INTERNET
Arts Online: Making Federal Web Sites Friendly to Disabled Users
(NYT)
Search Engines, Portals, Big Web Draws - Nielsen (Newsbytes)
ICANN Cannot, Say Critics (Wired)
EDTECH
Senate Passes Bill To Ease Copyrights For Net Learning (Newsbytes)
JOURNALISM
In Mexico, Publisher Finds New Players but Old Secrecy (NYT)
INTERNET
ARTS ONLINE: MAKING FEDERAL WEB SITES FRIENDLY TO DISABLED USERS
Issue: Digital Divide
On June 21, a new set of standards intended to make the government's
Internet sites more accessible to people with disabilities will take effect.
The 16 guidelines cover everything from making sure that a Web page's
colorful hyperlinks can be read by colorblind users to supplying captions to
accompany audio and video clips for hearing-impaired people. Making the
Internet accessible to people who cannot see, hear or touch it adds a
challenge because the Internet's interactive and multimedia elements are not
readily adaptable for people with disabilities. But according to Judy
Brewer, director of the accessibility initiative for the World Wide Web
Consortium, an industry group, complying with accessibility standards
doesn't necessarily take away from the ascetic value of site. "There are so
many myths in the area of Web accessibility, and one of them is that an
accessible Web page has to be dull and boring," said Brewer.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Matthew Mirapaul]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/11/technology/11ARTS.html)
(requires registration)
ICANN CANNOT, SAY CRITICS
Issue:
Critics of ICANN are calling for major structural changes since the
quarterly meeting last weekend, decrying it for being less than democratic.
One of the five at-large board members Andy Mueller-Maguhn refused to vote
to approve meeting minutes he had not read, only to discover 15 minutes
later that there were in fact no minutes. ICANN's 19 member board only has
five members elected from the Internet community at-large, with the rest
being representatives of the business community. At-large board member Karl
Auerbach urged Internet users to apply pressure on ICANN to increase the
number of at-large members if not make all board members electable. "People
have to participate in this at-large study committee and make it quite clear
that any reduction in the role of the at-large board members will not be
tolerated," said Auerbach. "Everybody who uses the Internet should realize
that whatever voice they have is potentially being taken away."
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Steve Kettmann]
(http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,44404,00.html)
SEARCH ENGINES, PORTALS, BIG WEB DRAWS - NIELSEN
Issue: Internet usage
According to a Nielsen/NetRatings study of American habits online, search
engines, portals and online communities are attracting the greatest number
of Internet users from home and work with a reach of 92 percent. The study
found that 95 million Americans surfed such sites in the month of May.
"Search engines, portals, and community sites have established themselves as
a mandatory part of every surfers' online habits," said a statement by
NetRatings vice president Sean Kaldor. "Nine out of every ten Web users go
to such a site every month, and are going there more frequently - nearly
five times monthly." The fastest growing and second most-visited sector of
Web sites was telecommunications and Internet services, attracting nearly 70
percent of Internet users, or 72 million people. The highest ranking
business was AOL Time Warner, followed by Yahoo and Microsoft. People are
using the Internet at home on average of 32 times a month, visiting 21
unique sites, viewing 1109 pages per month and viewing 35 pages per session.
[SOURCE: Newsbytes, AUTHOR: Martin Stone]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166678.html)
EDTECH
SENATE PASSES BILL TO EASE COPYRIGHTS FOR NET LEARNING
Issue: Distance education
Distance learning will get a boost from legislation sponsored by Senators
Leahy and Hatch that will ease copyright restrictions on Internet content
for educational purposes. Senator Leahy said S.487 "will help clarify the
law and allow educators to use the same rich material in distance learning
over the Internet that they are able to use in face-to-face classroom
instruction." There was some resistance to the bill from copyright holders
who claimed the bill was redundant with current copyright laws that support
"legitimate distance-learning activities." But Leahy said the 1999 Senate
Internet-based education commission report demonstrated there is a need for
legislation that is more appropriate to the virtual classroom with
multimedia and digital transmissions. Senator Hatch added, "Moreover, of
utmost significance to the copyright owners, the legislation adds new
safeguards to counteract the risks posed by digital transmissions in an
educational setting. (The) bill imposes obligations to implement
technological protection measures as well as certain limitations relating to
accessibility and duration of transient copies."
[SOURCE: Newsbytes, AUTHOR: Robert MacMillan]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166653.html)
JOURNALISM
IN MEXICO, PUBLISHER FINDS NEW PLAYERS BUT OLD SECRECY
Issue: Journalism
When Vicente Fox triumphed over the establishment to become Mexico's first
opposition president in more than seven decades, he promised change and
openness that would fortify Mexico's fledgling democracy. During his
campaign, Mr. Fox said that all Mexican citizens
would have the right to see all public information. But once in
office, officials backtracked, saying that enemies of the Fox
administration would use an open access law to embarrass the new
government. Alejandro Junco, the publisher of some of Mexico's top newspaper
and a supporter of Fox's conservative National Action Party, has been
particularly disappointed in the government's slow move toward greater
transparency. Mr. Junco believes that access to information has importance
far beyond journalism. He said that the government will not be able to
combat corruption successfully unless Mexicans have the right to demand to
know how money is spent in every small town and big city.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Anthony Depalma]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/11/business/11MEXI.html)
(requires registration)
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