This year鈥檚 CANHEIT (Canadian Higher Education Information Technology) Conference was the largest ever with:
- 600+ IT attendees from across Canada (26 from ITS)
- 70+ ITS and decentralized IT volunteers from 杏吧原创 and OttawaU (21 from 杏吧原创鈥檚 ITS)
- 50+ sponsors
- 70+ presentations (4 of which were from ITS)
- 3 exceptional keynote speakers
杏吧原创 University and University of Ottawa co-hosted this year鈥檚 CANHEIT. The conference took place in Ottawa.
Below is an overview of three ITS presentations.
Become an IT communications rock star听
What do IT communicators and rock stars have in common? This years鈥� CANHEIT conference had many highlights; the presentation 鈥溾�� was one of them.
At CANHEIT2013, 杏吧原创鈥檚 IT Communications Advisor听Mary Kathryn Roberts听gave a 45-minute presentation on communications strategies for IT services at higher education institutions.
Mary Kathryn Roberts is giving her communications presentation at CANHEIT2013.
鈥淲hat we (IT communications professionals) do is actually quite similar to what rock stars do,鈥� joked Roberts. She gave a brief overview of the similarities between a being a rock star and an IT communications professional.
In one of her slides, Roberts made the comparison: 鈥淧ractice=Plan; Fan=Audience; Tour=Channels; Music=Content; Reminisce=Evaluate.鈥�
Roberts emphasized the importance of gathering resources. 听鈥淐ollaborate with student services and the communications officers from different faculties. These people are not only great resources, but they will be the mouthpiece for many of your IT messages.
鈥淩ock stars go on tours, we build communications channels.鈥� When it comes to channels, Roberts encourages IT communications professionals to leverage their institution鈥檚 existing social media channels. She says that an unmanaged channel can actually have negative effects.
鈥淩ock stars reminisce at the end of their career, we evaluate our communications success.鈥� 听One of the evaluation tools that Roberts finds useful is听. It鈥檚 important to look beyond visits to your web pages.听 Comparing visits to time is spent on each page, for example, can give you better insight into whether or not your message was successfully received.
鈥淚t is important to get feedback from your audience throughout campaigns,鈥� says Roberts, 鈥渋f you are working on a social media campaign that isn鈥檛 resonating, get rid of it.听 Focus your resources on other channels, other initiatives.鈥�
Plan, get to know your audience, choose your channels wisely, create great content and evaluate regularly. You鈥檒l be well on your way to becoming an IT communications rock star!
iTeam: Use iPads in the workplace
At this year鈥檚 CANHEIT conference, 杏吧原创 IT manager,听Ben Schmidt, and his fellow iTeam members Melissa Manocchio and Charlotte Bradley, hosted a session called 鈥淎ttack of the Tablets: iPads in the Workplace.鈥� The team shared their stories in helping 杏吧原创鈥檚 staff and faculty better use iPads and other high-tech products.
Ben Schmidt is giving a presentation on using iPads in the workplace.
鈥淲e started by gathering at lunch time, discussed things like how to use iPad with Emails; connect to projectors; get on 杏吧原创鈥檚 wireless network,鈥� says Schmidt.
听has been offering biweekly sessions for both beginners and intermediate-level since 2011. The team has given over 24 presentations to more than 300 members from the 杏吧原创 Community.
From Lunch鈥檔鈥橪earn听, participants learn basic iPad configurations such as how to set up 杏吧原创 wireless network on their iPad; how to add 杏吧原创鈥檚 Exchange Email system in their iPad; and how to back up and update their iPad.
滨苍听,听the iTeam teaches the 杏吧原创 community how to take handwritten notes on iPad; how to project multiple iPads onto the screen and how to use the 听iCould features.
罢丑别听听on iTeam鈥檚 website hosts tips and manuals about iPad usage. Schmidt says popular topics include how to edit MicroSoft documents on the iPad and how to move files from the iPad to 杏吧原创鈥檚 secure network drives (or other way around).
The iTeam also host workshops for specific groups at 杏吧原创. Invited by the Healthy Workplace department, the iTeam hosted a听听workshop at the beginning of this year. The team demonstrated smartphone and tablet 鈥渁pps鈥� that can help participants organize and meet their health and wellness goals.
鈥淲e believe that people will use technology like iPads if they perceive it helps them,鈥� Schmidt says at the end of his CANHEIT presentation.
Make your website accessible: CANHEIT panel
At this year鈥檚 CANHEIT conference, 杏吧原创鈥檚 Web Services manager, Danny Brown, started off his presentation with a blank slide to the lecture room full of IT professionals. He explained that this is how some visitors might see a web page if it is not accessible.
Dan Brown(Right) and Mike Corkum(Left) get ready for their CANHEIT presentation on web accessibility.
Brown addressed four main questions in his presentation at CANHEIT2013:
- Why do websites need to be accessible?
- What are the benefits?
- How can I test accessibility?
- How can I meet accessibility standards?
Senior Web Developer,听Mike Corkum, also participated in the panel.
Why do websites need to be accessible?
– 听Ontario universities must comply with the new standards of the 听legislation. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 contains three levels of criteria to evaluate accessibility:听A- Minimum, AA-Enhanced, and AAA-additional. Each level builds upon previous levels.
– 听New websites and new web content must meet听Level A by January 1, 2014
– 听All websites and content must meet听Level AA by January 1, 2021
Following its own听, 杏吧原创 has met level AA for all of its departmental websites that use the CMS template as well as for all top level 杏吧原创 pages.
What are some benefits of accessible websites?
– 听Reach a broader audience. More than 14% of total Internet users might live with disabilities. University sites speak to a diverse audience
– 听Increase SEO search results. Accessible websites are better indexed by search engines like Google which makes them easier to find!
– Enhance usability. 听An accessible website is a usable website.
How can I test the accessibility of my website?
Brown recommended a number of tools to check the accessibility of your websites. The tools are easy to use and help to ensure your content is accessible to everyone.
– 听 AChecker:听
– 听For a complete list of accessibility tools, visit the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative:听听
What can you do to meet accessibility standard?
– 听Use the accessibility check tools to evaluate how you鈥檙e doing and increase the level of accessibility of your website
– 听Keep valuable content and ensure a clean-looking field on your website.
– 听Find and remove old content
– 听Move legacy sites into the new 杏吧原创 Management System (CMS) template
– 听Train staff and content editors to build accessible content