Michigan State University will Require New Web Sites to be Accessible to People with Disabilities

This is really cool news! My old employer Michigan State University (MSU) has recently enacted a new policy that will require Web pages published after December 31, 2008 to be accessible to people with disabilities.

All new and redesigned University Web pages published after December 31, 2008 must be in compliance with Section I of the WA Technical Guidelines, unless granted an exception under Article IV of this policy. University Web pages published before December 31, 2008 must assess compliance with Section I of the WA Technical Guidelines and submit a review summary and remediation plan to address any areas of non-compliance to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator in the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives by December 31, 2008.

This rocks!  If you know me, you know that making Web site’s accessible to people with disabilities is really important to me.  I’m really proud of MSU.

MSU has always been at the forefront of making their Web site’s accessible.  I’m honored to have played small role in this movement many many years ago.  I raise my glass to the folks that have carried it to this.

Check out the Michigan State University Web site on Web Accessibility.

MSU Launches Interactive Map: a Google Maps & Building Data Mashup

MSU Interactive Campus Map Screenshot

During my tenure on the Michigan State University Web Team, we were just starting to talk about how we could take the online campus map to the next level, throwing out ideas and developing prototypes.

I am very happy to see that today they have launched the interactive campus map (http://maps.msu.edu/interactive/). It mashes up the building data with Google Maps. Users can easily do things like search for specific buildings on campus or look for all of the campus parking spots.

Kudos to the team!  It’s exciting to see this site out in the wild. I look forward to hearing what type of feedback they get.