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Barcamp Houston for a responsible change
What's *really* new on the Web, as opposed to buzzwords and soundbites?:
I believe one of the newest trends on the internet is the idea of social responsibility. Buzzwords like accessiblity and usability are starting to move from the philosophical to the practicle. In the begining the very definition of these terms were the subject of much debate. But now a fuller understanding by the community as a whole is being embraced.
Which tools best embody the new opportunities from your point of view and why?:
Following my first answer. As the necessity to build websites and applications to symantic standards has increased, a lot of new tools have emerged particularly in the open source arenas. Firefox extensions have paved the way for developers to produce accessible web pages and we see the obvious impact they've had in the imitation of their products by such giants as Microsoft. The Web Developer Toolbar which was once exclusive to Firefox now has an MS brother
Who's doing the best work with the new tools (technically or in terms of social benefit or both)?:
Mozilla's Firefox should get most of the credit, although truly they don't do most of the work themselves but by providing an opensource platform and not only allowing but encouraging software developers to produce tools that work with their products they are providing an almost limitless environment for any tool imaginable for almost any purpose. And thankfully many of their tools have had tremendous social benifit.
What's the bad news? What are the greatest barriers preventing web-based technology from producing social change?:
Education, pure and simple. People generally do not like change and do not openly expose themselves to something that might encourage it, even if it is for their betterment. I go back to accessibility, if someone is already building XHTML websites with CSS then 90% of the battle is already won in making a fully accessible website. Unfortunately most never consider or even know how to go that extra little bit to achieve full accessibility and I believe the only reason they don't is education.
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