There was 18F which was a group within US Digital Services. But as mentioned they got DOGEd. They managed the USWDS (US Web Design System), which was making great efforts to create a unified design and accessibility framework for government websites. I was working pretty closely on a contract project until, well, shakes hands wildly all this. They were great people, great designers and really cared about what they were doing.
As for enforcement of adhering to 508 and a11y compliance, US digital projects were guided by executive order M-23-22, "Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience", but from what I can tell that is kind of up in the air at this point... we are following it until someone tells us otherwise, but I don't think it is being enforced anymore with any passion because of the current confusion.
Just moved back to Cleveland after being in Houston for 20 years, grew up here and left for college. Don't regret the choice at all. For what I paid for my house, which is one of the nicest communities just out side of downtown, I got 2-3x the house I would have gotten in Houston. Enough room that my aging parent that I take care of pretty much has a massive apartment with their own entrance. I'm 15 minutes from downtown, but in Houston, the same house would have been about an hour outside of town.
Now I have multiple friends in Houston who have taken an interest in the area and keep visiting to check things out. Even with the winters, they are just over the 120 w/ 100% humidity summers.
Even the access to the outdoors is within 20 minutes of downtown.
Cleveland has always taken a lot of sh#t over the years... but it really is a great place to live affordably.
Sad to hear. Johansen, Sylvain Sylvain, and Johnny Thunders just oozed "cool" in the most New York way, I think only the Velvet Underground and Ramones are on the same level, but I'm probably super biased. Crossed paths with Sylvain many times opening for him when he would be out on the road and always loved sitting around in the green room listening to his stories about the Dolls. Definitely feeling my age today... but I guess we all do when we start seeing the artists we grew up with pass away.
I've worked closely with 18F staff. They are/were some of the most dedicated folks I've ever had the pleasure to work beside. Based on my interactions, they were very dedicated to web standards that made the web open and easy for all people to use. Some of the best a11y researchers & advisors who had real empathy and compassion. Anyone who picks these folks up for their org is going to be the real winner here.
Not OP, but I think it was worth it. Within a year of getting my BSCS, I added almost 25% to my salary. It gave me the leverage I needed to push for more. For someone coming into it with no experience I can’t say how well it will play out, but for a degreeless developer, I think it just checks that one box and helps.
> Within a year of getting my BSCS, I added almost 25% to my salary.
Why do you think that was related to the degree?
My salary history, in some abstract units, is 15, 50, 100, 600 (yes, that was good), and 50 (not just earning ten times less, but also working about half the hours, very happy with it).
I can't help but see 25% as really insignificant: I've never experienced such a small change! And I don't even have a degree.
WGU BSCS grad here as well. Regular brick & mortar schools never worked for me, but WGU clicked and let me finally get my degree. Now I’m working on my MSCS with CU Boulder, which although being managed via Coursera has the same feel overall as WGU. In some ways I can see how some think EdTech failed… but I do think there are players in the space that are doing good things
Soft skills should be much higher on the list. Software engineers, depending on the org, will be asked to interact with a lot of non-engineering, non-technical types that are in a position to make decisions. If you can't explain a problem or proposed solution in a way that they can understand, things are going to be harder than they need to be. Sometimes you'll need to extract requirements from these individuals for a feature because BAs and PMs are coming up short in getting the right details. Learning how to talk with people through their idea and not make them feel stupid but instead make them feel like they are a partner goes a long way.
Didn't you post almost this exact same gripe the other day? News flash... the world is online right now. I got my BSCS online, doing my MSCS online... neither say they are "online" and the sun still rises every morning. If others getting their online Masters is ruining your day, you may want to recalibrate.
I don't know anyone doing good 1-5 day bootcamps, but I did recently do the multi-week live Kodeco (formerly Ray Wenderlich) iOS / SwiftUI bootcamp and really enjoyed it. I believe they also now offer an at-your-own-pace version as well.
As for enforcement of adhering to 508 and a11y compliance, US digital projects were guided by executive order M-23-22, "Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience", but from what I can tell that is kind of up in the air at this point... we are following it until someone tells us otherwise, but I don't think it is being enforced anymore with any passion because of the current confusion.