Posted by Herko on Jan 1, 2010 in
Personal notes
I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions. I don’t smoke or drink coffee or alcohol, so those vices I don’t need to cut down on or quit altogether. I play tennis at least once a week, and have a Kung Fu/Tai Chi/Qigong class every week. I take the stairs whenever I can. And I also enjoy good food, which includes fresh veggies and lots of fresh fruit. Sure, there’s always room for improvement. I’m far from living the perfect life. But I love singer/producer/DJ Ben Westbeech’s motto “Welcome to the best years of your life”. Live life to make the best of it. But this year, I’m making an exception. Read more…
Tags: p52, webstandards
Posted by Herko on Dec 20, 2009 in
All things Web,
Personal notes
Finally, after many hours of work, the new website for the Child Support Ghana NGO and Dutch Foundations is live. Child Support Ghana is a non-profit organization based in the Upper West Region (UWR) capital Wa, Ghana, West Africa, who support needy children by providing them with a roof over their head, loving care, education and healthcare. This organization is the vehicle for the awesome work my dad is doing in Ghana. His work is supported by a Dutch Foundation who raise funds and volunteers for the projects. Doing their website, has been a long standing side project of mine.

Screenshot of the Child Support Ghana homepage
Read more…
Tags: Child Support Ghana, sideproject, webdesign, webstandards
Posted by Herko on Nov 30, 2009 in
All things Web
Monday, November 30, 2009 is the 3rd annual Blue Beanie Day. Started by Doug Vos, Blue Beanie Day is a way to show support for web standards and accessibility.

Herko supporting Webstandards Blue Beanie Day
Excerpt from the 3rd Annual Blue Beanie Day Event Page:
It’s easy to show your support for web design done right. Beg, borrow, or buy a Blue Beanie (or Blue Toque in Canada) and snap a photo of your mug wearing the blue. (Or get creative with Photoshop). Then on November 30, switch your profile picture in Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, (and any other social network) and post your photo to the Flickr Blue Beanie Day 2009 group.
Want to help with planning the 3rd Annual Blue Beanie Day? Planning a meetup or tweetup in your hometown? Organizing a group photo in your city? You might qualify to win a free copy of Zeldman and Marcotte’s (brand new) Designing With Web Standards 3rd edition. Contact Douglas Vos.
Kevin Cornell makes it even easier for us this year by providing an illustrated blue beanie photoshop file.
So don a blue beanie, spread the word and keep working towards a truly open web.
Some of my collegues also support Webstandards:

Raph dons his blue beanie

Jules also supports webstandards

OWMS Smurf supports anything for a beer

@michellethonen manages to look like a kitten

Standards in da hood! Word.

Euhm… no comment.

A Lean Mean Blue Beanie Machine
Tags: BBD09, webrichtlijnen, webstandards
Posted by Herko on Jul 30, 2009 in
All things Web,
Personal notes
Smashing Magazine published a comic strip written by Jeremy Keith and drawn by Brad Colbow about W3C’s recent announcement to end the XHTML 2 workgroup charter by te end of the year. There has been a huge amount of discussion on this topic within the webstandards community, and Jeremy Keith’s explanation of the exaggerated reports of XHTML’s demise is a great way to get the gist of the matter.

Comic explaining why XHTML isn’t dead
Tags: HTML5, webstandards, XHTML
Posted by Herko on Mar 3, 2009 in
Nederlands,
Professional notes
Gister ochtend zat ik rond een uur of zeven in de trein naar Den Haag, rustig De Volkskrant te lezen. Heerlijk vind ik dat, zo rustig het nieuws van gister (en in dit geval ook van zondag) door te nemen.
Kom ik aan op pagina 6, staat er een vetgedrukt artikel met de kop “Gemeentesite moet drempelvrij”. Nu werk ik bij het project Webrichtlijnen bij ICTU, dus ik dacht gelijk ‘Wat goed! Eindelijk goede gratis publiciteit!’. Alhoewel, nog niet zo lang geleden is er veel onjuiste persaandacht rondom het onderwerp geweest, waarbij verwarring was ontstaan na een brief van Staatssecretaris Bijleveld (BZK) waarin ze aangaf geen wettelijke plicht op toepassing van de webrichtlijnen te leggen. Geheel in lijn met het beleid (en ons eigen standpunt): de lagere overheden hebben eigen verantwoordeelijkheid, en ze hebben zich op 1 december 2008 gecommiteerd aan realisatie van het Nationaal Uitvoeringsprogramma Dienstverlening en e-overheid, dus een verplichting is er wel –alleen geen wettelijk mandaat. Misschien dat dat misverstand in dit artikel wordt rechtgezet. Read more…
Tags: accessibility, e-government, webstandards