ACO Lunchtime Information Session Spring 2013 Aug, 2013 12 noon-1:00 pm Lisa Tomalty Julia Yaroshinsky.

ACO Lunchtime Information Session Spring 2013

Aug, 2013

12 noon-1:00 pmLisa Tomalty

Julia Yaroshinsky

Agenda• Office 2013 (Julia)

– Intro and deployment information

• New ACO site – on WCMS (Julia)– Location – how to find things– Important pages

• WCMS update (Wendy)• Web Accessibility Update (Lisa)

– Testing/training/help available– Refer to W2013 lunch session

• IST re-organization (Lisa)• New IST/ACO staff member for Aug 2013-Feb 2014 (Lisa)• Questions

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Office 2013 Deployment• At this time there doesn’t seem to be any

compelling reasons to update it early• Notifications will be sent out when/if Arts

staff and faculty will have Office updated to 2013 on their machines

• If needed, ‘What’s New in Office 2013’ training courses will be offered

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Office 2013 - Demo

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• New features, cleaner look and a smoother interface• Easy to share documents

– Once the SharePoint 2013 server is implemented (timing TBA) you will be able to edit documents with others in real-time

• Other helpful new features:– Word

• When opening a file, it remembers what page you were last on

• Reading mode• Open PDFs so you can make edits to them

Office 2013-Demo

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– PowerPoint• Wide screen options• Themes variations• Improved audio and video integration

– Excel• Quick data analysis to add meaning to data• Recommended chart option

– Outlook• Peek views when you hover over bottom tabs• Weather bar

New ACO web site!

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• The ACO has migrated its website to the WCMS - http://aco.uwaterloo.ca

• New navigation menu– Faculty and Staff information page– Help and Support information– News updates

• ACO feedback form

Update on Department Website Migrations

• Information on the status of Arts departmental sites moving to the WCMS

What is Web Accessibility?

• The inclusive procedures taken to ensure – That people with various disabilities and/or

visual impairments can perceive, understand, navigate, interact and contribute to the Web

– Includes visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive and neurological disabilities

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Accessibility Legislation

• Uwaterloo web sites, and their contents, published as of January 1, 2012 must be– Accessible, as per the Accessibility for

Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) by January 1, 2014 (WCAG 2.0 Level A)

• Archival pages created before Jan 1, 2012 that are no longed updated– Do not need to meet requirements

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Web Accessibility Update-1• Winter 2013 lunch session: Accessibility Intro • Spring 2013

– Two training sessions held for Arts departmental web site maintainers (web page and PDF)

– Email sent to Arts faculty members and other Arts web site maintainers regarding:

• Accessibility legislation• Documentation and resources• IST SEW accessibility training information

Web Accessibility Update-2• Spring 2013

– Accessible template for course syllabi sent out– Arts sites moved to WCMS/accessibility checks

• Fall 2013– Continue moves to WCMS/accessibility checks– Site owners to check pages for accessibility

• ACO and WCMS group may have resources to help

– More info TBA

Web Accessibility Resources– Web Resources Accessibility web page (

http://uwaterloo.ca/web-resources/resources/accessibility)

– UWaterloo's AccessAbility Services web site (http://uwaterloo.ca/disability-services/)

– WebAIM web site: http:/webaim.org– Accessible Word and PDF files

IST Re-organization-1• November 2012: IST began review of

• IST’s department structure• IST’s resources• IST’s services and systems• Service needs of the university IT and campus

communities• IT trends in higher education and comparable

institutions

– Consultants and HR were involved

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IST Re-organization-2• Requesting IST services

– There are initiatives to simplify and improve the process of requesting services from IST

• e.g. Improved request tracking system

• Changes will occur gradually over time • Intent is to enrich the overall IT experience for IST

staff and clients alike:– Through collaboration, interaction, being adaptive and

agile– Optimum level of service to be delivered by the right

people, in the right organizational unit, at the right time

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IST Re-organization-3• Strategic directions established related to:

– Revitalizing our student IT environment– Growing our (technology-enabled) learning

environment– Building upon IT foundations to support

research and administration– Working together to improve usability,

delivery and support of IT services

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IST Organizational Design-1

• Builds upon and repositions many existing IST resources

• Is addressing the identified gaps• Promoting a federated approach to IT

– Combines the advantages of both the centralized and decentralized designs

– Will help to balance central (campus wide) and local (faculty or support unit) IT needs.

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IST Organizational Design-2

• Two (2) existing IST units have been integrated: – Computing Support Services (CSS)– Network Services (NS)– To offer a more efficient and effective use of IST resources

and promote a strategic and sustainable technology environment for staff and clients

• Three (3) new units formed from large “IS” unit: – Enterprise Systems– Enterprise Architecture– Portfolio Management.

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IST Re-organization –Implementation-1

• Gradual and adaptive process - working from the top down to fill key positions and identify reporting structures

• Support and maintenance of current IT projects and services will continue as planned, along with new activities, but all will be aligned to the IT strategic objectives

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IST Re-organization–Implementation-2

• Committed to work with staff, partners, clients throughout the process

• IST will be scheduling an Open House and Friday Morning Seminar in the fall term to further explain the organizational design and answer any questions.

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IST Re-organization – more info• The above information was taken from the following

sources: – The uWaterloo Connect IT blog– IST Organizes for Success July 24th Daily B

ulletin article

Thank you to those who participated in and provided feedback, guidance and support

during this process.

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New ACO team member!

• Welcome to Cassandra (Cassie) Bechard

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Questions?

• Thank you for attending!• Comments/questions/feedback may be

directed to:– Lisa Tomalty, [email protected]– Dawn Keenan, [email protected]

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