Month: July 2013

The Official Website of the Department of Justice is the latest recipient of “PWD Friendly Website Awards”.

The plaque was awarded to the agency during the 34th National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week at SM Mall of Asia Open Air last July 23 at SM Music Hall, SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City spearheaded by the National Council on Disability Affairs.

Before the ceremony, NCDA Chief Nelia De Jesus gave a brief backgrounder on the awards. PWAG President Jojo Esposa Jr. also explained some important features of an accessible website.

Prior to the event, a series of web accessibility trainings were held including the one participated in by DOJ Web Developer Harold Tubangi last 2012. He even made a report on the progress of his agency’s website to the trainees.

Less than a year later, the site was redesigned to accommodate Persons With Disabilities.

Nearly a year after their PWAG-NCDA led web accessibility seminar, the Official Website of Batangas Province is now the first provincial website that received the “PWD Friendly Website Awards”.

The awarding coincides with the province's 1st Mabini Batangan Awards, held last July 18 at Batangas Provincial Capitol. No less than their newly elected for the second term popular movie and TV icon Vilma Santos-Recto graced the affair and received the award.

The awarding ceremony is part of yearly celebration of National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week. PWD Friendly Website Awards is given to government and private agencies that passed the web accessibility recommendations set by the National Computer Center and National Council on Disability Affairs under the Joint NCDA-NCC Circular No.1 which was evaluated by the Philippine Web Accessibility Group.

The activity was under the leadership and advocacy of Mr. Ronnel Del Rio, a visually impaired UN ESCAP Ambassador together with Ms. Joy Montalbo of Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).

Alexa.com, the leading provider of free and global web metrics since 1996, lists down top or popular Philippine websites based on Internet visitors with Department of Science and Technology official website topping among government sites

As of January 10, 2013, Alexa Top Site Rankings for the Philippines are the following:

1. Top dotph (.ph) Website: Sulit.Com.ph Online Buy-and-Sell Store www.sulit.com.ph – Rank 9
2. Top Philippine Based Business Website: Philippine Daily Inquirer Online www.inquirer.net – Rank 21
3. Top Government Websites:

1. Department of Science and Technology www.dost.gov.ph – Rank 221; Global Rank 31,361 (PAGASA)
2. Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office www.pcso.gov.ph – Rank 255; Global Rank 49,929

4. Top Government Service Website:Social Security Systems www.sss.gov.ph – Rank 517; Global Rank 76,651
5. Top Local Government Website:Davao City Official Website www.davaocity.gov.ph – Rank 15,515: Global Rank 833,996

These data are very useful especially for government agencies tasked in preparing for audit on web accessibility and usability of websites as well as designing of unified web templates. Visit this link to view the Top 500 Websites in the Philippines.

PWAG President Jojo Esposa gave a short lecture on web accessibility during the whole day “Accessibility Reading and Publishing for all (DAISY ane EPUB)” lecture-seminar held at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Ninoy Aquino Library and Learning Resource Center last March 6, 2013.

Sponsored by the DAISY Consortium, the program was spearheaded by the Resources for the Blind in partnership with the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA). Mr. Hiroshi Kawamura of DAISY Consortium introduced the E-pub printing while Ms. Mayu Hamada of ATDO Japan demonstrated the EPUB and Daisy Book.

Dr. Manual Mulu, Dean of College of Engineering gave his welcome remarks while Ms. Nelia De Jesus introduced the government’s program pushing for barrier-free access to print and online information.

Esposa, a PUP alumnus, started his lecture with a short docu-video presentation about web accessibility initiatives in the Philippines. Later on, he gave a brief lecture on web accessibility. For their part, PUP web development team promised to make some changes to their official university website in order to comply with PWAG’s web accessibility recommendations and to accommodate unhampered use by Persons with Disabilities. PUP is one of the premier state universities and currently the largest in terms of student population.

A series of consultation meetings among members of the iGov Team led to the partial web adoption of all national government websites to Administrative Order 39, an order Mandating Government Agencies to Migrate to the Government Web Hosting Service (GWHS) OF THE Department of Science and Technology – ICTO (DOST-ICTO).

The Integrated Government Philippines (iGovPhil) Project is an essential element in the implementation of the e-Government Master Plan of 2013-2016, which aims to improve processes in government to provide better services to both citizens and businesses, as well as promote public participation.

The 470-million-peso iGovPhil Project, launched on 28 June 2012, is one of the latest projects that seek to achieve a higher level of e-governance or the application of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to rationalize government operations and improve the delivery of goods and services to the people.

The Official Website of Philippine Web Accessibility Group now sports a new minimalist design.

The newly redesigned web pages are consistent with its design and column positions all throughout the web site using the 2-column format. The site is now a Content Management System site using WordPress. It also incorporated the latest trend called Responsive Web Design with accessible enhancements using WPZoom Template Theme. It means that the site can be viewed in any screen size and resolution without creating a separate page.

Aside from the responsive look, PWAG now joins the social network bandwagon. The top bar includes Facebook and Twitter links. Each content page also has “Share This:” buttons below for easier sharing to other social networking sites.

The design specifications are:

1. The top most bar has the Skip to, Accessibility, Site Map, Facebook Link, Twitter Link and Search box for easier access.
2. The left column is composed of the PWAG logo which appears at the top left corner. The navigation links of pages are listed below the logo. The list of accessible websites also appear here.



3. The right column is composed of the following:
1. The PWAG name, Slogan and brief introduction.
2. The header bar covers all the important links.
4. The Main Content has the following:
1. Bread crumbs or composed of link pages where the viewer is currently located
2. Anchor links appear on some pages. Clicking it would go directly to the title.
3. Reader Mode link appears on news articles only. Clicking it would direct you to a new page with a reader book style without clutters. This is very useful especially to tablet PCs using e-book formats.
4. Content Area
5. Bottom Links
6. Copyright and Email Link at the bottom

PWAG members are now encouraged to submit articles and special features by clicking at the Login link at the footer in to their WordPress Account.

Aside from complying with all the checkpoints of Web Design Accessibility Recommendations, PWAG also passed the XHTML 1.0 Strict Document Type, Color Contrast and Web Content Accessibility Guideline 2.0 Level AA (according to AChecker).