The CMS idea is enticing. Empowered departments of a big enterprise, all publishing content directly to their customers through standard templates. The site continues to grow, but in a controlled way. And these business units have complete control of what is and isn’t online. Sounds good, but just try putting it into practice. Veen, Jeffrey

Une liste des éditeur et IDE non payants (freeware/opensource). El Habib FAKIR

The time for universal design is now because, as the Designing for the 21st Century III Conference website states “This is an extraordinary moment. We are more diverse now in ability and age than ever before. It is time for design to catch up. There is an urgent need to exchange ideas about the design of places, things, information, policies and programs that demonstrate the power of design to shape a 21st century world that works for all of us.” Tauke, Beth

Universal Design can be thought of as a contemporary philosophical movement that addresses trends in the growth of the aging population and diversification of user abilities around the world. Stakeholders rely on designers, planners and managers as decision makers leading the drive to create non-segregated environments that help users and eliminate the stigma of disability. However, it seems necessary that everyone involved in the design process becomes aware and willing to bring about change. Therefore, the preparation of design students as well as users to understand the scope of Universal Design must be based on strategies that counteract the continuation of the stigma of disability in the mindset of designers and others who can bring about the changes required to create a more inclusive world. Guimaraes, Marcelo

By now most readers of Design for All India have a healthy grasp of Universal Design. Many, perhaps most, have become highly competent in its application as is evident from the articles appearing in past volumes and today. Beyond technical mastery of the Seven Principles, knowledge of best-of-breed solutions, and familiarity with allied concepts such as Visitability, Adaptive Technology, or anthropometrics there is a cultural component to this design approach that is unquantifiably – but undeniably – transforming Universal Design. By systematically and thoroughly examining this cultural component in the coming decade we will discover the true nature of Universal Design to be social sustainability. Rains, Scott

Both technical communicators and usability professionals share an interest in how easily someone can use technical information. How efficiently does the writer help the reader glean the meaning of technical text? Is the experience of acquiring information satisfying or difficult? Harvey, Michael

Online help excels in providing quick access to concise information - but only when the users choose to access it. Delivering high-quality online help that satisfies all users is a hard task. Several good help authoring tools make help generation and maintenance easier, but to create good content that is highly effective is still a huge challenge. Experience shows that even after following quality guidelines or best practices, the final output may still not be good enough to satisfy the needs of your users. Heuristic evaluation of an online help system provides an initial assessment of both quality and usability. This article presents a summary of key points for evaluating online help, though you will likely want to expand the heuristics with company or product-centric metrics suitable to your application. Dalvi, Meghashri

Clearly defined documentation requirements are instrumental in ensuring the appropriate documents are created accurately and in a timely manner. This article will make a case for using explicit documentation requirements and will recommend a method for putting it into practice. Das, Pradipto

Links, references, advice and tips on teaching with technology that are drawn together for campus workshops and faculty discussions.

Where would we be without rating and reputation systems these days? Take them away, and we wouldn’t know who to trust on eBay, what movies to pick on Netflix, or what books to buy on Amazon. Reputation systems (essentially a rating system for people) also help guide us through the labyrinth of individuals who make up our social web. Is he or she worthwhile to spend my time on? For pity’s sake, please don’t check out our reputation points before deciding whether to read this article. Kirtland, Alex

What is likely to win the most converts is the joy Wroblewski takes in designing. This impression becomes clear as you page through the book. He isn’t just an ardent evangelizer, following the rituals of going to conferences selling snake oil. He’s been there in the trenches, just like you; he’s done this a hundred, maybe a thousand times. He’s tested these ideas and provides a framework for you to use from day one. Half the battle in good form design is defending your decisions to stakeholders. Evans, Will

Skills in research, information architecture, interaction design, graphic design and writing define the recognized areas of User Experience design. However, there still remains much to discuss about what makes a UX team dreamy. Each UX Dreamteam has a finely tuned mix of skills and qualities, as varied as the environments in which they operate. Part two will address whether a person has the right ‘hard’ skills and ‘soft’ qualities like communication style, creativity and leadership ability to fit your particular organizational context. We’ll also touch on the quality of an individual’s personality that may or may not complement the others on your team. Colfelt, Anthony

At $4.14 a gallon in the United States, $5.29 a gallon in Canada, and $8.70 a gallon in the U.K., the price of gas is just one reason many web workers now commute from the bed to the basement as part of a conscious choice to work from home.

Working from home, whether as a freelance contractor or remote employee, can be a great thing, particularly if you live alone. But what if you have a spouse and/or children at home with you while you work? Every work environment offers distractions, but those who work from home with their families face a unique set of issues—and need equally unique ways of dealing with them. Jost, Natalie

One complaint I often here when teaching my courses is that I use computers too much. "What do computers have to do with writing?" students ask. "All I need is a pencil and some paper!" Well, that may have been the case a few decades ago, but now writers are expected to type their documents using a professional word processing program (Microsoft's Word, Corel's Word Perfect, Sun's Open Office Writer, or perhaps Abiword.) Though these programs each have their differences, they perform the same tasks. Barton, Matt

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to several new writing genres that are based on "Web 2.0" technology, which include mostly database-driven websites such as blogs, wikis, and virtual environments. These sites are designed to facilitate collaboration and discussion, rather than the one-to-many model of the typical website in which readers do not participate beyond reading or viewing material. Although many of these technologies are used for entertainment, they are also finding their way into professional settings. For instance, a game such as Second Life might be adapted for use in the workplace, allowing employees at distant locations to occupy the same virtual space and model behaviors or objects that would be impractical in physical space. Barton, Matt

This course is designed to familiarize you with the type of writing you'll encounter and produce as a college-educated professional. You'll learn how to write clearly, confidently, and effectively for an international audience. You'll also learn how to compose great resumes, emails, proposals, and Power Point presentations. You'll learn productive strategies for working in groups. Finally, you'll get to work with powerful, yet easy-to-use software. Barton, Matt

In this article I will cover the basics of migrating an application from an Access or SQL Server database to MySQL. We'll start with various reasons why you should (or should not) migrate your existing Access or SQL Server database to MySQL, then cover the planning stages of an application migration. Next we will look at the tools and methods for migrating your actual data from Access/MSSQL to MySQL, followed by some general guidelines for modifying your client application from a Microsoft database to MySQL. Finally, we'll look at some considerations to make when deploying your new MySQL database and application. Hillyer, Mike

In 2003, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) redefined their accreditation and reaffirmation standards to move from a traditional outcome-based system to a systematic process-based review. Documentation is required to assure student learning in several core areas, including communication. This paper outlines the data collection procedures and documentation methods used to document one university’s business communication learning assurances. Gueldenzoph, Lisa E.

This case study documents how two business school professors worked together to design and implement a process for uniformly assessing learning outcomes across all sections of a managerial communication course. The study demonstrates and provides examples of the answers to the five questions in the school’s assurance of learning process model. The study also provides prescriptive tips for administrators and instructors on how to avoid the typical pitfalls of implementing an assurance of learning process. May, Gary and Michael Tidwell