To: Thomas Putnam, CIO, Office of Information Systems and Technology

From: The Web Standards Group

Re: Request for support of campus Web Standards training

Date: August 17, 2009

Dear Mr. Putnam,

Since January 2006, the Web Standards Group (WSG) has been a primary provider of training to campus IT staff in UCSB Web standards. Composed of Web professionals from across the campus, the WSG not only developed and published the UCSB Web Guide, but has organized and presented a series of six workshops (see Attachment B) on critical topics, especially:

  • Compliance with UC-, state-, and federally-mandated guidelines on Web accessibility.
  • Web applications security: risks and remediation.

Each of these very successful WSG workshops has been provided free of charge and open to all UCSB staff, and all but one was completely "sold out." For these events, the group has been able either to find one-time support for incidental costs (guest speaker reimbursements, Web conferencing fees, room fees, refreshments), or has contributed funds from members' pockets.

But demand for this type of training continues to grow. At the last workshop, so many staff sought to register that the 49-person room capacity of the original venue was filled within the first two days of registration, and the venue had to be switched to a facility that could accommodate 80, involving unanticipated expenditures for a room fee and equipment.

With the current UC budget cutbacks, local training of the kind the WSG offers represents a very high value for our IT staff training dollars. In order to plan for and provide this service reliably, however, the WSG needs to have a predictable source of funding to meet training expenses.

The Web Standards Group would like to request support from the OIST for Web standards-related training offerings over the next two years, as described in Attachment A. In developing this proposal, we have aimed at offering training at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels in three different formats that we have used successfully in the past, and chosen topics based on the top requests for further training from our last three workshop evaluation surveys. We have also added a podcasting component to each offering to help maximize the audience we can reach with the training.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have questions as you read through our proposal.

We appreciate your consideration and look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Hank Ratzesberger, Co-Chair ()

Guylene Gadal, Co-Chair ()

Ann Dundon, member ()

UCSB Web Standards Group
Attachment A: Proposed Web Standards Training FY 2009/10 and 2010/11

Formats for the proposed training options include the following:

  • An introductory-level, multi-presenter training workshop aimed at a broad base of professionals providing support for the Web on campus.
  • An introductory to intermediate level single- or multi-presenter workshop aimed at professionals responsible for delivering services via the Web to UCSB constituencies.
  • Intermediate to advanced forums/seminars aimed at helping campus Web developers expand and share skills and resources.

FY 2009-2010

Fall 2009: Web Applications Security Workshop

Item / Details / Cost
Topic / Web applications security / --
Format / Single-presenter training workshop / --
Level / Introductory/Intermediate / --
Presenters / Outside presenter (Gabe Lawrence?) / --
Time / 3.5 hours incl. break, q & a / --
Venue / EH&S Training Room; seats 49 / 00.00
Equipment / 2 Data projectors / 00.00
Wireless microphone x 2 / $15.00
Refreshments / "Goleta Beach" catering package 40 x $5.00 / $200.00
Publicity / UCSB mailing lists; 93101 / 00.00
Podcasting / One-time custom workflow / $75.00
Mac mini for Podcast Producer / $50.00
Lodging / 1 night x $130/night / $130.00
Meals / 1.5 days x $64/day / $96.00
Transport / Within California / $250.00
TOTAL / $816.00

Spring 2010: Web Standards Workshop

Item / Details / Cost
Topic / Web Standards, Web Accessibility and Related UC Policy / --
Format / Multi-presenter training workshop / --
Level / Introductory
Presenters / Members, WSG; Meta Clow / --
Time / 2.5 – 3 hours incl. break / --
Venue / UCEN Flying A Studios or equiv; seats 80 / $45.00
Equipment / Data projector @$26/hr x 3 hours / $78.00
Wireless microphone x 2 / $15.00
Refreshments / "Goleta Beach" catering package 50 x $5.00 / $250.00
Publicity / UCSB mailing lists; 93101 / 00.00
Podcasting / Mac mini for Podcast Producer / $50.00
TOTAL / $438.00

Quarterly 2009-10: Brown Bag Tech Forums

Item / Details / Cost
Topic / Varies / --
Format / Single presenter training/discussion seminar / --
Level / Intermediate/Advanced / --
Presenters / Members, WSG / --
Time / 1 – 1.5 hours / --
Venue / EH&S Training Room / 00.00
Equipment / Data projector / 00.00
Wireless microphone x 1 / $7.50
Refreshments / Bottled water, cookies from Costco / $50.00
Publicity / UCSB mailing lists; 93101 / 00.00
Podcasting / Mac mini for Podcast Producer / $50.00
Subtotal / 107.50
TOTAL / 4 x $107.50 / $430.00

Total Amount Requested for FY 2009-10: $1684.00

FY 2010-2011

Fall 2010: Web Accessibility Workshop

Item / Details / Cost
Topic / Web accessibility / --
Format / Multi-presenter training workshop / --
Level / Intermediate / --
Presenters / Outside presenter (Robert Engelbretson?); WSG members / --
Time / 3.5 hours incl. break, q & a / --
Venue / EH&S Training Room; seats 49 / 00.00
Equipment / 2 Data projectors / 00.00
Wireless microphone x 2 / $15.00
Refreshments / "Goleta Beach" catering package 40 x $5.00 / $200.00
Publicity / UCSB mailing lists; 93101 / 00.00
Podcasting / Mac mini for Podcast Producer / $50.00
Lodging / 1 night x $130/night / $130.00
Meals / 2 days x $64/day / $128.00
Transport / Within California / $300.00
TOTAL / $823.00

Spring 2011: Web Standards Workshop

Item / Details / Cost
Topic / Web Accessibility, Related UC Policy, Basic Web Security / --
Format / Multi-presenter training workshop / --
Level / Introductory / --
Presenters / Members, WSG; Meta Clow / --
Time / 2.5 – 3 hours incl. break / --
Venue / UCEN Flying A Studios or equiv; seats 80 / $45.00
Equipment / Data projector @$26/hr x 3 hours / $78.00
Wireless microphone x 2 / $15.00
Refreshments / "Goleta Beach" catering package 50 x $5.00 / $250.00
Publicity / UCSB mailing lists; 93101 / 00.00
Podcasting / Mac mini for Podcast Producer / $50.00
TOTAL / $513.00

Quarterly 2011: Brown Bag Tech Forums

Item / Details / Cost
Topic / Varies / --
Format / Single presenter training/discussion seminar / --
Level / Intermediate/Advanced / --
Presenters / Members, WSG / --
Time / 1 – 1.5 hours / --
Venue / EH&S Training Room / 00.00
Equipment / Data projector / 00.00
Wireless microphone x 1 / $7.50
Refreshments / Bottled water, cookies from Costco / 50.00
Publicity / UCSB mailing lists; 93101 / 00.00
Podcasting / Mac mini for Podcast Producer / $50.00
TOTAL / 4 x $107.50 / $430.00

Total Amount Requested for FY 2010-11: $1766.00

Attachment B: Previous Web Standards Group Workshops Summary

January 30-31, 2006 "Accessible Websites: Compliance and Design"

Two 1.5-hour webcasts over two days, provided by AcademicImpressions.com

Attendance: 41 people from 31 departments.

Venue: EH&S Training room, max seating 49; no fee.

Cost: $650 for AcademicImpressions.com Web Conference registration.

Sponsor: SIS&T

January 31, 2007 "Guidelines and Resources for UCSB Web Sites"

1.5 hour workshop introducing the new UCSB Web Guide, standards recommendations and best practices. Presented by WSG members and Meta Clow.

Attendance: 49 people from 43 departments.

Venue: EH&S Training room, max seating 49; no fee.

Cost: $35 for refreshments

Sponsor: Web Standards Group members.

August 15, 2007, "Web Accessibility Workshop"

2-hour hands-on workshop on Web accessibility standards and best practices, featuring screen demonstration by special guest Dr. Robert Engelbretson of Rice University

Attendance: 25 people.

Venue: Gaviota Lab, max seating 25; no fee.

Cost: $0.

Sponsor: Instructional Computing donated use of the Lab and guest speaker Robert Engelbretson volunteered his time for free.

March 10, 2008, "Web Applications Security Workshop"

2.5-hour demo and presentation on Web applications development and testing for security. Presented by Gabe Lawrence, Director of IT Security at UC San Diego.

Attendance: 49 people from 27 departments.

Venue: EH&S Training Room, max seating 49; no fee.

Cost: $286 for presenter's travel expenses; $40 for refreshments.

Sponsor: OIT paid for presenter's travel expenses, WSG members paid for refreshments.

September 9, 2008, "Spatial Data, KML, and the UCSB Web"

2.5-hour demo and presentation on Keyhole Markup Language (KML) and potential

uses for geographical mapping on UCSB Web sites.

Presented by Alan Glennon, PhD Candidate, Spatial Center, UCSB.

Attendance: 20 people.

Venue: EH&S Training Room, max seating 49; no fee.

Cost: $58.00 for refreshments.

Sponsor: WSG members paid for refreshments.

April 8, 2009, "Web Standards Workshop"

1.5-hour workshop introducing UC/UCSB Web policies, Web security, and Web accessibility topics and best practices. Presented by WSG members and Meta Clow.

Attendance: 74 people from 58 departments.

Venue: UCen State Street Room, max seating 80; room fee $30.

Cost: $30 for room; $52 for data projector.

Sponsor: OIT reimbursed chair for expenses