Thursday 24 April 2008

10 Tips to Finding Great Web Design and Development Services

A new type of article from me, looking to help out the IT consumer, something I feel is sorely missing as we as web devs and designers work to achieve. From CIO, check it out!

Here’s the blurb:

Losing tens of thousands of dollars is something we all want to avoid. Yet in today’s confusing world of Web development, it’s a daily occurrence. The problem, as many CIOs learn from being burned, can be solved by gaining a better understanding of what to look for in a Web design and development company, how to ask for it and how to ensure that what you pay for is really what you need.

And the lovely link to the article on CIO.

Enjoy!

Filed under:   professional, standards, software, web design and development, society
Posted by:   Molly | 3:29 pm | Comments (8)

Monday 7 April 2008

The John Slatin Fund Accessibility Project

For the many people who knew and worked with John Slatin, his passing comes as a deep sorrow. His humor, kindness and always energetic work for Web accessibility are an inspirational cornerstone for all of us working to create a better Web, and ultimately, a better world.

After a long illness, John’s passing has left his family with medical debt. I can’t express the amount of personal rage I have against my wealthy and powerful nation’s inability to provide quality healthcare to its citizens. It is one of my gravest fears that I will leave the same legacy of debt on my loved ones who should be left able to care and comfort one another rather than see their life savings and resources lost during such a difficult time.

This in mind, I was extremely encouraged and moved to hear that a fund to assist with the Slatin family’s needs at this time has been set up. It works like this: Any company or individual who wants an accessibility site review is asked to donate $500.00 to the fund. In return, that company or individual will receive a review performed by top accessibility experts including such impressive names as Wendy Chisholm, James Craig, Marla Erwin, Derek Featherstone, Bruce Lawson, Gez Lemon, Ian Lloyd, Ann McMeekin - the list is literally a who’s who of the finest accessibility practitioners in the world. These experts donate their time to review your site, and in turn, the fund receives the money, which goes directly to the Slatin family to offset their medical debt.

Personally, I will miss John for so many reasons. It’s hard to imagine that he’s even gone, he was one of the most supportive mentors in the last few years of my own professional life. It brings comfort to know that the community has come together in such a positive and productive way to honor him, and his family, for the richness he brought to all he did and everyone he knew.

For more information on the project, please visit The John Slatin Fund Accessibility Project Home Page. There is also a Facebook Page where you can find more information as well as community support.

Filed under:   professional, web design and development, society, announcement, accessibility, community
Posted by:   Molly | 1:13 pm | Comments Off

Monday 3 March 2008

Celebrate, C’mon! IE8 Standards Mode To Be Default

By now you’ve likely read about the big news regarding Microsoft’s commitment to a more interoperable Web, starting with the very good news that standards mode in IE8 will now ship as default.

I’m off to MIX08 tomorrow, and will be attending the keynotes as well as developer discussions on IE8 and additional events surrounding Microsoft’s agenda moving forward. I’ll post more as I’m able.

In the meantime, I just want to shout out a thanks for all the hard work it took this year to keep the IE8 conversation open and alive. We’ve been through some bumpy times, and I for one know that people on the inside of Microsoft faced an enormous amount of pressure in trying to keep that conversation in the public eye.

To all who worked so very hard from both the inside and outside, I toast your dedication, your willingness to challenge what would otherwise be the status quo, and I think it’s really worth taking a celebratory moment to realize that at least for now, the community voice can, and does, truly make a difference.

Filed under:   professional, policies, standards, software, web design and development, society, w3c, conferences, announcement, browsers, microsoft, community
Posted by:   Molly | 10:13 pm | Comments (47)

Wednesday 27 February 2008

Interview: Roger & Molly: Webstock New Zealand

I like this interview! It runs a bit long but Roger made me feel so welcome it just came out as a spontaneous chat.

Anyone willing to do text transcript, holler. I’d like to make one available!

Thank you, Roger, for a great interview.

Enjoy, comment, bitch etc. below:

Filed under:   professional, humor, standards, software, web design and development, travel, food and drink, society, w3c, conferences, announcement, creativity, browsers, microsoft, ie7, innovation, whatwg, community
Posted by:   Molly | 8:12 am | Comments (39)

Friday 15 February 2008

I Wish It Were Webstock Every Day

What a fantastic experience here in Wellington, New Zealand.

Content, personalities, activities, food, drink, entertainment were all exceptional due to the hard work of the awesome Tash and her crew of equally awesome folk.

I want to shout out a thanks to this wonderful group, who work, for free, to pull Webstock off.

This is the finest event I’ve been to in quite some time.

Webstock restores my faith that not everyone involved in conference organizing is concerned with profits these days, and in fact people, and the passions of our industry are still going strong.

My very personal thanks and endless tons of love for all involved in this fantastic and very special event.

Filed under:   professional, web design and development, society, conferences, community
Posted by:   Molly | 9:49 pm | Comments (21)

Tuesday 5 February 2008

Come Spend an Evening with Me!

What? Why, it’s “An evening with Molly Holzschlag” in Melbourne, Australia. An informal, question and answer forum, the goal is to have a great discussion about all things Web. Standards, practices, oh, and yeah, I’m sure IE8 will be of interest. The event was organized and is being brought to you free by the wonderful folks at WIPA (Web Industry Professionals Association) and Web Standards Group.

Date:	Wednesday 6 February
Time:	6.30pm for 7pm start
City:	Melbourne
Venue:	Loop Bar, 23 Meyers Place Melbourne 3000 VIC
Cost:	FREE

The conversation will likely take up an hour or so, with plenty of time for drinks, socializing and networking after. I’m very excited to be seeing old friends, and meeting new! Please come by if you’re near the area, and make sure to come say hello to me.

Filed under:   professional, standards, web design and development, travel, food and drink, w3c, announcement, microsoft, community
Posted by:   Molly | 5:26 am | Comments (21)

Sunday 3 February 2008

Call for Web Standards Quips and Clips

I’m preparing my keynote for Webstock in Wellington, New Zealand, coming up next week. I would very much like a sampling of video shots of a wide range of individual opinions and thoughts answering the question: “What is the definition of Web Standards?” You can be as funny, mean, or weird as you like so long as you have some clear point to make. If you’re an enthusiast, be enthusiastic. If you’re a hater, be a hater. Just have a point, and think of the children

If you’d like to help out, drop a me! please in the comments. Shyness definitely does not apply here. I’ll contact you by email privately with details as to where to send and format, etc.

I’ll be using these clips within the presentation to gain a widespread look at how people define, and feel, about Web standards. Mostly, the point is to demonstrate how it can mean such a variety of things to people from all over the world. The more variety, the better. I will then publish them in the public domain for all to enjoy.

Up for it? Let’s hear from you!

Filed under:   professional, standards, software, web design and development, WaSP, society, w3c, conferences, announcement, browsers, microsoft, accessibility, javascript
Posted by:   Molly | 6:55 pm | Comments (25)

Thursday 31 January 2008

From Web Standards Diva to Web Standards Devo

This post emerges from a comment I wrote to the response thread in my “Web Standards Aren’t” post, which I hope will clarify my thoughts a bit as well as take a lighter look at what I’m working to articulate here.

I’ve decided to become a Devo rather than a Diva. I’m going to design my new site with frames, tables, spacer gifs, lots of flash embedded into framed pages via iframes. I’m going to use non-semantic, presentational HTML, table based layouts, and lots of inline CSS.

The frightening issue is that I can build such a site so it will validate, pass at least WCAG priority 1 accessibility and have effective SEO.

The mere fact that I can actually do all that and be in compliance with specs should help clarify my point, I hope. It’s not the specs that define Web Standards. We are talking about best practices. We use the term “standards” fast and loose, and for an industry that is so interested in semantics, I find it endlessly ironic that we have chosen such a piss poor description to define a certain level of professional practices.

We co-opted the term “standards” and applied it to something that wasn’t a standard, rather, a series of specifications that are RECOMMENDED practices.

Am I saying stop working to specs? No. Am I saying we’re on the wrong path as we try and build a better Web by increasing education and awareness around specs and best practices - well, if anyone here thinks I mean that you must not have met me or know me too well. Rest assured my heart is right there, I want a better Web, and that means better practices, more education, more resources, more outreach.

I’m challenging the status quo. I’m just asking that you take a look at the semantics of the situation and not be led into a sense of comfort that we actually have achieved any semblance of a standard. If that were true, all browsers would behave the same way, and my code would be just like your code, and every CMS and development software would be interoperable, use correct nomenclature, and follow the specs.

Is that the Web we have? Clearly not. And as we grow and expand both on the desktop and into mobile devices, these issues become more fragmented, not less.

Filed under:   professional, standards, software, web design and development, society, w3c, browsers, accessibility, community
Posted by:   Molly | 6:49 pm | Comments (46)

Web Standards Aren’t

After a fantastic day in Perth I ended up talking to a group of oil workers. Men of all classes and walks of life. Scottish, English, Aussie. Tattoos, guys with attitude, heart, and an amazing decency of soul.

An engineer on an oil rig finds a fitting that’s defective. He tells his mates to fix or replace the fitting.

Following manufacturing specs, the person given the task consults the specs, and he builds it just so.

It fits, and will function. If it does not fit, it is not allowed to be used. Those are standards. The products developed meet manufacturing specs world over, and that’s that.

What we have today, on the Web, are not standards in the truest sense. We are at a time in the evolution of the Web where the idea of “standards” is more of a profound misnomer than ever.

Please Define Web Standards

Bet an Aussie dollar you can’t!

Most folks reading this post will say Web standards are markup and CSS, and maybe, just maybe, accessibility.

So what about JavaScript?

If you’re really smart, you raised your hand like Arnold Horschack and shouted out: JavaScript.

Surprise you markup and CSS pedantics, you know, that’s a “standard” too.

Democracy Killed My Grandma

The democratic Web fosters anarchy. That’s not a bad thing per se. I like the idea of anyone having a soap box. It makes for intrigue if not logic.

But professional sites must set some practice that is equivalent to all counterparts. And also supports my Mum when she wants to post a photo.

Don’t you agree?

Context, He Said, Is Everything

There’s a reason that we don’t have standards on the Web, or clearly understand what “standards” really are. The bottom line is it’s not that important.

Web standards aren’t, because democracy demands it.

The grand paradox is that our professional world demands a standard that can be measured and judged. And yet, we need to be free to not be conformists.

Web Standards Really Aren’t

Go ahead, tell me what they are. I know you can’t, because they aren’t. We have specifications, recommendations, implementations and a lot of best practice chatter.

What we do not have is the ace that will fit perfectly in the hole. Web standards aren’t.

It’s time to move on to whatever is next.

Filed under:   professional, standards, software, web design and development, WaSP, society, w3c, browsers, microsoft, ajax, innovation, accessibility, javascript, whatwg
Posted by:   Molly | 8:28 am | Comments (52)

Monday 28 January 2008

W3C HTML5 Working Draft Published

Today the W3C announced that it has formally published the W3C working draft version of HTML5.

According to Tim Berners-Lee:

“I am glad to see that the community of developers, including browser vendors, is working together to create the best possible path for the Web”

Clearly, Tim remains as optimistic as ever, but from the evidence of the last few weeks, it’s clear this isn’t exactly as happy a situation as it’s made out to be. But, the work is continuing, and that’s noteworthy in and of itself.

Filed under:   professional, standards, software, web design and development, w3c, announcement, browsers, whatwg, community
Posted by:   Molly | 8:38 pm | Comments (20)

Thursday 24 January 2008

Me, IE8 and Microsoft Versioning

If you work in Web design and development and haven’t read any of the articles and discussions taking place regarding IE8 and its use of meta versioning for standards compliance, it’s time to read up on it ASAP. Begin with Aaron Gustafson’s “Beyond DOCTYPE: Web Standards, Forward Compatibility, and IE8” on A List Apart. You can follow the threads from there. Russ Weakley at maxdesign is keeping a good list of the conversations too, so you can drop by and fill up on all
the mud-slinging and drama as it unfolds.

Burning truths

I began to write a response to Shelley Powers’ formidable “Bobbing Heads and the IE8 Meta Tag.” In this article, I’m cited as being in compliance with the Microsoft meta option. At first I resisted that I was being “compliant,” thinking that despite my discomfort with the option, I thought (and still do think) that it was the best solution that came up during the year-long versioning discussion we had.

The year long, very private, NDA’d versioning discussion. Which is where I have to agree with those who cite me as being “compliant.”

Because this was not a public discussion, and because I and others both internally and externally failed to convince Microsoft to make it a public discussion (although to their credit they did bring in industry advocates), I am in fact in compliance with the meta choice.

However, this doesn’t mean I agree it’s the right thing to do. I can say that I think it was the best of a list of much more problematic options that were presented. Just think about what naturally came up at first, attaching to the DOCTYPE switch or encouraging the use of conditional comments are both easily identified (but also very problematic) possibilities. And just because I did in the end agree that this was the better choice has nothing to do with silence. We all had legal and ethical responsibilities in that process.

I wish, oh how I wish, we could have all worked on this openly and together. That would have been my dream, but alas, it wasn’t to be.

Holding back the tears

When I began to talk to Microsoft and IE via the WaSP Microsoft Task Force, the conversation was far more open, or at least it appeared that way. When I left WaSP to work with Microsoft in a liaison capacity, that was still true. Over the past few years changes within the company infrastructure led to changes for the IE management hierarchy, and suddenly things got very quiet.

Silence can equal consent, indeed. Which is why I personally focused on breaking that silence. It took enormous pressure internally (and frankly, I believe that’s continuing) as well as my blatantly asking Bill Gates about it this past December to push the doors open again. Finally, this allowed Aaron, who was part of that long versioning discussion, to publicly talk about the switching work being done.

If those hands had not been forced, no one would have heard about this until IE8 landed on our doorsteps.

Out the issues

Now it’s out in the open, prior to a beta. We now know a hell of a lot about IE8 because of this. We can take a damned good guess at what’s actually in IE8 standards-wise because in IE8 standards mode, we have Acid2 compliance. Break down Acid2, and you’ll see what those implementations are or will be.

I believe we are in a much better situation knowing all of this in advance of the product. Was it wrong for Microsoft to shut up? I say yes and I call foul on those folks within the organization who allowed the very positive and productive conversations be shut down so dramatically. Clearly, they made a drastic mistake, which they were warned about by internal folks as well as advisors over and over and over again. So, the more yelling that comes from the Web community and the public press, well, that’s a message Microsoft will listen to so let’s remember that and hope some good comes of it.

Honestly, would it have been better to hide all this information until IE8 landed on our doorsteps? I don’t think so. At least now we have a window into what Microsoft is doing and the conversation, as is evidenced by the activity of the last week, is outed.

Transparency is bullshit, let’s get naked

Open standards must emerge from public, open, bare discussion. Microsoft clearly does not agree with this. It goes against its capitalist cover-up mentality, even when Bill Gates himself has quite adamantly stated that there should be no secrecy around IE8. In fact, he was the one who let the name slip. The fucking name, people! This shows you how ludicrous the lack of communication had become: Gates himself didn’t even know we weren’t allowed to say “IE8.”

This covert behavior is a profound conflict for me as I’m sure readers will at least agree that I’m pretty darned overt by default. But I knew it going in, I just kept and am still keeping my hopes high because that is also my default.

Sometimes the solution is to step back and re-evaluate. Sometimes the solution is to walk away. I haven’t firmed up my personal decisions on that just yet. Maybe it’s time to go back to Old School WaSP-style stinging of MS, but that definitely is not my default.

Can’t we all just get along? No, really. During my time at WaSP, the door was open to a kinder, gentler way. More fool me? So be it. I’m not giving up the greater goal, which is keeping the Web open, free, naked, bare-assed to the world.

Of, by and for

I think about all of us, whether we are “for” or “against” a given approach in the context of Web technologies in general, and I realize how necessary our arguments are. We are some of the world’s smartest, most innovative, committed and passionate people. How we’ll start figuring out better ways to collaborate, change old-school thinking, and encourage positive innovation and growth for the Web, well fuck if I know. Been down several roads (WaSP, for example) to try and see just how to do that.

What I do know is that the Web is still of the people, by the people, and for the people, no matter what Microsoft or anyone else does. And we’re the people to keep it that way. It’s not the what, but the how, and the when, that we have to focus on.

Filed under:   professional, policies, standards, software, web design and development, WaSP, society, w3c, browsers, microsoft, accessibility, javascript, whatwg, community
Posted by:   Molly | 10:22 pm | Comments (67)

Tuesday 22 January 2008

TravelBlog 2008: Australia and New Zealand

I’m in Houston and in a few hours will board a plane that will take me to Guam, then on to Cairns and points in Australia and New Zealand.

There are two concise reasons this trip is important to me:

1). 2008 marks the 20th (yes, that’s TWENTIETH) year online (bbs’s anyone?)
2). I turn 45 on the 25. It’s a rite of passage, I think.

For one month I’m going to explore Australia and New Zealand. I will post photos and ideas and inspiration.

I am also working hard, my current project: massive HTML and CSS testing for MS.

I’m very excited.

Filed under:   professional, standards, software, web design and development, travel, food and drink, society, w3c, browsers, microsoft, ajax, rails, accessibility, javascript, whatwg, The Daily Molly, community
Posted by:   Molly | 12:01 am | Comments (40)

Sunday 30 December 2007

Strangest Dream: End to Browser Wars?

(original lyrics by Ed McCurdy and known to most because of Paul Simon, thx guys)

Strangest Dream (Web version)

Last night I had the strangest dream
I’ve ever dreamt before
I dreamed we had all agreed
To put an end to browser war

I dreamed I saw a mighty room
Filled with women (but mostly men)
And the papers they were signing said
They’d not do specs wrong again

And when the specs all were signed
And a million copies made
Some joined hands and thought they’d have a prayer
About the specifications, made

And the people on the Web below
Were running up and down
While markup and scripting and browser wars
Were scattered all around

Last night I had the strangest dream
I’ve ever dreamt before
I dreamed that we had all agreed
To put an end to browser wars.

Filed under:   professional, humor, music, pop culture, software, web design and development, creativity, browsers, community
Posted by:   Molly | 7:55 am | Comments (31)

Wednesday 19 December 2007

Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Smiley

During the past week’s drama related to Microsoft’s lack of transparency and problems with working groups and browser vendors, it literally pained me so to have to keep my mouth shut when I knew there were some very good things happening.

I’m glad Bill Gates truly took the time to look into the communication issues, because to quote the man himself from our conversation last week: “There’s not like some deep secret about what we’re doing with IE.”

From the IEblog today, Dean Hachamovich writes:

“Now, with all that context, I’m delighted to tell you that on Wednesday, December 12, Internet Explorer correctly rendered the Acid2 page in IE8 standards mode. While supporting the features tested in Acid2 is important for many reasons, it is just one of several milestones for the interoperability, standards compliance, and backwards compatibility that we’re committed to for this release. We will blog more on these topics . . .

For IE8, we want to communicate facts, not aspirations. We’re posting this information now because we have real working code checked in and we’re confident about delivering it in the final product. We’re listening to the feedback about IE, and at the same time, we are committed to responsible disclosure and setting expectations properly. Now that we’ve run the test on multiple machines and seen it work, we’re excited to be able to share definitive information.

Would jumping up and down and saying “I told you so” be in order? No, because I couldn’t tell you so. However, I have long been saying that some good things are happening up in Redmond. I applaud the developers who had to keep their mouths closed due to NDA’s and did so under heavy scrutiny, and I applaud all those at Microsoft working hard and proving that they not only hear developer’s needs but understand them and are truly working to make a difference.

Bravo, IE Team, for the hard work and most especially for finally getting the go-ahead to restart this much needed conversation.

Filed under:   professional, policies, standards, software, web design and development, WaSP, w3c, announcement, browsers, microsoft, community
Posted by:   Molly | 2:07 pm | Comments (113)

Sunday 16 December 2007

Define Web Standards in a <p> or Less

You’ve got one paragraph to clearly define the term “web standards” - if you can do it in one sentence, all the better.

GO!

Filed under:   professional, policies, standards, software, web design and development, WaSP, w3c, browsers, molly asks you
Posted by:   Molly | 5:56 pm | Comments (98)