HTML Writers Guild Newsletter -- 09 April 2001

                      HTML Writers Guild Newsletter
                    Volume 7 Number 6, 6 April 2001
                           http://www.hwg.org/
                          mailto:editor(at)hwg.org

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Table of Contents 

1. The AWARE Center Could Use Your Help!
2. Texts Available for Visually-Impaired HWG Students.
3. Call for Instructors!
4. Annual Membership Meeting set for April 26.
5. Upcoming Guild Events:  Kynn Bartlett at STC.
6. Upcoming Online Classes: Take an HWG Class! 
7. Why Did I Get This Email? And Other HWG-News FAQs 
(How to change your email address, how to unsubscribe, and more.)

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1. The AWARE Center Could Use Your Help!
   (Kynn Bartlett, AWARE Center Director, aware(at)hwg.org)

Want to help with an important HWG project?

The Accessible Web Authoring Resources and Education (AWARE)
Center, located at http://www.awarecenter.org/, is a resource
for web designers and others seeking information how to make
their pages accessible for all audiences, including people
with disabilities.

Like most Guild activities, the AWARE Center is volunteer-run
and depends on the support of our members to continue to
provide helpful information.  Some of our links are out of
date; some of our articles are getting stale; the general
design of the page may scream "1900s!" to some people.

So we're asking for your help.  If you would like to be part
of the volunteer team to assist with the AWARE Center web site
and activities, you could do any of the following:

      * Give some advice with the general look-and-feel/design
        of the site
      * Suggest new links and resources on the web
      * Check existing links to see if they are still current
      * Write new articles or tutorials for use on the site
      * Volunteer to maintain one or more sections of the
        AWARE Center site

If you are interested, please write to me at aware(at)hwg.org
and I will add you to the aware-team mailing list.  Thanks in
advance!

      http://www.awarecenter.org/

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2.  Texts Available for Visually-Impaired HWG Students.
    (Kynn Bartlett, AWARE Center Director, aware(at)hwg.org)
    
The Guild has been working with various publishers to acquire a source
for electronic versions of the textbooks used in our HWG online courses,
for our members with visual disabilities.

We are pleased to announce that all books by O'Reilly are available in
this format.  For more information, please email Lenny Muellner at
len(at)oreilly.com.

In addition, XML by Example and Special Edition Using XHTML are available
in either HTML or PDF format from the publisher.  To order either of
these texts, please send an email to Marci Dick at
marcie.dick(at)pearsoned.com and include your name, address, phone number,
ISBN and title.  They have set these up to be purchased by credit card.
Since emails are not a secure means to transmit this data, please ask
Marcie to call you by telephone for your card information.

We are working on additional titles available in this format and will
announce them here as soon as we have the information.

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3.  Call for Instructors
    (Gretchen Lowerison, Online Education Director, classes(at)hwg.org)

The HWG currently has a need for instructors and teaching assistants for
the following classes: 


	*Corel PhotoPaint or Corel Draw 
	*Adobe GoLive 
	*Mastering Allaire HomeSite 
	*Dynamic HTML 
	*Creating CGI Scripts in Perl 
	*Cold Fusion 

And the following special interest workshops (3-4 week classes) 

	*Mastering TABLES 
	*Designing for the Global Market 
	*Designing Forms 
	*Basic Unix 
	*The Animated Gif 

If you are interested in teaching any of these classes, or if you know
someone who might be, please contact Gretchen Lowerison at
gretchen(at)hwg.org.

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4.  April Town Hall Meeting & Annual Membership Meeting: Thursday, April 
    26th
    (Fred Barnett, Secretary, secretary(at)hwg.org)

April's Town Hall meeting will also be this year's HWG Annual Membership
Meeting. During the AMM, the Governing Board will make reports to the
membership on HWG activities over the past year. We will then have a
question and answer period for the membership. All members of the
Governing Board are expected to attend, so please be sure to come for
this special event. We hope to see you there! 

The details on the Annual Membership Meeting are:

26 April Annual Membership Meeting
Date:      Thursday, 26 April 2001 
Time:      6:30 p.m. PST, 9:30 p.m. EST
Server:    HWG Interactive, http://interact.hwg.org/
IRC:       irc.hwg.org, port 6667
Channel:   #townhall

To connect, either go to the URL above and use the Java-based 
client available via the web, or use your favorite IRC client and join 
channel #townhall.

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5.  Upcoming Guild Events:  Kynn Bartlett at STC
    (Kynn Bartlett, kynn(at)hwg.org)

Kynn Bartlett <kynn(at)kynn.com> will be speaking at the San Diego
chapter of the Society for Technical Communication on 11 April
2001.

http://www.stc.org/region8/sdc/www/meeting_0411.htm

XML, XHTML, XSLT, and other X-named specifications-what do they all mean,
how do they work together, and how can you use these open standards? As
technical communicators, we are becoming more and more involved with the
Web and Web tools. What started out as SGML has now fragmented to HTML,
XML, and several other specifications. How does that affect us? Kynn
Bartlett will focus on the future of the Web and 21st century Web design
in his presentation at the April San Diego STC meeting.

Bartlett is the technical developer liaison for Brussels-based software
developer Reef and former director of accessibility at Edapta, a company
recently acquired by Reef. He is a member of the HTML Writers Guild board
and active in World Wide Web Consortium working groups, and he teaches
online courses.

The meeting is $20 for STC members and $25 for non-members, including
dinner; for exact details and reservations please see:

http://www.stc.org/region8/sdc/www/meeting_info.htm


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6. Upcoming Online Classes: Take an online class! 
(Gretchen Lowerison, Online Education Director, classes(at)hwg.org)

Through a web-based interface, we offer a broad series of online classes
designed to teach you the skills you need, in a way that fits your busy
schedule. Our instructors are your fellow Guild members, chosen for their
expertise in their field and their willingness to pass along their
experience to you.

Upcoming courses you can take this month include:

Sites that Sizzle: Web Animation with Macromedia Flash 4/5
April 9, 2001 - May 20, 2001
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/a231.5.html
This class sheds a needed light into the complex world of web animation.
Don't know what Flash is? Visit http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/
and rush back here to get into what is considered to be the most
important revolution in web design these days.

HTML Level II
April 9, 2001 - June 3, 2001
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/h102.1.html
Ready for more HTML? This class will cover more complex tables, lists,
forms, and the strict DTD. This class presents a brief introduction to
Universal Accessibility, Cascading Style Sheets and Javascript.

Introduction to SQL
April 9, 2001 - May 20, 2001
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/ms301.1.html
Learn the basics from a simple SQL statement to more complex 3-table
join. Inserts, updates, deletes, inner joins and outer joins are covered
in this course.

The HWG has been running JavaScript courses for a couple of years. During
2001 they are taking a new lease on life which will allow the students to
expand their knowledge to an advanced level. The courses were initiated
by Marshall Jansen who has moved on to greater things leaving behind two
of his students to carry on and extend the work he started.

Students can start with the Introductory Course run by Lester Smith where
they can learn JavaScript structure and syntax, how to interact with
environment variables, use event handlers, perform form validation,
create rollover effects and receive an overview of working with cookies.


Intermediate JavaScript
April 9, 2001 - May 20, 2001
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/p152.4.html
Students will increase understanding of the JavaScript language and
syntax, especially in the area of interacting with HTML forms. Users will
become proficient in manipulating form data to make interactive web
pages.

JavaScript Special Topics:Manipulating Layers
April 9, 2001 - May 20, 2001
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/p161.1.html
JavaScript Special Topics: Manipulating Layers will move the students
knowledge further forward into the area of interacting with layers. Users
will become proficient in manipulating layers to produce animated menus
and images.

MS Access
April 23, 2001 - June 3, 2001
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/ms201.1.html
MS Access is designed to teach students how to create a database from
scratch. The student should already know how to run programs on their
computer and how to use HTML. This course is for those students who want
to create databases and learn to publish those databases to the WWW. It
shows the importance of a good DBMS. 

Introduction to XML
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/x101.12.html
XML has been referred to as the new ASCII of the computer world. In a
short space of time it has outgrown its nascent purpose of being a means
to fix 'broken' HTML and help the web expand, and has become the language
of choice for most new major standards and projects.  This course is
designed to give students a thorough grasp of the basics of XML and will
also hopefully excite them enough to learn more about this powerful new
concept.

Introduction to HTML 4.0
April 23, 2001 - June 3, 2001
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/h101.28.html
Designed for the student with little to no working knowledge of creating
HTML files "by hand."  If you're looking to learn HTML from scratch or
move beyond using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing tool,
this is the class for you. 

Creating Spread Sheets with Excel 
April 23, 2001 - June 3, 2001
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/c101.1.html
Microsoft Excel is Windows answer to the spreadsheet. Gone are the days
of paper ledgers and hand calculations. Excel allows you to set up a
digital ledger and enter data directly into your computer. Once the data
has been inputted, you are able to perform a variety of calculations to
provide you with the information that you require.

Get more information at:  http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/ 

COURSE FEES

Course fees are based on membership level; Full members receive a
discounted tuition price, while Trial members pay the standard price.
Full membership is only $40 per year, so upgrade your membership before
registering, and save money! Payments may be made online via secure
transaction; all figures are in U.S. funds.  A certificate of completion
is available for an additional $5; the request needs to be made at the
time of registration. A certificate can be requested after class is
completed for $10.  Textbooks (when required) are separate and may be
purchased through the Guild's online bookstore, The Bookmark. Books
should be purchased before the first week of class! In addition, students
should have regular access to the web and the ability to post completed
assignments on a public (non-Intranet) web server.

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7. Why Did I Get This Email? And Other HWG-News FAQs 
(HWG-News Newsletter Editor, editor(at)hwg.org)
This newsletter was edited by Kef Moulton <kef(at)hwg.org>. 

Some questions you may be asking:

Q: Why did I get this mail?
A: You received this newsletter because you are a member of the HTML
Writers Guild. This message came from HWG-News, the Guild's mandatory
mailing list for all members. If you need more information about
HWG-News, please see the List Charter at:
http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-news/index.html

Q. Why doesn't this newsletter talk about web design or HTML more?
A. The newsletter is the Guild's administrative bulletin to the
membership; beyond the HWG News Tips, we don't include specific
information on web creation. If you are interested in the topics of Web
design and HTML, then you might want to subscribe to some of our
discussion lists devoted to those topics. More  information on the
Guild's offering of discussion lists can be found at:
http://www.hwg.org/lists/mailinglists.html

Q. How can I find out more about Guild activities?
A. The Guild has set up a one-way announcement list, HWG-Announce, that
carries bulletins of day-to-day Guild business. For details on how to
subscribe, please see:  http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-announce/

Q: How do I unsubscribe from HWG-News?
A: Since this is a required list in order to maintain your Guild
membership, unsubscribing is the same as resigning from the HTML Writers
Guild.  If you have your Member ID and password, to resign your
membership in the Guild and to unsubscribe to HWG-News, visit:
http://www.hwg.org/member/resign.html  Fill in the pertinent information,
and submit it.  If you don't have a Member ID, or have forgotten your
password, send mail to:  mailto:lost-password(at)hwg.org  with a Subject of:
Resign membership.  In the body of the message, provide the following
information:   

* Your email address(es) 
* Your member ID if you have one. 
* The list of discussion lists you are on.

Please remember that unsubscribing to HWG-News automatically resigns you
from the Guild. If you have problems with unsubscribing, please contact
the password support team <lost-password(at)hwg.org> for help.

Q: How do I change my email address for Guild mailings?
A: Full members can update their membership profile at any time by going
to this page:  http://www.hwg.org/member/profile.html. If you don't know
your password, contact the password support team <lost-password(at)hwg.org>
for help. Trial members can send email to <dbadmin(at)hwg.org> to change
their email address.

Q: Can my company advertise in the Guild's newsletter?
A: Yes; the Guild is offering sponsorship opportunities in HWG-News on a
limited basis. If you are interested in advertising your web related
product or service here, please send email to advertising(at)hwg.org or call
(334) 928-4542. Discounts are available to Guild Business and Corporate
members, as well as for multiple placements. The Guild's newsletter
reaches over 124,000 web authors worldwide each month.  (Note: The Guild
does not make our member database available for third party use. We have
a strong privacy policy and will not release our members' personal
information; our mailing list is not for sale. Any questions regarding
the Guild's advertising or privacy policies can be directed to
advertising(at)hwg.org.)

Q: What if I want to comment on this newsletter?
A: The HWG-News Mailing List is a "Read-Only" list -- please do not try
to reply to this message directly.  If you wish to contact the editor of
this newsletter, you may do so by sending email to editor(at)hwg.org. Each
article begins with the contact information for the author as well.  

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Copyright 2001, HTML Writers Guild, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 
Published twice monthly via email and WWW.

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