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Website Status

Website Development and Maintenance

Summary: The DAISY Consortium is continually upgrading its website to offer more features and user capabilities.

Issues and Concerns

Your input is welcome. Please use the Contact Us form to submit website comments and suggestions.

 

Completed Milestones

  • Conversion of all content to the content management system. Reference: Drupal Content Management System (CMS) and comparison chart below.  Login capabilities are implemented for individual users to manage their own account with respect to id, password, and demographic information.
    Frequently Asked Questions About User Login Accounts and Permissions
  • Work Group capabilities: DAISYpedia is an area now managed by Training and Tech Support for the benefit of all members. The focus is to enable community-based collaboration of a dynamic knowledge network with accessible wiki tools. DAISY Project areas are now managed directly by project developers including specific development blog and FAQ content. A site-wide glossary was developed and is maintained by all staff.
  • Consolidation of separate sub-sites for single signon and maintenance: forums, issue-tracking, DFA focal points, etc

In-progress

  • Internal conversion to simplify maintenance plus enhance user/member relationships
  • Internal conversion to upgrade system and security procedures
  • Upgrade of system backups & monitoring procedures
  • Development of intra-net sites, new accessibility forums, ePub standards documentation, accessible language translation options

 

Comparison Chart

Top 10 Reasons to upgrade to a CMS
  OLD NEW
1. Most users logged in with the same log in and password information. Each user has an individual login account. 
2. Web site logins and authorization levels needed to be set up by DAISY staff. Users are able to create their own login account; authorization for Members-only access is managed by the account manager for each DAISY Member and Friend.
3. Users needed to notify staff with information to update account information. Users are able to update their user profile and account managers can update their organization profile in real time.
4. File uploads for work groups were done via FTP with limited capabilities. Work group content, security and privileges, will be managed by the work group community.
5. Content organization was static, with limited cross-referencing. Content can be organized dynamically.
6. Editing of website content had to be done by DAISY staff; group editing was not possible. Blog, wiki and forum content can be updated by the DAISY community and is moderated by authorized users.
7. Content was organized in physical directories or in separate database tables. Content is organized in a very large database of inter-connected tables.
8. Content creators and editors had to have a level of web development skills to create new content or update existing content. Text entry fields with WYSIWYG editor options simplify content creation and editing, allowing users who do not have web development skills to make updates.
9. Specific scripts and web forms had to be created for each web development project. The CMS architecture enables reuse and modular design, providing access to open source development and building on the efforts and experience of others.
10. Every new feature required custom coding and testing for web accessibility. Web accessibility standards are being incorporated into Drupal making it easier to create accessible websites.

Deployment Plan

  1. Emails and News Announcements will inform users of significant changes as they happen.
  2. Feature articles in the monthly newsletter are planned to provide broader coverage.
  3. Upgrades and enhancements will not impact production services.  All services will be functional but some minor glitches should be expected.
  4. Once upgrade/enhancement is completed, documentation and training materials on how to use new features will be linked to from this page.

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