You don’t have to be a web designer or a techie to build a beautiful, accessible site with free and open source software.
Or, if you look at it another way, maybe that means you already are, and we just need to rethink what web designers and techies are like and what they do.
We can’t build a site for you, but we can build a site with you—so we can share work and skills, and gain knowledge that we can pass on to other people.
Designs (like websites) and tools (like software) should be created so that as many people as possible can use them—people with varying levels of ability, knowledge, resources, and so on. However, we think it is just as important that as many people as possible can participate in design and development themselves. So we would like to break down the hierarchy of experts and clients and figure out new processes that allow everyone to contribute.
Principles
- Doing instead of watching (each person can have their own “sandbox” to play in, everyone is encouraged to fiddle around & experiment, it’s okay to stray from the steps, it’s okay to destroy a website by accident)
- Go at the pace of the slowest person (pixelpowrrr helps create the “checkpoints” – for example, installing a module – and individuals can reach each checkpoint at their own pace…when we all get to the checkpoint, we check in with each other and then move on to the next one)
- Practical instead of tutorial (we build for real, based on real goals and challenges, not a hypothetical “just for demonstration” tutorial environment)
- All participants are valued equally (less experienced participants are just as valuable as more experienced participants, and have an equal entitlement to the space, discussion, and process – likewise, you aren’t a less valuable participant if you have less time / less energy / less resources etc)
- The process is part of us, not vice versa (as co-creators of this process, it necessarily must accommodate our individual needs which include food, sleep, emotional, spiritual, physical, family, etc – as well as social needs such as respect, appreciation, trust, healthy communication etc.)
- The process is panic-free (we accept that even when our needs are met, there will be a certain amount of stress; it’s okay to worry. But if anyone feels like they’re under pressure, that indicates a problem with the process, not the individual.)
- The process is flexible (the commitments or ideas we have now may need to evolve or change in the future as our personal & organizational needs change – we build & plan to accommodate future change – such as participants dropping out, changes in funding, etc)
- Consensus preferred to majority rule (we employ solutions, methods, and practices that are acceptable for the entire group, not for some or most)
- There’s no such thing as failing (it’s okay to ask questions, not understand something, or require more/different resources/help—nobody’s needs constitute a “burden”, and interdependency is healthy!)
