Patching .htaccess for SEO mandclu Sat, 03/25/2023 - 11:58 Anyone who has ever gone through the process of trying to maximize their site's Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights score will have seen suggestions to increase the cache lifetime of static assets: at least 1 year for assets like images and fonts, and at least 1 month for assets like CSS and Javascript files. As noted in the linked page, it is possible to set this cache lifetime site-wide, but if you want to set a shorter cache lifetime for your content than your static assets, we can achieve this with minimal effort.The easiest way to set the cache lifetime for static assets specifically (for sites hosted on Apache webservers) is by modifying Drupal's default .htaccess file.If you're hosting your own webfonts (as I recommended in a previous post) you'll want to define a type for them. NearMore

Introduction

Great Place To Work® has certified Axelerant as among India’s 40 Best Workplaces in Health & Wellness. 

Volunteer to Help at MidCamp!

We need you!

Want to give back to the Drupal Community without writing a line of code? Volunteer to help out at MidCamp.  We’re looking for amazing people to help with all kinds of tasks throughout the event including: 

Setup/Teardown

• For setup, we need help making sure registration is ready to roll, getting hats ready to move, and getting the rooms and walkways prepped for our amazing sessions.

• For teardown, we need to undo all the setup including packing up all the rooms, the registration desk, cleaning signage, and making it look like we were never there.

Registration and Ticketing

• We need ticket scanners, program dispersers, and people to answer questions.

Session Monitors

• Pick your sessions and count heads, intro the speakers and make sure they have what they need to survive, and help with the in-room A/V (by calling our Fearless Leader / A/V Genius)

Choose Your Own Adventure

• We won't turn away any help, so if there's something you'd like to do to help out, just let us know!

This year we're going to be giving every volunteer credit on Drupal.org, so be sure to include your profile name when you sign up to volunteer.

If you’re interested in volunteering or would like to find out more, please reach out in the #volunteers channel on the MidCamp Slack.

 

Please see the embedded Volunteer Packet below for more details.  Also, there will be a brief, online orientation leading up to the event to go over the volunteer opportunities more in detail. 

Sign up to Volunteer!

Questions?

tweet: @midcamp
email: info@midcamp.org

View and Download

Four of our colleagues at Cocomore happily packed their bags to travel to Prague and spend a few days with our fellow Drupal community members, partners of our agency, and clients.

Co-authors: Vladimir Roudakov, Lisa McCray

The industry summits at DrupalCon are a great way to get the most out of your conference experience if you’re a government or higher education professional. Summits are full day sessions scheduled when there are no general conference sessions happening, so you won’t miss anything from the main event. 

What are the registration details?

Although the Summits are part of the DrupalCon program, they are separate events and require a separate registration. There is also an additional cost associated with Summit registration. It’s an additional $250, and you can add a summit package to regular registration all through one convenient platform. 

Register now

Higher Education Summit 

Whether you are a web developer, administrator, or educator, you will gain valuable insights into how other institutions have used Drupal to improve their websites, streamline processes, and enhance the student experience. The Higher Ed Summit is the perfect meeting ground for folks doing Drupal in a higher education context. Pittsburgh is a huge Drupal higher education city, with both Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh using Drupal! 

When is it?

Thursday, 8 June, 2023 from 9:00-16:00 EST

Who should attend?

The DrupalCon Higher Education Summit is a must-attend summit for anyone working in the higher education sector. This summit provides a unique opportunity to network and collaborate with experts and professionals in the field. Attendees will have the chance to learn about the latest trends and best practices in higher education technology and hear from leading experts in the field.

Attending the DrupalCon Higher Education Summit is a great investment in your professional development. The summit provides a wealth of knowledge and resources that you can use to improve your skills and stay ahead of the curve in higher education technology. With a focus on cutting-edge technology, best practices, and real-world examples, the DrupalCon Higher Education Summit is a must-attend event for anyone looking to stay ahead in the fast-paced world of higher education technology.

What will I get by attending?

One of the key benefits of attending the DrupalCon Higher Education Summit is the opportunity to learn from real-world case studies and practical applications. You will also have the chance to engage with peers and share your own experiences and challenges. 

About those schools…

Carnegie Mellon and Pitt are 14 and 10 minutes, respectively, away from the David L. Lawrence Convention center! Take a stroll through these historic campuses, where there’s a rich history of computer science and academic achievement. Both campuses have beautiful cathedrals with incredible architecture that make for the perfect peaceful afternoon. 

Fountain outside of the Cathedral of Learning, Pitt

Image source: By Christopher Lancaster from Oshawa, Canada - 20080621_2744 Uploaded by crazypaco, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6625882 

Government Summit 

Are you a federal, state, or local government employee, or a private sector employee supporting the government?  

• Would you like to meet up with Drupalers from all different skill levels in a variety of roles and talk about common issues you face while supporting government work?
• Do you dream of seeing one of the actual bikes used in the filming of PeeWee’s Big Adventure? 

Will attending the DrupalCon Government Summit makes you feel this excited? Probably!  

Image source: Wikimedia, Fair Use

Then I’ve got great news for you! We can help with two out of three of those! Yinz should make plans to attend the DrupalCon Pittsburgh Government Summit. We have a full day planned of government-y goodness that you won’t want to miss. 

When is it?

Thursday, 8 June, 2023 from 9:00-16:00 EST

Who should attend?

The Government Summit is intended for anyone who uses Drupal in the context of government, whether it be at a local, state or federal level. All skill levels and roles are welcome. You’ll meet site builders, developers, themers, project managers, support specialists, and more.

What will I get by attending?

This year we are returning to the full day format, and will be featuring a panel, case studies, presentations, and plenty of talk and discussion on topics such as approaches to content author training, the impact of accessibility work, how to design *with* Drupal’s strengths to support agency needs, and much much more! Specifics on presentations and topics are being ironed out now, so stay tuned for more detail.

In addition, similar to past years, part of our schedule will be dedicated to “unconference” table-talk time with interactive discussions on topics chosen by you, the attendees. We like to think of them as mini-BoFs. Tables can form to continue the discussions from earlier in the day or your own unique topics. Opportunities to suggest topics will be available throughout the morning.

But I really want to see that bike….

While the Government Summit will sadly have a distinct lack of movie prop bicycles, you are in luck! It turns out that one of the 4 bikes used in the filming of the movie is on display just across the river at Bicycle Heaven, which, according to Wikipedia, is the largest transportation museum in the world dedicated to bicycles. It’s also free to visit, so if you want to see that bike or any of its approximately 3500 friends, roll on over and check it out!

Drupal is Ensuring the Web Accessibility Standards Akshita Thu, 03/23/2023 - 15:18

Just like land, air, and water are meant for everyone, the web was designed to work for all people and expel any hindrance, irrespective of the surroundings and capabilities of people. But the effect of incapacity (of individuals) in the light of the fact that the web standards don’t include all in itself has become a barrier. Creating quite the paradox in the situation.

Before completing this blog, my ignorance led me to believe that web accessibility was limited to ‘accessibility only for people with disability’. Another thing that I was coxed to believe was that it is almost synonymous with visibility issues. But it is as much for a person with auditory disabilities as it is for a person with cognitive or neurological disabilities. However, I realized I was not the only one associating such wrong notions with disabilities and web accessibility.

Lack of awareness and taboos associated with disabilities often mislead us.

Ensuring that people with disability have equal and inclusive access to the resources on the web, governments and agencies follow certain guidelines in order to establish equal accessibility for all without any bias. 

What are Web Accessibility Standards and why do they matter?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) explains how the web content be made more accessible to people. Here the word "content" refers to any and every kind of information in a web page, such as text (include heading and captions too), images, sounds, codes, markup - anything that defines the layout and framework.  

“WCAG is developed through the World Wide Web Consortium process with a goal of providing a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally.”

Take examples of physical infrastructures like ramps and digital vision signboards, which can be used by anyone, in a similar fashion web accessibility is for everyone.

When you go out in the noon, the level of contrast can be an issue as much for a person with 6/6 vision as it can be for a person with visibility issues. Or say, older people (due to aging) face problems with changing abilities, as much as people with “temporary disabilities” such as a broken arm or lost glasses. Thus, not only web accessibility standards ensure justice for people with disability but, it is inclusive for all. 

According to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the United Nations, enjoying equal human rights is a fundamental freedom. To ensure the dignity of people with disability is not a subject of ridicule, governments across the globe signed a treaty for easy web accessibility. 

How does Drupal help?

A person may face an issue either when building a website or when using it. The WCAG ensures that both the times the guidelines are followed. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines are then divided into two: ATAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.0. Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG 2.0) addresses authoring tools and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) addresses Web content and is used by developers, authoring tools, and accessibility evaluation tools. 

Drupal conforms to both the guidelines. The initiative started with Drupal 7 accessibility and the community has been committed to ensuring that accessibility for all. 

What Drupal does...

The community has an accessibility team which works to identify the barriers both at the code level and the awareness level to resolve them. As a person using assistive technologies to browse the web, Drupal is built to encourage and support the semantic markup (which comes out-of-box in Drupal now).

One can realize that the improvements are meant for both the visitor and administrator in the:

• Color contrast and intensity
• Drag and Drop functionality
• Adding skip navigation to core themes
• Image handling
• Form labeling
• Search engine form and presentation
• Removing duplicate or null tags
• Accessibility for Developers

Modules For Accessibility

Following are some of the Drupal modules which will assist you in keeping up with the accessibility standards. 

1. Automatic Alt text
   The basic principle at work here is the idea of easy perceivability. Any and every information should be, thus, presented in such a way that is easily perceivable to the user. It is required for any non-text information like images and video to describe the content in the form of text for the screen readers to read it. 
   
   
   
   The Automatic Alt text module automatically generates an alternative text for images when no alt text has been provided by the user. This module works great for the websites and portals with user-generated content where the users may even not be aware of the purpose and importance of the Alternative text. 
   
   It describes the content of the image in one sentence but it doesn’t provide face recognition. 
    
2. Block ARIA Landmark Roles
   Inspired by Block Class, Block ARAI Landmark Roles adds additional elements to the block configuration forms that allow users to assign a ARIA landmark role to a block.
    
3. CKEditor Abbreviation
   The CKEditor Abbreviation module adds a button to CKEditor which helps in inserting and editing abbreviations in a given text. If an existing abbr tag is selected, the context menu also contains a link to edit the abbreviation.
   
   Abbr tag defines the abbreviation or an acronym in the content. Marking up abbreviations can give useful information to browsers, translation systems, and help boost search-engines.
    
4. CKEditor Accessibility Checker
   The CKEditor Accessibility Checker module enables the Accessibility Checker plugin in your WYSIWYG editor. A plugin, the module lets you inspect the accessibility level of content created and immediately solve any accessibility issues that are found.
    
5. High Contrast
   On April 13, 2011, Joseph Dolson published an article "Web Accessibility: 10 Common Developer Mistakes" stating the most common mistakes related to web accessibility and quoted that most of the issues have "more to do with a failure to understand what constitutes accessible content than with a failure to understand the technology"

   In most of the surveys, poor contrast level is often cited as the most commonly overlooked feature by the developers.
   
   

   High Contrast module, provides a quick solution to allow the user to switch between the active theme and a high contrast version of it helping them pull out of the problem.

6. htmLawed
   According to the "Ten Common Accessibility Problems" an article by Roger Hudson, failure to use HTML header elements appropriately is one of the key accessibility issues. 

   The htmLawed module utilizes the htmLawed PHP library to limit and filter HTML for consistency with site administrator policy and standards and for security. Use of the htmLawed library allows for highly customizable control of HTML markup.

7. Style Switcher
   The Style Switcher module takes the fuss out of creating themes or building sites with alternate stylesheets. Most of the accessibility issues have been confronted at the theming level. With this module, themers can provide a theme with alternate stylesheets. Site builder can add other alternate stylesheets right in the admin section to bring it under the right guidelines of accessibility. Allowing special styling of some part of the site, the module presents all those styles as a block with links. So any site user is able to choose the style of the site he/she prefers.

8. Text Resize
   The handiest feature giving the end users just the right autonomy to resize the text as per their comfort of the eyesight. The Text Resize module provides the end-users with a block that can be used to quickly change the font size of text on your Drupal site. 
   
   

   It includes two buttons that can increase and decrease the size of the printed text on the page.

9. Accessibility
   A module for the developer, Accessibility module gives you a list of available Accessibility tests, (most of which are) aligned with one or more guidelines like WCAG 2.0 or Section 508. 

   It immediately informs the site maintainer about the missing an “alt” attribute in an image, or if the headers are used appropriately. Further, each test can be customized to fit your site’s specific challenges, and customize messages users see for each test so that you can provide tips on fixing accessibility problems within the context of your site’s editing environment.

Drupal  Features for Accessibility 

Other than the modules that can assist you to overcome web compatibility issues, here is a list of top Drupal features for easier web accessibility. 

1. Semantics in the Core
   When an assistive device scans a web page for information, it extracts the data about the Document Object Model (DOM), or the HTML structure of the page. No further information is read by the screen reader.
   
   Often these assistive devices only allow a user to select to read the headings on the page or only the links. It prioritizes according to the hierarchy in which the headings and links are presented making browsing easier for users of assistive devices. 

   Drupal 8 is based on HTML5. Presenting new and better semantic components HTML5 is, in fact, one of five major initiatives outlined in Drupal development. It allows theme developers to control where to use the new semantic elements and opt out entirely if they so choose. 

   When we compose semantically correct HTML, we’re telling the browser and the assistive technology what type of content it is managing with and how that information relates to other content. By doing this, assistive technology is all the more effortlessly ready to carry out its activity since it has a structure that it can work with.
    
2. Aural Alerts
   Often page updates are expressed visually through color changes and animations. But listening to a site is a very different experience from seeing it, therefore, Drupal provides a method called “Drupal.announce()”. This helps make page updates obvious in a non-visual manner. This method creates an aria-live element on the page.
   
   This also lets the user know of any alert box appearing along with providing instructions to screen reader users about the tone as well. Text attached to the page is read by the assistive technologies. Drupal.announce accepts a string to be read by an audio UA. 
    
3. Controlled Tab Order
   The accessibility issues also crop when a user uses different mediums while navigating the web. Not every user uses a mouse to navigate the website. The TabbingManager, in Drupal, is an awesome medium to direct both non-visual and non-mouse users to access the prime elements on the page in a logical order. It, thus, permits more control when exploring complex UIs.
   
   The tabbing manager helps in defining explicit tab order. It also allows elements besides links and form to receive keyboard focus. Without breaking the tab order it places the elements in a logical navigation flow as if it were a link on the page.
    
4. Accessible Inline Form Errors
   It is important to provide the necessary feedback to users about the results of their form submission. Both the times when successful and when not.  This incorporates an in-line feedback that is typically provided after form submission.
   
   Notifications have to be concise and clear. The error message, in particular, should be easy to understand and provide simple instructions on how the situation can be resolved. And in case of successful submission, a message to confirm would do. 

   Drupal forms have turned out to be impressively more open to the expansion of available inline form errors. It is now easier for everyone to identify what errors they might have made when filling in a web form.

5. Fieldsets
   Fieldset labels are utilized as systems for gathering related segments of forms. Effectively implemented label gives a visual diagram around the shape field gathering. This can, to a great degree, be valuable for individuals with cognitive disabilities as it viably breaks the form into subsections, making it easier to understand.
   
   Drupal presently uses fieldsets for radios & checkboxes in the Form API. This helps towards additionally upgrading forms in Drupal.

Conclusion

However good the features Drupal offers, in the end, it is up to the organizations to strategize and build the websites and applications around the web accessibility.   

We ensure that our different teams and interaction work together in order to make the Web more accessible to people with disabilities. At OpenSense Labs we design and develop the web technologies to ensure universal accessibility. Connect with us at hello@opensenselabs.com to make the web a better place. 

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It’s spring in Chicago and MidCamp is almost here🙀

We’ve been busy… so busy we haven’t been able to tell you what’s been happening! Here’s everything you need to know about with MidCamp just 5 weeks away!

Health & Safety

With help from the community, our venue, and outside professionals, we’ve completed the MidCamp 2023 Health & Safety Policy. The policy is rooted in our values but is reflective of current conditions and our capacity as a fully volunteer-led team.

We’ve done our best to get this published and sincerely hope this works for you, but if it doesn’t you may request a full refund of your ticket at any time prior to the event by emailing info@midcamp.org.

Session Schedule

We’ve got a great line-up this year! All sessions on Wednesday and Thursday (April 26-27) are included in the price of your MidCamp registration. We encourage you to start plotting your days now -- and get ready for some great learning opportunities!

• Wednesday Session Schedule

• Thursday Session Schedule

• Friday Contribution Day Schedule

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

MidCamp is committed to being accessible to anyone and everyone who is interested in learning and participating in our community. We'll teach you, we'll feed you, and we'll welcome you with open arms. If you don't fit into any of our public ticket categories, we have an option for you. Get your sponsored ticket here.

Student tickets

Know any students interested in learning about Drupal? We have discounted tickets ($25!) available for students to join us at MidCamp and learn more about the community! There are sessions for everyone—topics range from Site Building and DevOps to Project Management and Design.

Get your tickets now!

It’s Women’s History Month, and all month long, we’ve been spotlighting incredible women in Tech on our Twitter and Linkedin page. Today, we’re bringing you an extended highlight of one of the most impressive women in tech today – Anneleen Demasure, CEO of Belgium-based digital experience agency Dropsolid.

Read on to hear Anneleen’s thoughts on being a woman in technology and her advice for other women who want to enter the field!

Drupal Association: What's it like to be a woman in technology?
Anneleen Demasure: Good question, as I do not think it is about woman versus man or about technological versus creative industries. For me, it is all about balance between male and female energy. The world these days is so complex that it needs both male and female energy.
I am most enjoying my time as a woman in technology when all different energies can flow in respect of each other. When my own male and female energy is in balance and stress is under control, I feel I can support the team and the company best, and that makes me happy.
I am lucky to work in a technological company, Dropsolid, where there is openness, transparency and both female and male energy on all levels which makes it much easier to address unbalances.

DA: What keeps you motivated in your career in technology?
AD: An important starting point for me is the psychological safety to be yourself at any time. Everyone has talents and personal strengths, but all strengths also have downsides to them. Feeling appreciated with your ups and your downs is crucial to flourish.
Next to that, the autonomy and freedom to be allowed to change things, the connection with colleagues, and making progress together keeps me motivated.
Often in technology, you're building something big together: when a team succeeds in doing that, it surely gives a boost.

DA: What's your favorite aspect of working in tech and/or Drupal?
AD: I guess what is precious to me is the feeling of jointly creating and developing something new which makes a customer happy (because it is of important value to them).
The co-creation, the joy of working together, and the impact are my favourite aspects of working in tech.
Too often, we see technology as wireframes or code or design where, in the end, they are (vital) solutions for people to be helped, to be heard, to find their way, to be unburdened...
All good technology should have this bigger purpose: a housing platform helps people to find a new home, a hospital platform helps people to find the right medical services, a tourism platform inspires you for your next holiday... So it is not about the perfect code or design but about what it brings to people in their daily life. At Dropsolid, Drupal is the means to accomplish this. And the fact that it's open without lock-in, makes it even better.

DA: What advice do you have for aspiring women business leaders?
AD: Whatever situation or crisis you're in, never lose your female energy as one of your drivers. We are dominantly trained and learned to take action and talk, but it often helps to step back and listen to yourself and to others. Finally, always trust your inner voice - it will not betray you.

We cannot thank Anneleen enough for chatting with us and giving such fantastic advice! For more from Anneleen, check out her recent blog post on Dropsolid.com, ‘A plea for wider inclusion and more feminine energy’.

Contributing code back to the community is essential to Open Source software. Without this mindset, we wouldn't have a variety of Linux distributions, Content Management Systems like WordPress or Drupal, and many other tools and services. Finding a balance between paid work and personal time for your initiatives and pet projects is challenging, but it converts into valuable things used by thousands of people in the future. That's why, at Lemberg Solutions, we support Open Source initiatives and motivate our developers to contribute code whenever possible

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