The Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA), the world's most popular definition of IT skills, has now been updated to reflect the need for sustainability in information technology.
It's not just IT practitioners who need SFIA skills. The skill we teach is Information Content Authoring (INCA). Sustainable capability is at the heart of our pricing structure and our curriculum.
1. We give due weight to accessibility, giving content authors enough knowledge to meet WCAG 2.0 requirements. This reduces the need for additional training and editorial intervention.
2. Staff learn to use any content management system more efficiently, and to understand the technological impact of their own contributions. This increases the return on investment for the CMS, which can only work effectively when content is structured and written correctly.
3. CONTENTED training is financially sustainable. We offer great discounts for large groups of content authors. (Most of our clients are information-heavy organisations such as government agencies and universities.)
4. CONTENTED minimises the client's administrative burden, so training can be available exactly when needed.
- Flexible: staff can start training immediately, but managers have up to 12 months to enrol their full quota of staff.
- Fast: staff can complete the 10 courses in about 10 hours.
- Comprehensive: we cover what today's content authors really need to know. We wrap the necessary ICT skills in sugar icing.
5. Sustainable capability is why we offer great group discounts. Training 100 people the CONTENTED way can be cheaper than training 16 people with a different provider!
Too often an organisation trains a minimal number of content authors, who promptly leave, change roles, or are isolated and have no influence. The training is wasted.
Instead, we encourage clients to train a large percentage of their staff and to re-order annually. This way, the organisation's skills-base reaches a critical mass which cannot be eroded. When the tipping point is reached, good content becomes the norm and the organisation culture changes.
Now that's sustainable capability!
Typically, our clients enrol their subject experts when a web site or intranet is being developed. The purchase of a new CMS is usually the trigger: suddenly clients realise the massive implications of enabling dozens or hundreds of staff to publish their own content.
And we all know that a lack of content is the usual reason for delaying an intranet launch.
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