Props to Marko via Twitter for this YouTube video. Clever.

In a completely unexpected reversal, Microsoft have decided that IE8 will interpret web content in the most standards-compliant way it can. If developer’s want to use the “old” IE7 standards mode, they will have to opt in with the http header / meta tag method.

About this time last year Joe Clark launched a micropatronage drive to help pay his way whilst he went about raising funds for his accessibility research project, the Open & Closed Project. About 250 of us sent in donations via PayPal and raised almost $6000 but despite many applications for grants, nothing materialised. You know, with all the money we see being thrown at start-ups again—with companies like Yahoo! and Google involved too—the $7million needed to complete this project is pocket change to them yet it comes with a huge return on investment when considered in terms of impact on people’s lives. Forget the next Facebook or MySpace or whatever the next World-shattering cloned social app will be. Joe might not have approached you directly, but you sure as hell will know about this project. AOL, Google, Microsoft: stop supporting closed-standards and do some good for humankind in a responsible manner. $7million.

This year, Joe is trying a different tack and this time it’s personal. Despite Joe’s misgivings that twice might be once too many, please do get acquainted with phase 2 of the micropatronage and the project’s aims and support Joe however you can.

Technorati Tags: accessibility, captioning, audiodescription, subtitling, dubbing, micropatronage, joeclark, openandclosed

Today, Joe Clark launches an appeal for supporters to donate small amounts of cash to start up a research project. Known as micropatronage, Joe is seeking to raise some capital to see him over for four months whilst he raises the $7 million Canadian for an accessibility research project he has dubbed (no pun intended) “The Open & Closed Project”.

Our main goal is to write a set of standards for the four fields of accessible media — captioning, audio description, subtitling, and dubbing. We'll develop those standards through research and evidence-gathering. Where research or evidence is missing on a certain topic, we'll carry it out ourselves.

Significantly, Joe will take this set of standards further:

We'll test the finished standards for a year in the real world and publish them. (You'll be able to download them for free or buy them in several formats.) Then we'll develop training and certification programs for practitioners. It will finally be possible to become a certified captioner (or audio describer or subtitler or dubbing artist).

Joe is very passionate about this subject so I wish him all the best with this venture.