In August 11, 2006, after accepting the mandate of establishing a web accessibility adhoc group from the Philippine government, a team of web designers assembled together and adopted the name Philippine Web Accessibility Group or simply PWAG. We are a non-profit, government registered, association of web designers and advocates of web accessibility based in the Philippines.
Our mission is to "teach and promote web accessibility in the Philippines as a method of making information accessible to all including persons with disabilities (PWD)."
If you are a Filipino web designer/developer, advocate or simply want to learn how to make your web site accessible to everyone, we invite you to join PWAG for FREE.
After passing their rigid criteria, the PWAG Official Website recently received the Gold Edition of the humble yet noteworthy Talking Hands Awards for 3rd Quarter of 2008 for being a freshly presented teaching site! It also received the Visual Delights Award under the Key Teaching-Learning Element.
Based on the collective judgment of the awards committee, PWAG website merited the award because it teaches web accessibility with great commitment and introducing new terms and concepts augmented with thoughtful and precise narrative. They also added:
All of us have heard in one form or another that the "holy grail" of web design is to merge the artist and technician into one, who presents accessibility and standards compliance into beauty and understanding. (PWAG) accomplishes that task with eye candy etched in a visitors memory. First impressions aside, the resources contained within the website are freshly presented by a large group of young people, much younger than myself, who will make a difference for we who are disabled.
The Talking Hands Award Program started in 1986 to honor the father's mother of Mr. Denny Lancaster who taught him American Sign Language at an early age and to provide resources as their family searched for information about morphea. As the Internet became popular, the program began giving out the website awards in 1998.International Children's Library was last year's Annual Award Honoree while DLSU Official Website received the Gold Edition award in 4th Quarter of 2006.
The award's singular purpose is to reward web site authors, who through their creative excellence provide a web site which teaches, contains teaching elements in sufficient detail, and otherwise leaves a visitor with something of significant value after returning to their normal daily activities, which will enable them to be better citizens of the world.
In order to pass their criteria, they required to release the exclusive availability of PWAG Resources links to everyone and not just to Yahoogroup members. The site must also reach the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guideline 1.0 Level Double-A and with no validation errors on all HTML and CSS files in order to receive their laudation. PWAG website received a total of 14 nominations which merited the Gold Edition Award.
View the complete nomination comments as well as other judges' comments under the Awards Community News.
The PWAG Official Website is now one of the Top 25 Websites worldwide ranked by Google that focus on Web Accessibility category.
The ranking was based on Google's popular PageRank System. PWAG is ranked number 25 among the list of 167 websites listed under the Computers->Internet->Web Design and Development->Accessibility Sub-category above Accessify Resources, Royal National Institute for the Blind Resources and W3C Sites. PWAG's PageRank is 5.
View the Google Directory List at: http://www.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Web_Design_and_Development/Accessibility/.
Meanwhile, the Accessibleweb Yahoogroup now has 165 members, more than double since last year. This increase is a welcome achievement despite the mild campaigning made by PWAG members. Last year, the group members aggressively invited web designers and persons with disabilities to join the e-group.
The group was even included as one of the new and actively discussed topics in the Philweavers.net forum under the Web Design Category entitled, "Care about PWAG?". The topic began last June 21 and the thread starter is not even a current PWAG egroup member. Philweavers is a community of Filipino web designers and developers. They currently have 1799 forum members.
PWAG website now has 29 individual web pages including nine new entries inside the Resources page of all the important items discussed in Accessibleweb Yahoogroup.
Before, a person must be a member of PWAG egroup first in order to access the contents. But now they are freely accessible to anyone on the Internet. This is also an easier way to access important posts which were already buried beneath the nearly 2,000 messages since September 2006.
The contents were written and shared by our PWAG Accessible Web Designer gurus. This is our own humble way of promoting web accessibility to everyone. The articles belong to General Web Design and Accessibility, Web Accessibility Tips, Best Practices, Issues and News Items on Disabilities, Analysis of Philippine Laws Pertaining to Disabilities and Utilities: Web Accessibility Tools Groups. Please go to the Resources page and click on the link titles. Also, all the pages already appeared on Google so they can now be searched.
Minor changes on the aesthetics side like background color and accessibility links were made. Our site may not be as beautifully crafted as Alistapart. But we are slowly going into that direction as a place where you can get useful resources about web accessibility.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo awarded the trophy for the webmasters of Official Website of Cebu City Government for bagging the "Disabled Friendly Website Award" during the Apolinario Mabini Awards last August 6, 2008 at Malacanang Palace.
Based on the recommendation submitted by PWAG Team of Evaluators, the Cebu City website "provides a non-obtrusive and an efficient way of offering their services, announcements and latest information. As for its accessibility, the Cebu City Website presents a carefully planned design that makes navigation easier."
Cebu City web development team leader Engr. Conrado A. Ordesta III - MICS Asst. Department Head also received a special plaque of recognition. Sir Tads was one of the organizers of the Webmasters Interface event held in their city last May, 2006 where PWAG's inception was initially discussed.
The awards, named after the "Sublime Paralytic" and the "Brains of the Philippine Revolution," aim to promote wider recognition of disabled persons as self-respecting and self-reliant citizens. Launched in 1974 by the Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled, Inc., the Apolinario Mabini Awards is an annual event.
View the complete list of winners at The Official Website of the Republic of the Philippines.
The CSS training and workshop that PWAG pioneer Rey Mendoza conducted at National Computer Center from June 19-20 was successful thanks to the assistance of National Computer Center, National Council on Disability Affairs and PWAG.
Special mention goes for Ma'am Grace Amberong and Ms. Lanie Arminio of NCC, Ma'am Nelia De Jesus of NCDA and PWAG president Jojo Esposa. More than 15 participants attended and they were also very interactive. They asked a lot of questions which signified their interest.
Participants came all the way from Bacolod (Rebie Relator c/o Cataract Foundation), Aringay, La Union (Elvira Pajo), Bicol University (Jose Michael Appan) and from Phil Rice Institute in Nueva Ecija (Marlon Velayo and Arturo Arocena Jr.). There were also attendees from RCPI (Francis Leif Albacite, Rico Jay Villanueva, Reymar Fadriquela and Maurice Banaag), Ace Tech. Inc. (Brenn Cemanes), Philippine General Hospital (Dr. Darius Del Rosario), Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf (Jefferson Cortez), NCDA (Dandy Victa), a student (Kim Selorio) and three personnel representing NCC.
Web Accessibility was promoted by Jojo Esposa and all participants were willing to be part of the solution after his talk, meaning they all want to make their sites aceessible after they learned about it. There will be more projects from PWAG so watch and read this e-group as we are looking to go to Cebu and conduct more trainings around the country.
Photos are available at Rey's Picasa website
Last June 17, PWAG president Jojo Esposa was invited by ATRIEV to attend a meeting in their office and to meet with guests from Malaysia and Vietnam. Mr. Silatul Rahim Bin Dahman, a top ranking official and an ICT Department Manager of Malaysian Association for the Blind was there to meet us together with another visually impaired leader from Vietnam, Mr. Phuc Hoai Dang, Director, Assistive Technology Expert for the Blind.
They were here to follow up from the recent workshops they had in Malaysia regarding web accessibility where Des and Julius attended. Here are what they told us during the meeting that would surely make PWAG proud:
PWAG in partnership with National Computer Center and National Council on Disability Affairs will be holding its first ever training on Cascading Style Sheets (Basic and Advanced) on June 19 and 20 (Thursday and Friday) from 8:00 in the morning up to 5:00 in the afternoon at the NCC Building, UP Diliman Compound, Quezon City.
Main lecturer will be Mr. Rey Mendoza, a PWAG pioneer and former web designer of DLSU and UST. He has been invited to lecture in many workshops related to web development and designs. Mr. Jojo Esposa will have a two-hour lecture on overview of web accessibility.
Workshop fee is Php4,000. Only 15 slots are available since this is a hands on activity. The "Basic Web Accessibility Guide for Filipinos" book will be distributed for free. Updates, maps, course outline and program details are available at - http://www.reymendoza.com/csstraining.php and you may contact him through mobile: 0927 9385210 and landline: 357 9573 • 850 6261.
After six years of deliberation and almost a year after its signing, the Philippines became the 23rd country that ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
This landmark event will have a simultaneous worldwide celebration on May 12, 2008 at UN Headquarters in New York City. For its part, the Philippines will also have a prayer and walk for unity on May 12 from 7:00 am - 12:00 pm at SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City. Autism Society of the Philippines President, Erlinda Koe, was adjudged to be the emcee of the unity walk. Captain Oscar Taleon will be the in-charge of events security and together with Lauro Purcil, he will help for a courtesy call with Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary, Alberto Romulo. Sorongon will also help in security marshals. The organizers will also invite the SM Bands to add color and music to the walk. Carmen Zubiaga and Joy Garcia will make a miniature of wheelchair as a token for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. A program will also be held at Worshops and symposium will also be scheduled after the grand celebration.
We invite everyone to come and support this activity. Philippine Web Accessibility Group is one with the PWD community in celebrating this momentous ocassion. We encourage our fellow web designers, bloggers, members of the media, academe and their friends to share this news and promote this activity.
As part of their thesis work, twenty four deaf students representing the graduating batch of Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf attended in the yearly seminar-workshop on Web Accessibility held last April 2 and 3 conducted by Jojo I. Esposa Jr. and Sir Ervin R. Reyes at MCCID Lecture Hall.
The students then used the lessons they acquired for the web sites that they have created this summer. They have completed the design work and added accessibility features on the following non-profit organizations:
This activity is the students' way of helping empower these non-government organizations by having their web presence so that they may be able to reach out to potential donors and financial supporters. Four sites will have their own paid webhosting accounts while the rest will be hosted for free by MCCID Online.
Then last April 14, the graduating class presented their finished work to the officials and staff of National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA formerly NCDA) led by Deputy Executive Director Mateo Lee and Technical Cooperation Center Chief Ms. Nelia De Jesus. Certificates were given to the successful participants with no less than NCDA Chairperson Mrs. Lovely Rosie Romulo attached her signature. She also paid for the snacks for all the students and NCDA staff.
After learning from the seminar-workshop attended by MCCID in 2004 at Tagaytay City, the school incorporated web accessibility on the www.mccid.edu.ph and at the same time include accessibility features in the websites that they will create for free to their selected institutions. The book "Basic Web Accessibility Guide for Filipinos" was the main resource material used. Selected websites that passed the evaluation of Philippine Web Accessibility Group was also presented as samples.
Accessites.org, the website honoring web designers that "meticulously and lovingly build artful yet accessible websites", presents the Official Website of Arielle B. Cruz the "Notable Universal Design Award".
Team Access, the group of well-known web designers/developers that form Accessites led by Mike Cherim commented that "The Arielle B. Cruz site is solidly built in terms of clean/well structured markup, strong semantics, accessibility enhancements and a clear purpose as to what the site has to offer. In addition, it has some effective JavaScript handling that takes enabling and disabling into account as well as a graceful way of displaying regardless of how the site is being viewed."
The website of Arielle Cruz is the second among the Filipino designed website that passed the very high web accessibility standard set by Accessites.org. The first one is the Official Website of Philippine Web Accessibility Group. Arielle is PWAG's Internal Auditor.
Visit their complete comments and permanent link of abcruz.com here.
The National Computer Center and the Philippine Web Accessibility Group will be giving out for the first time, a special award for the most accessible Web site among the e-LGU entries during the 10th Philippine Web Awards to be staged on November 23 at the Teatrino, Promenade, Greenhills.
As a start, the group decides to use the minimum criteria set by PWAG Maturity Stage 1 Checkpoints. The selected judges from PWAG are: Lourdes Borgonia, Lemuel Cabia, Jojo Esposa, Rey Mendoza and Ma'am Grace Amberong.
It is hoped that by next year, web accessibility will form part of the overall criteria in evaluating award winning websites. For more information, visit their news article at http://www.philippinewebawards.com/newsroom.asp?n=23
A whole-day seminar on Digital Accessible Information System or DAISY was held at the Manila Hotel last September 5, 2007.
The seminar introduces DAISY standards and Digital Talking Books (DTB). Mr. Hiroshi Kawamura, Chairman DAISY Consortium and Project Manager for Daisy for All was the main speaker. Mr. Monthian Buntan, President - Thailand Association of the Blind also gave a demonstration.
A traditional talking book is an analog representation of a print publication. A Digital Talking Book (DTB) is a multimedia representation of a print publication. In both instances the rendering of the audio is in human voice. This is very useful specially to the visually impaired and with learning disabilities.
Among those who presented include: NCDA Executive Director Atty. Dulfie Tobias-Shalim, Ms. Lanie Arminio, Information Systems Analyst - NCC and PWAG member and Ms. Rebecca Arabain, Supervisor, PPHB-Department of Education. A group of librarians also attended. NCDA was also represented by Mr. Dandy Victa and Ma'am Nelia De Jesus while Ma'am Eva Neri and Grace Amberong heads the NCC group. PWAG was represented by Jojo Esposa. The activity was spearheaded by Resources for the Blind through Mr. Randy W. Weisser Executive Director and Ms. Mayette Regala.
PWAG attended the formal launching of www.withnews.org, Internet News for the Disabled and the Poor, last August 28, 2007at Max's Restaurant, Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City.
Its chairman, Dr. Hong Sung Wook gave the inspirational message. Mr. Choi, Eun Young is the Executive Director and Dr. Jose PM Cunanan is the Editor.
Withnews.org is a joint project of Withnews Philippines and Center for Asian Mission for the Poor (CAMP). Withnews is the internet media which preaches the Gospel and Love of God. It was established in Korea in 2002, and makes a hard effort to establish the rights of the minority and the disabled, for them to live together with non- handicapped people.
PWAG was represented by Mr. Jojo Esposa and another deaf member Glenn Ortega. The book "Basic Web Accessibility Guide for Filipinos" was also introduced to the audience who are mostly from the Persons with Disabilities sector.
As an offshoot of the successful staging of Baguio City Workshop on Accessible ICT held last February, focal persons for Persons with Disabilities of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Region 1 held an "E-Accessibility Forum" last July 20 at Zigzag Hotel, San Fernando City, La Union. The activity coincides with the Philippine celebration of National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week (July 19 - 23, 2007).
PWAG Board Member and NCDA Assistant TCC Chief Dandy Victa was the special guest speaker. He emphasized on the ICT tools and facilities that can now be used by the disabled persons. NCDA particularly the Philippine Web Accessibility Group are enforcing and encouraging LGUs, NGOs and government associations to add accessibility features in their websites. The forum was attended by government web designers, provincial DSWD representatives and other government and non-government organizations.
Also in this event, the book "Basic Web Accessibility Guide for Filipinos" was launched. Many participants are interested to buy copies of the book.
Region 1 was the first group from Baguio workshop that implemented their commitments for accessible ICT. Ms. Virginia T. Sessay, Region 1 Focal Person for PWD spearheaded the activity. A plaque of recognition was given to her by PWAG and NCDA.
Continue reading DSWD Region 1 Press Release.
The 102 page book "Web Accessibility Guide for Filipinos" is now officially published and copyrighted. This is one of the crowning achievements of PWAG. Some of the articles there are in the PWAG website and Yahoogroup but most of the contents are new.
The book contains definition of web accessibility, types of assistive devices available, laws affecting disability in the Philippines, statistics of Filipino PWDs and Filipino Internet user statistics. It also details the history of web accessibility initiatives in the Philippines from 2003 up to the present.
The book also lists down the basic manual accessibility checklist and detailed description on how to comply with Manila ICT Design Recommendations as well as PWAG Maturity Stages 1 and 2. It also features accessible websites from House of Representatives, Dela Salle University, Arielle Cruz Website, Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf, Vision Office, National Council on Disability Affairs and Emilio Aguinaldo Colleges.
The book is sold for P250 each. Proceeds will go to PWAG funds. Special thanks to MCCID for shouldering the printing expenses. For details on how to buy this book, please email us info@pwag.org or call us at Tel. Nos. 02412-9447. The book will soon be available in National Bookstore.
PWAG Evaluating Team has certified accessible the Official Website of Cebu City Government. Cebu City web development team headed by Engr. Conrado A. Ordesta III - MICS Asst. Department Head renovated their website to conform with PWAG's Web Design Accessibility Recommendations Maturity Stage 1.
Sir Tads was one of the officials who organized the Philippine Webmasters' Interface on Accessible ICT for PWD held at Mango Park Hotel, Cebu City from May 16 - 18, 2006.
By designing an accessible site, Cebu City Government is now an official institutional member of Philippine Web Accessibility Group. Congratulations Sir Tads and welcome to PWAG family!
