[Web4lib] CMS or something else?

[Tyson Tate]

On 9/1/06, Francis Kayiwa <kayiwa at uic.edu> wrote:

> http://plone.org

Plone does, indeed, look very nice. The introductory videos have
piqued my interest and I'll have to add that to my "things to look in
to" list.

> 508 compliance on bottom left of the page.

Simply validating against an accessibility spec doesn't mean your
content is actually accessible. Does it check if your links are
descriptive (and if they don't, do they have a proper title
attribute?). Does it prevent misuse of <strong> and <em> (i.e. adding
<strong> simply to make something bold instead of to indicate it's
semantic meaning)? There's so much more to accessibility than what the
online tools check against.

In addition, I'm unclear of how the WYSIWYG editors of many CMSs will
make sure that, to take en example from my library's new site,
librarians will properly markup MLA citations instead of just wrapping
things with <u> and <em>. Will they allow the use of arbitrary
XHTML/CSS blocks? For instance, our new site has blocks called "promo
boxes" that require a few divs and an h2 tag to work properly. All of
the WYSIWYG tools I know of wouldn't allow people to add that element
in without dropping in to code. If anyone knows of a tool that allows
such, let me know! Such a tool would be a godsend for me.

However, simple code guidelines weren't exactly the main thrust of my
argument against allowing staff members to add content without going
through a "gatekeeper". My main point was that a large number of
people wouldn't have the "big-picture" view of the site to make sure
that the content they add is in line with current navigation and
organization standards.

It's the same reason why you have an accountant who is the gatekeeper
to your library's finances. They have an overarching view of
everything and can help maintain your library's goals and direction
instead of allowing staff members to do what they want. I want a big
couch and swimming pool in my office, but it wouldn't help further my
library's goals in educational advancement in the least. The
accountant is there to hit me with the cluebat and keep our finances
in line.

Hopefully this clears some things up.

Regards,
Tyson