Web Advisory Committee Minutes - June 16, 2021

3:00 p.m., 16 June 2021, Microsoft Teams

Attendance (38/72)

Donald Duff-McCracken (Chair), Michael Tjendra (Notetaker), Amanda Vos, Amy Meredith, Anar Jahangirli, Andrea Jennings, Andrew Smith, Charlotte Armstrong, Chris Francis, Daniella Cross, Danielle Jeanneault, Elizabeth Rogers, George Choy, Graham Faulkner, Greg Smith, Herbert Balagtas, Jen Konkle, Jennifer Halcrow, Joe Kwan, Kathryn Fedy, Kevin Paxman, Lannois Carroll-Woolery, Liam Morland, Marlon Griffith, Michelle Douglas-Mills, Nancy Schnarr, Pratik Patel, Rebecca Graper, Sarah Forgrave, Tara Hillis, Tasha Glover, Tom Cauduro, Tom Graham, Traci Dow, Trevor Ridgeway

Absent:

Melissa Holst (Secretary), Adriann Kennedy, Alyssa Clarkson, Annaka Willemsen, Beth Cotter, Dawn Charlton, Derek Leung, Elizabeth Kleisath, Erica Clement-Goudy, Greg McIntyre, Isaac Morland, Iva Badjari, Janice Cook, Jason Greatrex, Jay Mielke, Jennifer Gillies, Jessica Barch, Jim Johnston, Jodi Szimanski, Lathangi Ganesharatnam, Laurel Forbes, Lisa Brackenridge, Lori Suess, Marta Bailey, Martin LeBlanc, Melanie Scott, Natasha Jennings, Pavol Chvala, Ryan Lahti, Sarah Cooper, Stephanie Koerne, Stephanie Longeway, Troy Grandy, Wendy Pilpott

Guests:

Alisa Sivak, Andre Gignac, Grace Wong Chong

Approval of the Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes from the previous meeting were accepted as distributed.

Business Arising

None.

WCMS Training/Support Update (Charlotte Armstrong)

  • WCMS 3 Information and Resources Summary (PDF)
  • Q&A:
    • Nancy Schnarr: Is this page one that was migrated over, or created from scratch?
      Joe Kwan: Recreated from scratch, we have not used our migration scripts on any sites yet.
    • Michelle Douglas-Mills: Is the thumbnail image gallery view still available in WCMS 3 or only carousel?
      Kevin Paxman: It is only carousel for launch.
    • Elizabeth Rogers: Is it getting more theming before launch?
      Kevin Paxman: Each release will include more theming.
    • A couple more questions about the migration scripts from Chris Francis and Sarah Forgrave, which Joe will address in his presentation.

WCMS Technical Update (Kevin Paxman)

  • Full details on Web Resources, but highlights from the current sprint include:
    • Investigating/fixing a potential WCMS 2 security issue.
    • Updating the expand/collapse UI.
    • Setting up an XML sitemap.
    • Lots of bug fixes.
    • Lots of theming, in particular listing pages, "content types with fields" and "spacing between things".
  • Questions withheld until Joe Kwan's presentation.

WCMS 3 Project Update (Joe Kwan)

  • Presentation: "WCMS 3 Update" June 2021 PowerPoint
  • Highlights:
    • June 29 release of WCMS 3.0 is still on schedule.
    • WCMS 2.0 pilot sites are asked to have it launched prior to August 31, and any remaining pilot sites will be culled.
    • WCMS 3.0 pilot sites have a new name (pilot site → staging site) and a new URL (pilots.uwaterloo.ca → staging.uwaterloo.ca).
    • Due to technical issues, we are reverting back to Request Tracker (RT) from Jira Service Management.
    • After the WCMS 3.0 site is launched, the WCMS 2.0 site (if applicable) will be moved to pilots and kept for 4 months.
    • The development priority after June 29 are as follows:
      • Remaining FDSU (late September completion)
      • Single-page site
      • Publication site
      • Conference site
      • Prior custom development
    • WCMS 3.0 training will temporarily be optional for existing users, and eventually it will be made mandatory for all users.
  • Q&A:
    • A few questions about how far in advance does the RT need to be submitted, and how long it takes for the WCMS 3.0 staging site to be created. Joe Kwan responded as early as possible, and it takes 20-25 minutes for the technical setup of a mid-sized site (e.g., UW Police). However, the process has not been stress-tested yet.
    • A few questions to clarify "tentative scheduled migration date". It is the date you want IST to run the migration scripts, which is also when the content freeze start. Depending on the number of sites IST have to process, it will be done on the day of (ideally) or a day or two later.
    • Elizabeth Rogers asked, "Will requests be balanced across faculties and units?" It will be done on a first-come, first-served basis, but with 'reasonableness'. For example, if a faculty submits 100 site requests and then another faculty submits 2 site requests, then IST will try to sneak in the 2 site requests. It will be at IST's discretion.
    • A couple of questions on whether we can start submitting RTs for site requests that have "tentative scheduled migration date" on June 29. It might be possible, and Joe Kwan will get back to WAC with a definitive answer. Update: "We have decided to take that feedback and allow migration requests to be submitted starting the morning of June 24."
    • Michelle Douglas-Mills asked "How and when do we communicate the launch date?" IST will lean on the existing process and communicate through RT to coordinate a launch date. However, unlike the existing process, Andrea Jennings will not be following up with the Site Owner (SO) - formerly known as Point of Contact (POC) - and will rely on the SO to inform her that the staging site is ready and the propose a date to launch the site.
  • Chris Francis and Sarah Forgrave wants to see a demo of the migration scripts to assess the before-and-after, especially on larger sites, so that we gain a better understanding of its capabilities and limitations, and gauge the work needed to get the staging site ready for launch.

Accessibility Compliance Reporting Update (Joe Kwan)

  • The last slide of the "WCMS 3 Update" June 2021 PowerPoint.
  • In summary, the university will be filing non-compliance this year. A working group will be formed to develop a sustainable web accessibility strategy to allow for us to report on compliance by the next reporting cycle in 2023.
  • Daniella Cross asked whether we will be fined for filing non-compliance. Joe Kwan said that fines are from complaints made to the government. Nancy Schnarr added, "From other places I've worked, there does seem to be a bit of a grace period, and they look favourably if there is forward movement."

Future WAC Meetings – As We Reopen (Don Duff-McCracken)

Due to time constraint, this topic has been pushed to the next meeting.

Web Strategy Update (Tom Graham)

  • "Web Strategy" project has concluded. The University Relations will look to continue working with digital communicators on web content strategy and information architecture within our existing structures and ad hoc subcommittees formed out of WAC.
  • The Web Strategy team developed recommendations for WAC to consider. These recommendations will be shared with WAC through email in advance of our next meeting where there will be an opportunity to discuss them further.

Other Business

None.

Meeting Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 4:29 pm.