01:00, 18 November 2010
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Some demographics take to the Internet better than others. I've worked in
developing countries where it seems like every young person I encountered, no matter how poor, was texting on a cell phone or updating a status on an online social network. By contrast, here in Oregon, I regularly encounter groups who haven't updated their web page in years and individuals who tell me that my emails to them have to be printed out by their assistants -- or their husbands -- to be read.
It's the same for online discussions: some groups -- volunteers, employees of a company, people who are part of a particular profession, members of an association, people interested in a specific activity, etc. -- take to an online platform immediately, asking each other questions, making comments, sharing resources and engaging in debates. Other groups don't at all; while they may get together at a conference or onsite meeting and talk, debate and discuss non-stop, put them together online and they remain silent. They all become lurkers, reading the posts but not responding to them, and rarely, and perhaps, never, posting a question or comment.
It certainly depends on the characteristics of group members as to whether or not they take to an online discussion group. If the group is made up of teenagers, government IT professionals, political activists, 20-something students, or online game designers, the online group is probably going to be oh-so-lively. But if the group is made up of government HR managers, or UN agency administrative assistants, or other very bureaucratic folks, it's probably going to be a very quiet online site.
What keeps online community members from talking online to each other? They:
- are afraid of putting their thoughts in writing because their written words might be deemed later as inappropriate by their supervisors or co-workers.
- don't want to sound "silly" because of how they phrase their question or comment.
- worry that their grammar or spelling isn't up to par, especially if English is not their fluent language.
- are uncomfortable putting a debate into writing.
- don't see the value in asking a question, commenting on a post or debating a topic.
- don't see anything essential about participating.
Notice I don't have they don't have time as a reason. That's because I don't believe it's a valid reason for not participating in an online discussion group. The same argument was used by many bureaucrats and company employees regarding desktop computers when they were first introduced to the work place; once those computers started becoming essential to their work, once they saw the value of those machines,
they made time to use them. It's the same for an online discussion group.
There are ways to encourage members of an online discussion group to start talking online. These activities take months, not days or weeks, to get an online group more active:
- having a core group that commits to regularly posting information and regularly ask questions of each other when a new post is made, so other members start feeling more comfortable about posting themselves.
- referring to the online discussion groups in all onsite meetings and conferences, in print publications, etc.
- have an online event or focused-discussion, one with a definite start date and end date, one that can only be experienced, or can best be experienced, by logging into the group during the appointed time.
How have YOU taken a relatively silent online discussion group, especially one that is focused on professionals or volunteers, and turned it into a more lively online destination?
Let's hear your ideas and experiences here.
.
08:18, 16 November 2010
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I went to your web site. I wanted to buy something. Or I wanted to donate funds. I had my credit card info all ready to go.
But I didn't buy anything. And I didn't donate anything. Because I couldn't use your web site.
I couldn't use it because you designed your web site so that:
- I had to have a particular kind of browser -- one that I don't use.
- The text was too tiny for me to read, even with my reading glasses.
- I couldn't find what I was looking for.
- I got tired of waiting for graphics and videos and all sorts of other bells and whistles to download. before I could read the information I was looking for.
- I had to push down more than one button to make a choice -- and I can't use my hands.
- My special web reader could read it - because I'm blind, and that's what I need to surf the web
- You have to be able to hear essential information, in a podcast or a video, and without subtitles or a text version, I couldn't access that information.
Only four of those circumstances are true for me, actually. But how many are true for users of YOUR organization's web site for thousands, even millions, of people?
Online accessibility is not just for people with disabilities. Research has shown that more than two out of three technology users benefit from accessible design. Additionally, the same techniques used to enable assistive technologies often facilitate access to web sites by mobile phones and other handheld devices.
If you are a web developer, web designer, IT manager, IT policy developer, IT administrator, programmer, anyone with IT responsibilities, an IT student or a manager of any of these folks, you need to reserve your place now at the
AccessU West training conference in San Jose, Jan. 10-12.
This is a tremendous professional development opportunity for individuals, as well as a way for companies to demonstrate their commitment to usability and accessibility to customers! This is an excellent opportunity to show that you understand how to bridge an important aspect of the digital divide!
16:23, 1 November 2010
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Online accessibility is not just for people with disabilities. Research has shown that more than two out of three technology users benefit from accessible design. Additionally, the same techniques used to enable assistive technologies often facilitate access to web sites by mobile phones and other handheld devices.
If you are a web developer, web designer, IT manager, IT policy developer, IT administrator, programmer, anyone with IT responsibilities, an IT student or a manager of any of these folks, you need to reserve your place now at the
AccessU West training conference in San Jose, Jan. 10-12!
Some big announcements regarding the
AccessU West training conference in San Jose, Jan. 10-12!
Check out these
photos from past AccessU events. And don’t delay — sign up so you can learn from top experts and get on the cutting edge of compliant, universal design. It's something your company needs, and it's something that increases
your value to any employer!
With AccessU West's
general registration you can pick and choose from classes in three suggested tracks. Or, you can pick just one track to concentrate on:
- The Design/Development Track: Make it Accessible, for people creating content, software, web sites and multimedia. All the how-to knowledge you need to be sure that people with disabilities can use what you create and to make accessibility part of your design strategy.
- The Policy and Administration Track: Set the Direction, for administrators, managers and policy makers. Know the laws, and learn how to set up a program that works for your company and your team
- Specialized Usability Track: Make it Usable, for people creating or evaluating technology – Learn how to make sure that your websites and software are usable by people with disabilities.
This is a tremendous professional development opportunity for individuals, as well as a way for companies to demonstrate their commitment to usability and accessibility to customers! This is an excellent opportunity to show that you understand how to bridge an important aspect of the digital divide!
This event is being organized by
Knowbility.org, a nonprofit I've long been associated with and feel quite passionate about -- they are doing great work, and
AccessU West is but one example of that great work. Knowbility's mission is to ensure barrier-free IT - supporting the independence of people with disabilities by promoting the use and improving the availability of accessible information technology. Knowbility's award-winning programs and services are designed to provide universally-available, barrier-free information technology solutions that help the blind visualize the world around them, help the deaf communicate with the hearing world, and help those with mobility impairments “travel” via the Internet.
Knowbility was recently featured on
NPR’s
On the Media with Bob Garfield
Complete information about this conference:
http://www.knowbility.org/accessu-west/
PLEASE REBLOG THIS!
08:22, 26 October 2010
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Don’t you want
this person, featured on this CNN blog, and
millions like him, to be able to access YOUR web site or online tool?!
Don't you want him and millions like him as a customer?
If you are a web developer, web designer, IT manager, IT policy developer, IT administrator, programmer, anyone with IT responsibilities, an IT student or a manager of any of these folks, you need to reserve your place now at the
AccessU West training conference in San Jose, Jan. 10-12!
Check out these
photos from past AccessU events. And don’t delay — sign up so you can learn from top experts and get on the cutting edge of compliant, universal design. It's something your company needs, and it's something that increases
your value to any employer!
But accessibility is not just for people with disabilities. Research has shown that more than two out of three technology users benefit from accessible design. Additionally, the same techniques used to enable assistive technologies often facilitate access to web sites by mobile phones and other handheld devices.
With AccessU West's
general registration you can pick and choose from classes in three suggested tracks. Or, you can pick just one track to concentrate on:
- The Design/Development Track: Make it Accessible, for people creating content, software, web sites and multimedia. All the how-to knowledge you need to be sure that people with disabilities can use what you create and to make accessibility part of your design strategy.
- The Policy and Administration Track: Set the Direction, for administrators, managers and policy makers. Know the laws, and learn how to set up a program that works for your company and your team
- Specialized Usability Track: Make it Usable, for people creating or evaluating technology – Learn how to make sure that your websites and software are usable by people with disabilities.
This is a tremendous professional development opportunity for individuals, as well as a way for companies to demonstrate their commitment to usability and accessibility to customers! This is an excellent opportunity to show that you understand how to bridge an important aspect of the digital divide!
This event is being organized by
Knowbility.org, a nonprofit I've long been associated with and feel quite passionate about -- they are doing great work, and
AccessU West is but one example of that great work. Knowbility's mission is to ensure barrier-free IT - supporting the independence of people with disabilities by promoting the use and improving the availability of accessible information technology. Knowbility's award-winning programs and services are designed to provide universally-available, barrier-free information technology solutions that help the blind visualize the world around them, help the deaf communicate with the hearing world, and help those with mobility impairments “travel” via the Internet.
Knowbility was recently featured on
NPR’s
On the Media with Bob Garfield
Complete information about this conference:
http://www.knowbility.org/accessu-west/
PLEASE REBLOG THIS!
08:46, 18 October 2010
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The Internet has made it easier than ever to connect to complete strangers.
And that's a great thing, and a not-so-great thing.
Many years ago, I received an email from someone inviting me to a conference that she said was sponsored by an organization that I'm not going to name now, but that
everyone in the USA is familiar with. There was a web site for the conference, and while it was rudimentary, the World Wide Web was so new at that time that most every web site was rudimentary. She dropped some big names as speakers, and invited me to present as well, all expenses paid. I said yes!
I arrived at the conference -- and found that there pretty much was no conference. The other speakers were, indeed, there, and were as shocked as I was. There were just a handful of attendees at the facility where the conference was to be held -- a facility not at all appropriate for a conference. It turned out that one disturbed woman, with a lot of time on her hands and excellent Internet access, had gotten us all there for a conference that the well-known nonprofit we all know wasn't involved with at all. We all came home early with a huge lesson learned and more out-of-pocket expenses than we had expected.
I made assumptions then that I would never make now. And I didn't do the research then that I always do now when someone makes a proposal to me, asks for advice or help, etc.
Laying eyes on someone does not make them more credible than meeting them online, of course, and it's now
never been easier to do your own background check on anyone you meet, whether you meet them online or offline. So I'm not at all saying the Internet is bad. But the downside of such easy access to people online means that
you might find yourself having to do more checking than ever to make sure the person you are talking to really is who he or she says, that the organization he or she represents really does exist, etc. And the downside is also that unscrupulous people -- or terribly misguided people -- can reach out on a larger scale than ever before.
I get emails from total strangers every day, making proposals, asking questions or sharing their own information. How do I know they are who they say they are? I:
- Type the person and organization's name into Google. What comes up? The person's profiles on various professional and even social networking sites? Articles and presentations that person has published or made available online? The staff list of the organization the person claims to be a part of, with that person's name listed? Nothing at all?
- Ask why the person might be using using a Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail or other free email address, rather than an email from such-and-such organization that he or she claims to represent.
- Check to see if the person listed on LinkedIn or Plaxo or any other professional networking site. If so, is the biography robust or vague?
- Check online to see if the person is cited in any media articles or in papers or presentations produced by other organizations.
- Type the person's organization into Google. What comes up? A web site for the organization? References to the organization in a media article or on a web site produced by another organization? How many web pages refer to the organization that are on pages the organization itself did not produce?
- If the person claims to be a student at a university and wants access to your research or wants to cite your materials as a source, ask for the name and email address of the student's professor or adviser, and ask for a copy of the paper when it is finished.
If something doesn't add up, I do more research. For instance, a person may say he or she writes for a major newspaper, but the person has a free mail address via Yahoo, Gmail, etc. If I type the person's name into Google, with the name of the newspaper, some articles should come up written by the person. If nothing comes up, I write the person, say what I did and what the results were, and ask what's up. Sometimes the person disappears and I never hear from him or her again; sometimes, the person sends a couple of articles he or she wrote, to she that, indeed, the person is credible.
Sure, someone could fake affiliations, creating fake web sites, fake articles, fake online profiles etc. It would take hours and hours of time to do that. And it is doubtful someone with that kind of time and resources is going to target me, or your small nonprofit or NGO; instead, we will be targeted by people claiming to be from an NGO that might not exist, or is not officially registered, or is a one-person operation. Or, even worse, by people claiming to be a part of a foundation we have heard of, saying they have a
grant or a
job for us.
If absolutely nothing comes up in an Internet search for a person or organization that has written me -- no reference to them or the organization they claim to represent -- I still write the person back. I mention that I couldn't find any reference to them or their organization online. And I find out very quickly what the person's
true motivations are after a few exchanges. If there is a request for money, for instance, that's a red flag.
One measure-for-legitimacy I have had to abandon is spelling, because I deal with so many people worldwide who are not native English speakers. Don't discard an email simply because it's filled with misspellings. First consider: is it from a non-Native English speaker? Is it from someone who is young and hasn't mastered writing? Next, what is it that the person is really asking for? It may be an attempt by a
small, fledgling NGO to fundraise legitimately, rather than to rip you off. A few email exchanges will let you know the person's true motivations.
Also see:
Vetting Organizations in Other Countries
A resource that can help you evaluate volunteer-placement organizations that charge for volunteer placements, as well as for people interested in partnering or supporting an organization abroad but wanting to know it's a credible organization, that it's not some sort of scam, or an "organization" of just one person.
Use the Internet to apply to volunteer? CAREFUL!.
Use Your Web Site to Show Your Accountability
08:27, 14 October 2010
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The bloggers have been aghast at a recent
New Yorker article, "
Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted. They cannot believe anyone would
dare dispute the power of
Facebook,
Twitter,
blogs and other so-called online social networking.
Once again, I'm in the minority among online pundits:
I think the article is dead on.
The article details how so much of what has been claimed about the use and impact of online social networking -- status updates on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. -- regarding street protests and activism in other countries, as well as right here in the USA, has actually been hot air. The article notes that Moldova’s and Iran's so-called "Twitter Revolutions" were, in fact, not either --
Twitter had scant internal significance in either country's street protests. Western journalists found posts by Western-based activists, and assumed they were reading dispatches from the countries. They weren't. Yes, maybe those Western bloggers and tweeters were in touch with people back in their home countries -- and maybe they weren't. Journalists never really tried to find out. They just ran with the story -- there's a Twitter revolution going on!
The New Yorker article notes this from historian Robert Darnton: “The marvels of communication technology in the present have produced a false consciousness about the past—even a sense that communication has no history, or had nothing of importance to consider before the days of television and the Internet.” And
the article adds, "But there is something else at work here, in
the outsized enthusiasm for social media. Fifty years after one of the most extraordinary episodes of social upheaval in American history, we seem to have forgotten what activism is."
I have been promoting nonprofits use of the Internet since the mid 1990s. I had
one of the first web sites to help nonprofits use computer and Internet technologies. I wrote one of the first guides on how nonprofits could leverage the Internet -- then made up primarily of USENET newsgroups and some new fangled thing called the World Wide Web -- and in that guide from the late 1990s, still available at
archive.org. And in that guide, I opened with this caution:
Online technology can be a great asset to not-for-profit organizations (NPOs) and other community-service agencies. However, visions of becoming a super-efficient organization, reaching vastly larger numbers of new donors and clients, raising enormous amounts of new money and effortlessly administering an agency will not come to pass with an Internet account.
It's 15 years later after I first gave that advice in my guide, and
I am still right.
I still promote the use of computer and Internet technologies to nonprofits. I've made quite the name for myself promoting the idea of nonprofits involving and supporting volunteers via the internet:
virtual volunteering. And I'm all for
nonprofits exploiting Internet fads.
But I also staunchly believe that so much of what makes bloggers and journalists breathless about Internet activism or "micro-volunteerism" these days is just really
slackervism, where people clicked something online, or did something equally simple online, and walked away thinking, "Wow, I really made a difference", but they didn't. A great example of slackervism was the fad earlier this year of people posting their bra color as their Facebook status, which was supposed to create some kind of awareness that wasn't there already about breast cancer --
I've already blogged about that ineffective, meaningless campaign already (and
that blog includes tips on how this Facebook campaign could have actually been turned into something impactful, something that really did make a difference).
There are
ways to turn online activities into offline action: more volunteers for your organization, more donors, more people writing their congresspeople about particular issues, even more people showing up at your street protest. But the rules for making a difference have
not changed, and bragging about how often your tweet has been re-tweeted is no more impressive than telling me how many people passed by your billboard out on the highway. If online activities do not translate into more volunteers, new and repeat donors, new and repeat clients, greater onsite event attendance, legislation, or public pressure, they are just numbers.
Note to journalists: the next time you see a supposed revolution happening in some other country
online, check your sources the old-fashioned way. And if mosts of those online messages you are seeing are in English, that right there should be your heads up that maybe most of the messages are coming from around the corner rather than around the world.
09:10, 12 October 2010
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NetSquared is hosting the second annual
French American Charitable Trust (FACT) Social Justice Awards. There is a list of very innovative, tech-related proposed projects, many (but not all!) in Africa, that are focused on empowering people, many of them living in poverty. You decide which sounds best -- not only will a winning project benefit local people, it might be replicated elsewhere.
I'm not-at-all crazy about
these vote-so-some-project-gets-money projects, but at least this one:
(1) has some excellent, truly innovative, truly impactful projects that can be replicated anywhere
(2) allows you to COMMENT, not just vote.
Voting is not easy, unfortunately. Here's how you do it:
Go to the
NetSquared web site, create an account and log in. On the home page, you will see a big VOTE button. Click on it, and click on the "Projects" tab, then read through the projects. PLEASE READ THROUGH ALL OF THEM.
Becoming a "fan" is NOT casting a vote! The web site tells you how to vote (read carefully). You can vote for 3-5 projects. You can see which projects you have voted for in the upper right hand corner. Then just leave the list alone once you are done -- whatever you see in the upper right hand corner are the projects you voted for and these votes will be counted when voting ends on Oct. 15.
"FACT is committed to addressing the fundamental inequalities and injustices in our society by helping develop and sustain networks of community-based groups in the U.S. and France that educate, organize, and empower people to actively participate in developing public policies that directly affect their lives.
I want to plug one project in particular:
The Texas Observer Citizen Networking. The Texas Observer is already the go-to source for progressive reporting from the Texas legislature, with reporters and interns on the floor, in committee meetings, and keeping tabs on lobbyists and special interest groups. Their activities give Texas citizens a chance to respond with ideas and comments and, most importantly, gives them the opportunity to act on that information, to contact their legislators and to protest unacceptable legislation. If The Texas Observer is one of the winners, the funding will not only allow information from Texas legislative sessions to be distributed as quickly and as widely as possible to Texas citizens, the project will also serve as a model for other organizations all over the world who want to set up something similar in their own states.
And
a note to NetSquared: you really need to send your web designers to the
AccessU West 2011, Knowbility’s West Coast web accessibility institute, January 10-12, 2011, in San Jose, California. Your folks need web design usability and accessibility training!
10:24, 30 September 2010
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- Does your organization believe its web site should be accessible to ALL people?
- Is your company ready to comply with the pending expansion of the Americans with Disabilities Act that will ensure people with disabilities have full access to the Internet and television?
- Are you a developer or designer who wants to understand emerging best design practices for the web? Are you a web developer, web designer, IT manager, IT policy developer, IT administrator or programmer that wants to be even more attractive to potential employers?
- Do you want to build innovative AND accessible websites using cutting-edge CSS techniques?
- Do you want to learn how accessibility ties into your usability goals?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you need to consider attending
AccessU West - a web accessibility institute (previously CalWAC)
January 10-12, 2011 in San Jose, California.
AccessU West offers classes on how to make electronic information technology accessible to everyone – including people with disabilities. This event is for Web developers, web designers, IT Managers, IT policy developers, IT administrators, programmers, anyone with IT responsibilities, or IT students.
This is a tremendous professional development opportunity for individuals, as well as a way for companies to demonstrate their commitment to usability and accessibility to customers! This is an excellent opportunity to show that you understand how to bridge an important aspect of the digital divide!
Attendees will engage with world renowned accessibility experts to improve your design skills and to understand the both the need and the techniques for inclusive IT design. From the basics to the bleeding edge, AccessU will provide the resources you need.
You can choose one, two or three days of workshops. A Usability Track is available as well, as is a group discount for six or more people).
This event is being organized by
Knowbility.org, a nonprofit I've long been associated with and feel quite passionate about -- they are doing great work, and AccessU West is but one example of that great work.
Complete information:
PLEASE REBLOG THIS INFORMATION TO YOUR OWN NETWORKS! I'm determined to sell this event out! And once it's full, it is FULL! Please don’t delay in signing up!
I'll be there! Join me?
08:09, 6 August 2010
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"Ever Upwardly Mobile: How do Cell Phones Benefit Vulnerable People? - Lessons From Farming Cooperatives in Lesotho" is a terrific report published by the
Regional Hunger and Vulnerability Programme (RHVP) that chronicles the findings of a project that distributed 10 cell phones to three women's farming cooperatives in Lesotho, Africa, and sought to understand
how cell phones could benefit vulnerable populations. Researchers found the cell phones (these were not smart phones) were effective in reducing economic vulnerability in two main areas: 1) improving communications between members, as well as between cooperatives and agricultural bodies while decreasing transport costs, and 2) generating extra income.
You can see
an executive summary of the report here. You can download the entire report at the end of the summary.
Cell phones aren't just nice to have in developing countries --
cell phones play an essential role in delivering health care information, mobile banking capabilities, advocacy and awareness messages, commodity prices and weather reports to people who might never receive the information otherwise. As well, cell phone allow people an opportunity to gather and immediately share information to help in logistics, coordination, evaluation and reporting activities that are essential for various community and organizational programs and local quality of life.
See also:
- This list of service delivery via mobile phones in the developing world for an excellent list of examples.
- This report, Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in Mobile Use by NGOs.
- This pioneering article, "Handheld computer technologies in community service/volunteering/advocacy", a written in 2001 and that offers even more examples of cell phone use in the developing world and as a part of NGO service delivery (note that this article has moved; if you linked to the article previously online, please adjust your links accordingly).
- A list of winners in the USAID Development 2.0 Challenge, a competition and awareness-building campaign by the U.S. Agency for International Development to recognize individuals and organizations working with mobile technologies to create positive change (in areas such as health, banking, education, agricultural trade, or other pressing development issues) . You can see a blog I wrote about this in January 2009 that listed my favorite cellphones for human/community development projects from the competition (not that the links on the page no longer work, darn you NetSquared).
Tags: ICT4D, net2thinktank, NetSquared, access
08:36, 27 July 2010
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The US House of Representatives on Monday celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by approving
legislation assuring that the disabled have full access to the Internet and television.
The bill, which passed 348-23 and now moves to the Senate, takes such steps as making it easier for people with disabilities to access the Internet from smart phones, providing deaf people with the ability to watch new TV programs online with captions included, and requiring that telecom equipment used to make calls over the Internet be compatible with hearing aids.
THIS IS HUGE!! I
hope
absolutely everyone reading this who has a blog will blog about this today, if you haven't already! Every newspaper and television tech reporter needs to be covering this.
Every person reading this blog in the USA has benefited from the ADA. Not only has kept thousands and thousands and thousands of people in the workforce rather than on government programs, not only has it allowed millions of people to be far more independent than they ever could have been otherwise (and thereby be less of a burden on the government and families for help), but we ALL use the tools that ADA has brought us: wheel chair ramps are used by parents pushing prams, by people who are on crutches , and by delivery people pushing carts; extra large bathroom stalls have been used by parents with small children and people needing to change clothes and people with luggage; closed captioning allows us to watch a video training from our work desks without disturbing our colleagues or to watch the news in a noisy bar; web sites that are accessible for people using assistive technologies can also be accessed by our non-smart cell phones, and on and on and on. This legislation doesn't cost money as much as it pushes us all to work in such a way that we build products and services that are inclusive for everyone, not exclusive.
This is a civil rights issue.
This extension of what the ADA does is a wonderful announcement, building on the hard work of nonprofit organizations like
Knowbility. (which had representatives in D.C for this announcement - hurrah!). We should all be celebrating.
Everyone
should be supporting this act, but sadly, not everyone is: see the comments section
under the AP story on Yahoo to see outrageous, even disgusting comments against the ADA and this expansion. What are we coming to?
ON ANOTHER SUBJECT: if you haven't yet, please
complete this oh-so-short survey! It's just nine questions! I'm trying to find out how people are coming to this blog or subscribing to my
Tech4Impact email newsletter, so I really need to hear from you.
08:30, 20 July 2010
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The digital divide still exists:
- Many regions in the USA, let alone in other parts of the world, are still without broadband
- Many web sites and technology tools are not accessible for people with disabilities or people using assisstive technologies
- Women and girls are excluded from public Internet access sites in many parts of the world because of cultural and safety issues
- Many companies are creating online resources that can be accessed only by people with the latest technology tools, leaving out people who can't afford to upgrade their computers and cell phones every year
The consequences of the digital divide? Excluding people from vital information, government services and products and services they need (not just want).
The Digital Divide Network was a fantastic discussion group with more than 10,000 members at its peak. But various staff transitions and changing company services lead to the network's demise.
Luckily, E-Democracy.org is helping
revive the online group. "We are using a simple and integrated e-mail/web open source online group tool that is easy to use and accessible in lower bandwidth areas."
Let's get the discussion going again!
07:39, 14 June 2010
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Apple has stunned the nonprofit world by prohibiting developers of nonprofit-themed iPhone and iPad applications from including links and language about donations. And blog world is abuzz.
Jake Shapiro, the chief executive of Public Radio Exchange, is leading the charge against Apple. Mr. Shapiro, who develops applications for public radio and for the popular show
This American Life (of which I am a huge fan), says
in his blog about Apple's stance that it allows the company to benefit from hosting public-radio products without giving public-radio outlets such as NPR the ability to collect donations. "Apple is effectively blocking a major revenue stream to public media while enthusiastically featuring public-media content and apps that enhance value for its devices," Mr. Shapiro writes.
In fact, he accuses the company of cannibalizing nonprofit groups in pursuit of its own bottom line.
"I suspect the deeper reasons for Apple's uncharitable stance is that the nonprofit and education markets are just that — "markets" that represent hundreds of millions of dollars of annual revenue to Apple in the form of computer, software, iPod, and now iPhone and iPad sales," he writes. "There is no financial upside for Apple to enable a direct path for nonprofit and charitable support. And note that there is no 'Apple Foundation,' no 'Apple Grants."
I'm really disappointed in Apple. Nonprofits not only cannot survive without donations, people want to support nonprofits with financial donations, and more and more, they want to do it with the immediacy that the iPhone and iPad provide.
It's important that your thoughts on this Apple policy get out on the Internet (or as we are calling it now, the
blogosphere. Remember when we called it the
information superhighway? Anyway...). Comments and discussions are happening at
Shapiro's original blog, as well as at
The Chronicle of Philanthropy and
Beth Kanter's blog. Post a comment and share your thoughts on any of these three blogs -- and anywhere else you see discussions happening!
08:06, 30 April 2010
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Facebook has changed their privacy settings again recently, and a lot of IT folks are leaving the site because of FB now shares all of your info with third party web sites (birthday, marriage status, groups you've joined, etc.).
See this article for more. A lot of individual users are expressing displeasure as well.
If all this sharing-with-other-sites makes you uncomfortable, go to Account/Privacy Settings/Applications and Websites/Instant Personalization (edit setting), and then uncheck the box.
But I must admit that I roll my eyes at most of the people freaking out over FaceBook's various tactics to make money.
Facebook is a for-profit enterprise. It's not a public service and it's not a non-profit. Its profits are its most important concern. All those times you've clicked to be a fan of this or that, or inputted your favorite whatever into a field, didn't it ever occur to you that YOU were giving that information away to a company?
Facebook can't give away anything you haven't shared with it! And anything you write online YOU are PUBLISHING.
I have some rules I follow to maintain my privacy on the Internet, to help me more easily identify phishing attempts, to protect me from identify theft from strangers, to keep junk out of my inbox, etc. Don't tell me you don't have time to do these types of things -- it takes a different way of thinking, not more time:
- Remember that choosing to have certain information "hidden" doesn't mean it magically disappears; if you have inputted information into a web site, even if you choose for it to be "hidden", it's still there, for the web site owner to use any way it wants to. Before you type information into an online profile, think: do I want this shared with people who want to sell me stuff? Do I want this shared with anyone?
- When you are asked to input information into a web site, consider making your first name just your first initial, or a false first name. I do this when I sign up for email newsletters or online communities. When I get an email from a company I haven't shared information with and it's addressed to just "J" or "Joyce", I know that my information from somewhere else has been sold or shared. I may delete that email addressed to "J" or "Joyce" without even reading it. And if I figure out who has sold my information, I may take my business elsewhere.
- Never input your birthday into a web site if you don't absolutely *have* to. If you DO have to in order to access services, don't use your real birthday unless it's something like an application for a home loan (when you MUST use your correct birthday). That means NEVER use your real birthday on an online social networking site (including Facebook)! If you get birthday wishes on your false birthday from a company you don't know or don't recall doing anything online with previously, you know your information has been sold. Figure out who has sold your information, if you can, and consider taking your business elsewhere.
- Create an email address to use ONLY for e-commerce (buying things on Amazon.com, buying things on eBay, etc.). You may want to get even more ambitious: one email for e-commerce, another for participating in online communities and online social networking sites, etc. This will make it much easier for you to detect a phishing scam or to know when your information has been sold. You will be astounded when you how different your junk mail is on these accounts versus your personal accounts after a few months.
- Consider getting a PO box and using that for all financial transactions. Make it your billing address. Your utility company and phone company will require your real, physical address, but use your PO Box for all commercial activities. Again, you will be astounded when you how different your junk mail is to your PO Box versus your home mail box after a few months. This will keep your physical address off the Web.
- Beware of web sites that offer some sort of reward (like a free screen saver) or prize in exchange for your contact information or other personal details. All they are doing is gathering information for direct marketing purposes; they sell this information to other marketers (who do the same in turn).
- Google yourself. First, just try your name. What would someone learn about you from the first 10 links? Is there anything in the first 10 - 20 hits that you wouldn't want your current employer, a potential employer, a colleague or an institution considering you for membership to see? Are you comfortable with what they would learn these sites? Then try to find everything about yourself you possibly can: your email, your home address, your birthday. You may want people to be able to find your professional email address, but not your birthday. Try to find something online that you would NOT want your current employer, a potential employer, a colleague or an institution considering you for membership to see (a blog comment, a photo, a Tweet, etc.).
Stay in control of your information! Have fun online and share information -- enjoy yourself online! (I certainly do) -- but remember:
everything you put online you are publishing, and there are NEVER guarantees it won't be shared with those you never intended to see it.
Also see
EFF's Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy.
13:12, 23 April 2010
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Attention web site developers, anyone interested in (or making) tech policy, anyone interested in universal design, and those who want to learn to meet tech accessible legal requirements and to produce accessible web sites, e-learning tools, documents and...well, everything!:
You need to register NOW for the onsite AccessU conference in Austin, Texas May 10-12.
Accessible jazz performance, too!
14:09, 21 April 2010
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I don't usually blog twice in a day, but I had to share this ASAP: it's a
Wall Street Journal blog entry
article about just how inept the justices of the US Supreme Court are regarding network technology (the Internet, text messaging, etc.). It is, in a word, frightening.
An excerpt to make your head spin:
According to the story, the first sign of trouble came was about midway through the argument, when Chief Justice John Roberts asked what the difference was "between email and a pager?"
There is no excuse whatsoever for people at this level of government to not be familiar with BASIC networking technology. I don't expect them to use
Twitter or to
blog, but I expect them to know what those are!
So, where does senior leadership at your organization fall into the
Stages of Maturity in Nonprofit Organizations' Use of Online Technologies.
10:39, 22 February 2010
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A lot of nonprofits are looking at the huge amounts raised through the Internet and text messaging for Haiti and thinking, "Great! We'll do the same and reap big benefits!" Sadly, they won't. People didn't give to help Haiti simply because they could do so via the Internet or their cell phones; they gave because there was a dire, urgent situation that they were hearing about on the radio, television, Facebook, at work, at home -- everywhere. Couple this sense of extreme urgency and compassion with easy-to-donate tools, and you see
money being donated at a rate never before seen.
People have completely different reasons for donating to nonprofit theaters, art museums, a homeless shelter, the
Girl Scouts, etc., as opposed to some urgent national situation like Haiti, and the likelihood of your organization getting every local radio station in your area, every local television station and every one of your volunteers talking about your organization on the same day, all encouraging people to donate is, well, nil. In addition, dire pleas for funding from nonprofit organizations work only
once (repeated donate-or-we-close-our-doors requests turn
off donors, as they give the impression that your organization doesn't know how to manage funds appropriately).
Are there things any nonprofit can learn from donations to Haiti? Certainly:
- It should be immediately apparent how to give to your organization for anyone visiting any page of your organization's web site, and what donations pay for.
- Updates on your blog and social networking sites about the impact your organization is having, the results you are achieving, upcoming public events, etc., are much more enticing to potential donors than "Please send us money" messages.
- Radio and television PSAs, news stories and feature stories are effective; people are listening to the radio or watching TV while also at a computer with Internet access. If they hear something great about your organization on the radio or TV while they are online, they may be moved to go to your web site and donate.
Recently, NetSquared asked for
lessons learned and favorite tips regarding online fundraising. The result is a long
list of realistic tips regarding using the Internet to fundraise, in stark contrast to some of the breathless promises many bloggers have made regarding social networks and fundraising.
Online fundraising takes a lot of time and investment and requires follow-through, just like traditional fundraising. Why am I not surprised?
08:17, 17 February 2010
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The
International Journal of Internet Research Ethics (IJIRE) seeks papers from researchers describing
best ethical practices in the investigation of online communities (blogs, email-based groups, YahooGroups, GoogleGroups, bulletin boards, online games, video sharing sites, virtual worlds and any other Web environments that demonstrate evidence of community processes). Research topics of particular interest include:
- Vulnerable populations (e.g., youth, medical contexts, extremism)
- Outcomes of challenges to the online community due to research ethics decisions
- Research design (e.g., how to factor in experimentation that involves research deception)
- Methodological practices (e.g., data scraping, behavioural tracking, successful methodological combinations)
- Working with commercial companies
- Negotiating the online-offline identity (both research participants/subjects and investigator)
- Implications of the community content/framework
- Ecological validity: extrapolating the findings to other communities and non-Internet conclusions
- International ethics considerations
These are not exclusive research topics, and other areas of research that outline best practices in the ethical analysis of online communities are welcomed.
The special issue seeks to include submissions that introduce extensions to existing theories - including new frameworks for approaching the ethical issues that emerge in online communities and novel applications of existing offline ethics frameworks - and examples of best practice - including case studies of successful ethical solutions, both qualitative and quantitative research approaches, issues associated with international ethics practices, and changes to ethical approaches over the short- and the long-term.
While all forms of scholarship and research are welcome, the special issue will feature theoretically and empirically grounded study in the social or behavioral sciences.
Submission guidelines:
- The special issue is edited by Aleks Krotoski. Please contact the editor to discuss your submissions. The editor welcomes contributions from new and established researchers. Submitted manuscripts will be subject to peer review.
- Papers of approximately 6,000 words are encouraged. Critical insight and strong ethical and theoretical foundations are expected. International Journal of Research Ethics submission guidelines and referencing styles will be followed.
- The guest editor will consider papers received by 18 April 2010. Fewer than 10 papers will be accepted.
The special issue will be published in October 2010.
Submit papers via email,
clearly indicating that your submission is for the special issue on ethics in online communities by using the subject heading:
Submission: IJIRE Special Issue, Best Ethical Practices in Online Communities
View past issues of IJIRE. The
IJIRE is published at the
Center for Information policy Research,
School of Information Studies,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
14:12, 25 January 2010
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Last week, I talked about
how micro-blogs, tweets, texts and other technology were spreading misinformation about Haiti and elsewhere. But, ofcourse, Internet technology and online volunteers can help and are helping in Haiti and other disaster areas, so I want to concentrate on those positive examples today, to reaffirm my pro-computer-tech-use street cred.
There are several competing web sites and efforts trying to track people who are alive in Haiti to connect them with family and friends outside of the country (people "lost and found"). So many, in fact, that I'm just going to skip listing them. I hope they will combine those efforts and link to each other, as having so many individual efforts is creating confusion, me thinks.
What's much more interesting, at least to me, are these examples of Internet and phone technologies helping Haiti:
- Haitians needing help can send free text messages from phones on the nation's Digicel service to the number 4636. The text messages are translated, categorized and geotagged by volunteers, including Haitian-American members of the New York City-based Service Employees International Union. This has helped the Red Cross and other relief groups dispatch rescuers, food and water. For more details, see these articles: "The Nuts and Bolts Behind 4636 in Haiti" and "4636: How four little digits are saving lives & reconnecting loved ones in Haiti".
- The OpenStreetMap "crisis mapping" project,where volunteers layer up-to-the-minute data (such as the location of new field hospitals and downed bridges) onto post-quake satellite imagery that companies including GeoEye and DigitalGlobe have made freely available. The digital cartography — informed by everything from Twitter feeds to eyewitness reports — has helped aid workers speed food, water and medicine to where it's needed most.
- A Colombian rescue team leader who uploaded the maps to his crew's portable GPS units before the team arrived on the scene and another volunteer, Talbot Brooks of Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, has been converting the maps into letter-sized documents that aid workers have been printing out before traveling to the quake zone.
- CrisisCamp, which drew some 400 people in six cities including Washington, DC (USA), London, England (UK) and Mountain View, California (USA) to meet-ups where they devised, built and helped refine tools. Among them: a basic Creole-English dictionary for the iPhone.
These examples are highlighted in
this article.
Also see
Handheld computer technologies in community service/volunteering/advocacy, an article I wrote back in October 2001 that talked about more than a dozen similar initiatives. There is nothing new about handheld technology helping in situations like this -- we're just becoming more aware of them!
17:03, 24 January 2010
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Back in 2003, I had the pleasure of being a part of the
United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITES) team that developed and staffed a community technology center booth at the
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, through by then employer, UNDP and the UN Volunteers programme. We walked our talk about
what a community technology center really looks like in the developing world, with free Internet access, presentations to build capacity of those who attended, a meeting space and more. We created one of the busiest and most-talked about booths in the exhibit area, received
a visit from the UN Secretary-General of the time, Kofi Annan, and got UNV's
Online Volunteering service profiled on the BBC's Click Online. Here are
some photos from that amazing time.
I was pleased to learn that UNESCO, ITU, UNCTAD and UNDP, is organizing an open consultation for a new WSIS Forum in 2010. All individuals, networks and organizations interested in this issue are invited to participate in the three-fold process, consisting of an online discussion, a questionnaire and a review meeting.
This year’s Forum, which will be held in Geneva (Switzerland) from 10 to 14 May 2010, will review progress made in the WSIS implementation and reconsider strategies for the remaining five years.
The online consultation process will be carried out in three phases:
- An online multi-stakeholder consultation is taking place on the online WSIS Community platform until 5 February. Stakeholders are invited to express and exchange their ideas in order to generate possible themes and potential speakers for the 2010 Forum.
- Stakeholders can also submit their official contributions, by 5 February, through an online questionnaire or by sending a query to: wsis@itu.int.
- All submitted comments will be examined during the Final Review Meeting, which will take place at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva on 10 February. Register for this meeting. Remote participation will also be possible via webcast, the link to which will shortly be available on the Forum’s website.
Detailed information on the preparatory process is available on the official website of the WSIS Forum 2010. Please take the opportunity to co-shape the agenda of the Forum with your ideas.
07:23, 19 January 2010
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The number of free applications available to nonprofits (and any organization, actually) to communicate and collaborate is staggering. I can't believe just how much is available
for free to allow organizations to easily, effectively manage information and interact with volunteers, donors, clients, the general public and each other.
In most cases, these tools specifically for online collaboration allow you to make a work space as public or as private as you like, and allow you as much control you want: you can be the only person allowed to change or add content, you can allow only certain other people to do so, you can allow people to submit information that isn't shared until you approve it, etc.
GoogleApps is a suite of free web-based applications (you can pay for an upgrade to more advanced features). The most popular free tool among GoogleApps is
Gmail (which gives you an email address and various email-management functions). There's also
GoogleGroups (for creating and managing online discussion groups or email distribution lists),
GoogleCalendar (which can be entirely private, or can be shared with a small group, or even
with everyone),
GoogleTalk (which allows for instant messaging) and
GoogleDocs (which allows collaboration on documents and spreadsheets), and
GoogleFriend connect (which
I'm using, but I'm not sure I understand it yet). They are also currently beta-testing
GoogleWave.
Yahoo! also has a
suite of terrific web-based applications for free. The most popular is also the mail program,
YahooMail. My favorite is
YahooGroups, which has tons of great features, like a shared calendar just for the individual group, and tools that allow members to share information and photos, allow group owners to configure the group a number of different ways, and allow each individual group member to decide exactly how he or she wants to relate to the group (via individual emails, via digest, or via the web). Yahoo also has a very popular
Instant messaging tool (which can be used cross platform with other company's chat tools), and a
calendar.
What I like about either of these suite of tools, other than all the features they offer and that they are free:
- You can pick and choose which apps you want to use, a la carte; you can use YahooMail but Google for your calendar. You can use your Yahoo email address to log in to your Google account.
- These are great tools for training yourself in how to collaborate online with no financial investment required.
- These are great starter-tools that will help you make more informed choices about fee-based software in the future, should you find yourself needing such.
Google is encouraging
GoogleApps use by nonprofits. Over on
TechSoup.org, a site about computer and Internet technologies for nonprofits, there is a
thread asking for GoogleApps success stories.
I'm particularly interested in how nonprofit organizations, community initiatives, government offices, schools, or university students working together on a project are using any of the following tools to collaborate with volunteers, clients, staff, donors or each other:
My questions for you, as a representative of a nonprofit organizations, community initiative, government office, school, or university students working together on a project, which I hope you will answer over on
my own Google Network, or you can
email answers to me directly:
- What are you actually using GoogleGroups, YahooGroups, GoogleCalendar, Yahoo calendar, or GoogleDocs?
- What challenges did you face in getting people (volunteers, staff, clients, students, etc.) to use GoogleGroups, YahooGroups, GoogleCalendar, Yahoo calendar, or GoogleDocs?
- What carrot and/or stick strategies did you use to get everyone using such?
- What was most important in training effectively?
- What are non-tech staff actually using Google Apps for?
Looking forward to more discussion!
Plus, it's Austin, Texas, one of the best cities on Earth: incredible food, incredible music (I'm more partial to country music myself, but even the jazz is fabulous in Austin), funky shops galore and very good times.