extensive knowledge in HTML5, the W3C, and web accessibility. He works at Stanford University and is an active member of the W3C.
Lists functionality is completed on AccessibleTwitter.com, finally. It’s been in progress for like half a year! Just need to add some Ajax to enhance the experience now. But for the next month, I’ll be busy working on converting the Basic Authentication to Open Auth. Fun. By the way, Accessible Twitter experienced some site outages a few weeks ago, but it seems to be resolved. Remember that unsetting your PHP variables is always a good idea! Ugh.
So I’ve become a pretty regular FourSquare user. I’m proud to be the “mayor” of the Starbucks close to my day job, in Redwood Shores, California. No biggie, although I do get $1 off a frappaccino at any time. Although I’m not big on frappaccinos; too bad it’s not a discount on espressos con panna!
A couple nights ago, I attended a @twitterapi meetup at the Twitter HQ in downtown San Francisco. It was pretty cool just being there, and great to get updated on the Twitter API while also doing a little networking. It was pretty informal as expected which was good. The Twitter guys basically opened up the floor for questions and comments on the Twitter API. They said “in order for us to succeed, you [the 3rd party developers] need to succeed”. Beer and pizza was served which was cool, and not surprising since there were about 3 women scattered in a sea of 25- to 40 year-old men! There was approximately 150 people in attendance.
Here are some takeaways from the discussion:
- Basic Authentication to be deprecated as soon as June 2010, just a few months away! In favor of Open Auth.
- For non-web clients, xauth is suggested for authentication. You may email “api AT twitter DOT com” to request access.
- A few asked, but they didn’t respond to questions about advertising.
- An address book API is coming soon.
- They plan on using the HTML5 Geolocation feature.
- Enhancing functionality for Favorites in the API is on the list, but not a priority.
- The word “Tweet” is OK to use in an application name as long as the app is solely a Twitter app (does not include other social networking functionality).
- Follow the Twitter API at @twitterapi
I’ve been busy as ever with my side projects and freelance work, especially with Accessible Twitter. In case you missed it from my tweets, here some good links with what I’ve been doing lately:
I just returned from the Accessing Higher Ground (AHG) 2009 conference in Westminster, Colorado (just outside Denver). Subtitled “Accessible Media, Web and Technology Conference.” The event has a slant in higher education; making college and university information accessible.
I missed the workshops, but attended the 2 1/2 days of the main conference and also presented one session. The slides are posted on SlideShare.net and briefly made the “” list on the home page. You may view and DIGG the “Twitter and Web Accessibility” presentation here. It’s also embedded below.
Highlights of the conference include:
- Finally meeting Jared Smith of WebAIM. We’ve known each other for several years online; since he was a guest in the early days of the Web Axe podcast and blog. Great guy.
- I also met other great people, and several from Europe – UK, Netherlands, and Spain. And how could I forget, John Foliot of Stanford was there, too!
- Great venue. The conference was held at a new hotel this year, the Westin Westminster, which was very nice. Much more spacious and elegant than previous years. (I attended the AHG 2008 event.) Some great restaurants, including Rock Bottom Brewery, were just across the street.
- The day before I left, it started snowing. The streets were slushy, but the snow was pretty. I was a bit nervous about my flight home, but the Denver airport did a great job and there were virtually no delays.
I’m proud to announce that my project Accessible Twitter has been honored with the the 2009 Access IT @web2.0 Award! The award is in recognition of a project, product or service that advances accessibility on web 2.0. It is endorsed by the International Webmasters Association (IWA). The selection process assesses the relevance for the award, its impact, its affordability and openness, and its validation level. The awards event was held in central London.
My Twitter friend Meera Tank was kind enough to represent me and Accessible Twitter at the award event. A nice, heavy, glass trophy was given, which currently resides with Meera in London. She accepted the award and gave the presentation that I wrote a couple days prior. You can view the presentation on SlideShare (or view the fully accessible HTML version). The day after it was posted, SlideShare chose this to be a Featured Presentation on their home page!
The other categories and winners are:
- ACCESS-IT@Web2.0: project, product or service that advances accessibility on web 2.0.
- ACCESS-IT@Home: project, product or service that advances independent living for people with disabilities or elderly.
- ACCESS-IT @Work: project, product or service that facilitates persons with disability to work independently.
- ACCESS-IT@Learning: project, product or service that facilitates persons with disability or elderly to get educated in an affordable, accessible, usable and efficient manner.
PS:
You may also read about this subject on Web Axe, my podcast/blog on web accessibility: Accessible Twitter Wins Award, Slidedeck
I was asked to write an article for Even Grounds, so I did! It’s called Accessible Experts: Dennis Lembree Talks About Accessible Twitter. Thought it’s valuable to note that the working title of the article was “The Awful Truth About Most Web Sites”. The main idea is to connect the perception of “wrong vs right”, Twitter and web accessibility, and modern coding practices.
Please give me a Digg if you have an account. My Digg description is as follows:
The first in a series of articles from Even Grounds featuring accessibility experts. In this article, guest author Dennis Lembree links “wrong vs right’, Twitter and web accessibility, and modern coding practices.
Even Grounds logo
Like Twitter? Need a job in the tech/computer industry? Then follow some of the 30 Tweeps listed below! Lots of categories and locations to choose from.
By U.S. City
International, UK, Australia
Company-Specific
The Rest
Leave a Comment
Any other suggestions? Opinion on any listed?
Follow me on Twitter!
