Education Task Force

Mission Statement

The WaSP Education Task Force was created in 2005 to work directly with institutions of higher education to help raise awareness of Web standards and accessibility among instructors, administrators, and Web development teams.

Objectives

1. Encourage instruction of Web standards in interactive and Web design programs, to prepare students for positions which will demand skills in standards-based, accessible design.
2. Promote the creation of standards-compliant, accessible public sites. The Education Task Force recognizes that legacy sites exist, and are difficult to convert. Our goal is to help institutions of higher education aim for a policy which requires that all new sites use valid markup and, insofar as possible, follow WAI Accessibility Guidelines.

Solutions

The Education Task Force is working to:

• Encourage discussion among developers and educators working to promote Web standards in higher education.
• Track hot topics related to Web standards in higher education.
• Highlight upcoming events, such as conferences, workshops and Webcasts, and publish reports back from Education Task Force participants at large.
• Expand a list of resources, which includes example sites, interviews, and a library of learning objects, archived presentations, and white papers.
• Create liaisons with institutions of higher education to determine what they need to promote Web standards and accessibility.
• Offer support by facilitating contact with presenters and speakers, and assist in creating Web Standards users groups within the academic community.

We have more ideas, and would like to hear yours! Contact the WaSP Education Task Force.