FREE 2 Day CSS and Accessibility Workshop Jun 19 & 20 or Jun 21 & 22

This isn't Drupal specific, but could be helpful to anyone using Drupal (or any other CMS for that matter). If there are Drupal folks interested in going out for a drink afterwards to talk tech, let me know.

UNR is offering a hands-on workshop with CSS and accessibility experts, Russ Weakley and Roger Hudson.

Web designers and developers face a range of challenges in todays market. The days of producing websites for a single browser are gone. Website accessibility has become a key concern for developers and site owners. Sites must be accessible to a wide range of users and devices. Sites must also be flexible and modular so that they can be maintained into the future.

This workshop series will provide solutions to these challenges. If you're interested in building accessible websites that will work into the future, this workshop series is for you!

Day 1: Practical Accessibility

Day 1 will cover the basics of accessibility, and how common accessibility problems can be avoided. You will also learn how to structure your documents from the ground up, create accessible forms and data tables and use JavaScript and AJAX wisely.

You will learn:

• the basics of accessibility including device independence and why is it important.
• W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the Disability Discrimination Act, and the need for government and corporate sites to be accessible.
• how to create semantic accessible markup for all aspects of page layout including skip links, descriptive link labels, heading levels and structural labels.
• how to provide alternatives for visual and audio content.
• accessibility requirements relating to the use of colour.
• how to mark up complex tables and forms.
• how to avoid common accessibility problems with JavaScript and the implications of using AJAX.

Day 2: Real World CSS

Day 2 will cover the basics of CSS and then take you through a range of hands-on CSS exercises designed to fast track your knowledge. You will learn how to write modular and efficient CSS, build complex page layouts, and deal with browsers now and into the future.

You will learn:

• the basics of CSS including rule sets, selectors, shorthand rules, inheritance, the cascade, conflicts, positioning and floats.
• how to structure your CSS files so that they are more efficient, easier to modify and maintain.

methods for dealing with CSS and large-scale websites.

• how to overcome layout issues including frustrating float problems, dropping columns and some of the common Internet Explorer bugs.
• how to style accessible, semantic forms and tables.
• how to create resolution dependant layouts - layouts that will rescale depending on the browser window size.
• a flexible system that can hide and show CSS rules to various browsers without the need for extensive hacks or workarounds.