1. Using UDM menus on the Research site - Jill Yetman, Web manager of the Office of Research
   
   1. Research site - http://www.washington.edu/research
      
   2. Ultimate Drop Down Menus - http://www.udm4.com/
      
      1. Visible to search-engines
         
      2. WAI and Section 508 compliant
         
      3. Easy integration with your website or application
         
      4. Advanced usability features including keyboard navigation
         
      5. Horizontal, vertical, popup, or expanding menus
         
      6. 100% CSS-drive designs
         
2. Why use UDM?
   
   1. Needed flyout menu. People would be using some pages within the Research site frequently and want to go directly to them
      
   2. Looked at a number of packages
      
      1. UDM was the only package that worked with all browsers and that guaranteed compliance to standards
         
   3. Some reasons why UDM was chosen
      
      1. Wanted keyboard navigation within site
         
         1. f12 leaps to home page, can use arrow keys to navigate menus
            
      2. HTML navigation can be repeated as html in a sitemap
         
      3. Works well on most browsers
         
         1. Compliant
            
         2. No one has had any problems using the menus since they were installed. No complaints have been received yet.
            
   4. How well does it work?
      
      1. Works best in IE
         
         1. Tab navigation does not work quite right in FireFox
            
      2. Needs Javascript to do flyout menus
         
         1. Without Javascript you still get an HTML list
            
         2. You can still get around, degrades well when Javascript is disabled
            
         3. Degrades well when CSS is disabled
            
            1. Research site has a simple table layout
               
      3. Does not seem to be server dependent
         
   5. What installing it involved
      
      1. Can use it here at the UW for free because we are not commercial, but you do need to register
         
      2. Download files
         
      3. Can put Javascript and mod calls in include files
         
      4. Most of the work in using UDM was in getting colors right
         
   6. More info
      
      1. www.udm4.com
         
      2. brothercake.com
         
      3. Very good support. Detailed online manual is available
         
      4. Code is thoroughly commented
         
      5. Includes horizontal and vertical menus
         
   7. Discussion
      
      1. Adaptive Technology Lab experimented with UDM, tried setting it to highlight and enlarge font when text has focus, but produced unstable results
         
      2. Access key codes
         
         1. There are standard codes used quite a bit in Europe
            
         2. A common code is to go to first form field on a page
            
         3. Screen reader users often have the same codes built in
            
         4. If you code in access codes, will they conflict with functionality of AT?
            
         5. A thorough discussion of access codes is available on WebAIM at http://www.webaim.org/techniques/keyboard/accesskey.php
            
         6. The Canadian government has a standard list of access codes at http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/clf-nsi/6/acces_e.asp
            
      3. CSS-only pull down menus are available
         
         1. CSS Play ( http://www.cssplay.co.uk ) offers some CSS-only menus
            
            1. Do not seem to be able to navigate to submenu by tabbing, but for AT that does not use CSS, the navigation is simply an unordered list
               
      4. Dealing with the differences between browsers involves much hacking and filtering if you are doing your own CSS.
         
         1. UDM already has all the hacks and filters built in
            
         2. UDM CSS does not validate, may have lots of non-standard hacks, filtering, or maybe errors
            
      5. UDM menus on the Research site work with Blackberries
         
         1. Using tables for layout helped keep the layout stable when when viewed with PDAs
            
         2. Handhelds are coming into increasing use on campus
            
            1. Many groups are looking at handhelds for use in emergencies
               
      6. Home page Flash
         
         1. Does non-flash option work?
            
            1. Each time you return to home page, it puts you back in the Flash version
               
            2. GreaseMonkey ( http://greasemonkey.mozdev.org/ ) was intended to give you options - if you encounter Flash do something else
               
            3. Method of scripting used on the current UW home page is a problem because it tests if you have Flash and then offers you the non-Flash option.
               
               1. Testing if you have Flash does not address the issue, some people do not want to use it even if they have Flash installed
                  
               2. Be nice to first offer the option of Flash/no-Flash, then load Flash if you want it
                  
         2. People who have problems with the current home page
            
            1. Have old versions of Flash
               
            2. Sophisticated users who block flash content
               
            3. Modem users see very slow response
               
   8. Future AccessibleWeb@U presentation topics
      
      1. Achieving functionality in CSS - Dylan
         
      2. Catalyst EPost and WebQ demos
         
      3. Reports on summer conferences
         

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