Talk:WikiBlind User Group
Activities
editHi everyone!
I'm hoping to get folks interested in looking at ways in which we can improve accessibility for all visitors to Wikimedia projects, especially the various language versions of Wikipedia.
The mission of the Wikimedia Foundation is to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally.
— Wikimedia Foundation Mission
I take "effectively" to explicitly mean that editors should be doing their best to ensure that content is available to any consumer of that content, regardless of any impairment they may have. This must particularly apply to attempting to reduce or eliminate any disadvantage for any visitor who has a visual impairment.
I'm quite proud of the steps we've taken on the English Wikipedia to address these issues with the en:Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility guidance for editors, although I recognise how much further we still need to go. Not everybody will want or need such a large piece of content, but I hope I can help anyone who thinks it would be useful to adapt any part of it for use on their local project. I'm also happy to talk about my experiences on enwiki and some of the issues that are likely to arise. --RexxS (talk) 18:35, 1 May 2019 (UTC)
- Welcome Rexx and thank you for launching this Talk page! I love the quote and your interpretation. I want to riff on that. One of the design concepts within wikiBlind is that we can strive to make it possible for everyone to not only access content but also be able to contribute to the improvements, going from being consumers of knowledge to being participants in the open knowledge movement. Contributing to the collective bodies of human knowledge can be really satisfying and worth the struggle, right? I believe all our designs become a lot more accessible when we include people on the design and test teams who have the lived experience of being blind or differently abled in any of the many ways out here. Diversity on design teams can make such a difference.
- One of the aspects I like most about how this group is already diverse, international and growing quickly is that we already have enormous talent available within who can already help identify and solve barriers to access and inclusivity. Feel free to reach out to any of us to learn more! DrMel (talk) 01:37, 2 May 2019 (UTC)
Accessibility and Usability links
editBriefly: See mw:Accessibility and usability cleanup
Context: I wanted to point everyone to that linkhub page, where I think we've collated almost all (?!?) of the related existing links. Much help is going to be needed to resolve the existing mess, and to make sure the mess doesn't get much worse. But there's gold in those links! Hopefully knowing about the linkhub can help us prevent wheel-reinvention.
(This is a partial copy of what I wrote at wmania:2019:A11y).
Thanks! Quiddity (talk) 19:32, 1 May 2019 (UTC)
The project page here mentions Facebook, which is a site that many people do not ever use for a variety of reasons. I hope the group can make the contents of those discussions available to those of us who are not on that platform, perhaps in occasional summaries on this talkpage or similar. Thanks! Quiddity (talk) 19:35, 1 May 2019 (UTC)
- Hi Quiddity! Excellent request - thank you! Because so many non-wikipedians we want to include are on Facebook and other platforms, we very much want to have members talking with each other however we can on the platforms we are already comfortable on, as we explore new possibilities. We also really want to see summaries and cross-posting between the groups! Getting a few volunteers per platform who can summarize and cross post would be ideal, as soon as possible. Lots of volunteers coming in - lots of possible volunteer tasks folks can help with! What else would you like to see as we build out? What would you most like to help with? DrMel (talk) 01:23, 2 May 2019 (UTC)
Logo
editThe team over at the Wikimedia commons image lab has helped make an SVG of the logo. checking it, I noticed a couple of elements that I thought might be improved, but I'd like peoples' opinions: The puzzle piece element ends up being very dominant, and the puzzle symbol is rarely used by WikiProjects of User Groups these days. I've designed an alternative possibility that focuses on the Wikipedia "W" rather than the puzzle piece, so that the braille can be made large enough such that it may be readable when printed in relief. No worries if the previous is preferred. I'm also happy to make any other edits that the community wants - especially those with the ability to test it in relief. If someone points me to any guidelines for minimum recommended braille size, I can work out what it would need to be printed at to be readable. T.Shafee(Evo﹠Evo)talk 11:46, 6 May 2019 (UTC)
- @Evolution and evolvability: Cool, thanks. These guidelines from the Braille Authority of North America are probably as good a starting point as any. The relevant values seem to be the height, the bass diameter, and the distance between dots in a single cell. Graham87 (talk) 11:54, 6 May 2019 (UTC)
- @Graham87: Champion - that's exactly what I was in need of. I'll read up on them and update the design accordingly. T.Shafee(Evo﹠Evo)talk 12:03, 6 May 2019 (UTC)
- Based on the guideliens and feedback from DrMel, I've put together a couple of additional logo versions that may be more readable as raised embossed versions (if printed min 7 cm across), and for the partially sighted. I've updated as a list at the top of this section and added them to commons:Category:WikiBlind_User_Group. Hopefully the alt text is clear. I'm happy to make further versions upon request, or to move them to facebook if that's a better place for discussion. T.Shafee(Evo﹠Evo)talk 13:16, 30 May 2019 (UTC)
- @Graham87: Champion - that's exactly what I was in need of. I'll read up on them and update the design accordingly. T.Shafee(Evo﹠Evo)talk 12:03, 6 May 2019 (UTC)
WikiBlind outreach grant application
editOur first little grant application is live! We'd welcome your reviews, questions, comments and endorsements. Thanks for the encouragement and mentoring! Grants:Project/Rapid/DrMel/wikiBlind_outreach_at_NFB
Data sonifications
editI wanted to share my interest in this group.
I am not blind and I do not have much experience collaborating with people who are blind, but I do projects with data and am interested in data sonification. Presenting charts and graphs in sound form is useful in all sorts of contexts, but I imagine that auditory versions of figures must be of special interest to blind people. I am inexperienced in this field but as an amateur am coordinating a bit to develop Wikidata tools to present results in sound form.
I expect that there are other people like me who do not have experience working with sound, but who have professional reasons associated with new technology to want publishing to be more accessible in ways beyond only visual design. My guess and intuition is that a WikiBlind wiki organization will have quickly grow to have an impact beyond the blind community, and will actually encourage the development of universal accessibility features which benefit everyone. Blue Rasberry (talk) 17:07, 18 May 2019 (UTC)
User Group application
editHope that when y'all decide to put one in, that it is successful. The sooner the better, so that way a representative from this user group can make it to the Wikimedia Summit in 2020.--RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 23:25, 9 July 2019 (UTC)
13 years
editOn 03 February 2006, it was reported to the WMF that our CAPTCHA system discriminates against blind people. See https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T6845
This appears to be a direct violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and leaves Wikipedia open to the possibility of a discrimination lawsuit.
In particular, National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corp. was a case where a major retailer, Target Corp., was sued because their web designers failed to design its website to enable persons with low or no vision to use it.
So why, after 13 years of inaction, do we not have a set of software requirements (including a testable definition of "done") and a schedule for solving this?
And no, I will not accept any proposed "solution" that lacks the name of an WMF employee who has been given the assignment of fixing this, a budget that says how much the WMF expects to spend on solving this, a deadline that say how long the WMF expects it to take to solve this, and a way for an independent third party to look at the results and verify whether the requirements were met.
Regarding hiring someone else to fix this, I would very much like the idea to be given careful consideration rather than being dismissed out of hand. The WMF is great at running an encyclopedia. Nobody else, anywhere on earth, even comes close.
However, running an encyclopedia does not magically confer the ability to create high-quality software, and the WMF has a pretty dismal track record in this area (Examples: Visual Editor, Flow, 13 years of failing to making this obvious but boring improvement to accommodate blind people.)
I realize that this will anger some people, but why should it? Olympic-level athletes don't get angry when you tell them that their athletic ability does not magically confer the ability to repair automobiles or do astronomy.
Comments from the phabricator page:
- "This doesn't just effect addition of external links, it also prevents new users from registering, requiring them to use ACC to request an account."
- "There is no one currently assigned to this, so no one is taking it upon him to fix this at this moment. It's also not something that any team at the foundation is responsible for, so it's not likely to be prioritized from that end."
- The only thing stopping us from having an audio captcha is that nobody's put the work into implementing it yet." --Source: Chief MediaWiki developer as of 2008
- "So the question is why has work not been put aside to fix an issue of recognised high importance that will, 13 years after first being raised, resolve an issue that results in us discriminating against people who are (in many jurisdictions) a legally protected minority?"
If you would like to comment on this, it is being discussed at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard#13_years
User requests support creating account
editIn private OTRS ticket:2019091110005093 user reports difficulty creating a Wikimedia account due to interface inaccessibility for people who are blind. The user cannot get by the Captcha.
I do not know if we have any referral process from this group to such users. Blue Rasberry (talk) 16:55, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
- Practically always, the free and open-source captcha and recaptcha codelets or mini code implementations have some sort of smudged or munged or altered or slashed visual image that must be interpreted and typed in, or a collage of crosswalks, bridges, bicycles, cars, buses, traffic lights etc must be clicked on visually in a grid... But nearly all the time, there is a small speaker icon to *hear* the clue audibly instead, and the visually impaired person being challenged by the captcha or recaptcha would then keyboard in or speak / voice to text the response to be admitted. Can the person who is having these problems give us a little more information, perhaps the exact URL that they were at, if possible can they take a screenshot and post it to IMGbb.com or perhaps a friend or family member could screenshot with what they are having an issue? -From Peter {a.k.a. Vid2vid (talk | contribs)} 03:15, 25 April 2020 (UTC).
- @Bluerasberry: Um, I thought this page was on my watchlist, but it obviously either never was or I took it off somehow. Therefore, I just got your message. For now, please email either me, Skylar, or Mel. Graham87 (talk) 13:17, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
- @Graham87: In the future I will both post here and ping at least one individual. Requests are rare, so I understand why people are not watching this page continuosly. I see in the edit history that you emailed this user about their problem - thanks for that. Blue Rasberry (talk) 14:56, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
- @Blue Rasberry: If you're referring to this edit summary of mine, I meant that I'd emailed a user I blocked who mistakenly posted to this page, not any blind users needing help creating accounts. Graham87 (talk) 15:02, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
- @Graham87: In the future I will both post here and ping at least one individual. Requests are rare, so I understand why people are not watching this page continuosly. I see in the edit history that you emailed this user about their problem - thanks for that. Blue Rasberry (talk) 14:56, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
Trying to reach friend "Skylar Covich" - text about him has incorrect Wiki UserID?
editHi all, I am trying to reach a friend "Skylar Covich" - basically to add him to my User page as a list of Wiki friends!! - Anyhewww, the text about him at This Article has an incorrect Wiki UserID?
Activities
*Skylar Covich (User:Academic Challenger) will be attending the National Federation of the Blind of California convention from November 7-10, in Milpitas, California. He will hand out WikiBlind cards and explain the process of editing Wikipedia.
Thanks if someone has his current Wiki UserID, in advance. Thank you. -From Peter {a.k.a. Vid2vid (talk | contribs)} 03:53, 24 April 2020 (UTC).
- @Vid2vid: It's the correct username; see his user page on the English Wikipedia. Graham87 (talk) 13:17, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
- Thanks- @Graham87: -- I guess I was surprised to see a Username with a 'space' in it- bad to allow that!! And also he had no "User" Page at that account, which threw me off. Happy Holidays to you and Yours. --From Peter {a.k.a. Vid2vid (talk | contribs)} 00:27, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
- @Vid2vid: Usernames with spaces are absolutely allowed ... for instance User talk:Jimbo Wales. And also, after-the-fact pings are not supported. Graham87 (talk) 02:10, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
- Thanks- @Graham87: -- I guess I was surprised to see a Username with a 'space' in it- bad to allow that!! And also he had no "User" Page at that account, which threw me off. Happy Holidays to you and Yours. --From Peter {a.k.a. Vid2vid (talk | contribs)} 00:27, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
Announcing collapsed/expanded sections correctly on mobile Wikipedia/mobile views on current MediaWikis
editHi, I wanted to share a recent technical change, that I hope you find an improvement for screenreader users of mobile Wikipedia et al.
With last weeks deployment, collapsible and expanded states of article sections should be correctly announced. My colleagues Jan Drewniak, Jon Robson and myself have been ideating and implementing the change and received already positive feedback from our external partners of the American Foundation for the Blind. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T218404 or ping me directly.
PS: Congratulations to the official recognition as user group. –Volker E. (WMF) (talk) 02:18, 2 June 2020 (UTC)
Hi everyone,
The Affiliations Committee (AffCom) – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing and sustaining Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is seeking new members!
The main role of the AffCom is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and update the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees as well as advise them on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.
The committee consists of five to fifteen members, selected at least once every year, to serve two-year terms. As the committee must hold mid-year elections to replenish its members at this time, those joining the committee during the current process will serve a slightly extended term from July 2020 through December 2022.
AffCom continues to closely monitor the Wikimedia 2030 Strategy process initiated in 2016. While the affiliation models continue to be discussed as part of the broader strategy discussion, as no decisions have been made to change the current affiliation models yet, AffCom continues to work in the same manner with regard to affiliate recognitions and intervention support for affiliates with issues of non-compliance in 2020. AffCom continues to process applications for user group and chapter/thematic organization creation, while we await the strategy next steps and begin to prepare for a smooth transition of the committee and affiliates ecosystem to any changing movement structures and systems in 2021.
Being a part of the AffCom requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a mix of different skill sets in our members.
Click here for further details.
James Heilman on behalf of AffCom
Affiliations Committee elections announcement June 2020
editHi everyone,
This is a friendly reminder that the Affiliations Committee (AffCom) – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing and sustaining Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is seeking new members! The deadline to post your application on the nomination page is 30 June 2020.
- Application process: Considering the anticipated changes following the Strategy recommendations, we had a limited scope to introduce changes in the process. We have made a small but impactful addition to the application process by introducing the Self Assessment survey form which will help the committee know more about your engagement as endorsements are not consistently shared, may not be representative, and often do not speak to the specific skills needed.
- Selection process: No change; see: Membership.
If you have any questions, please contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to answer questions about our work if this helps people decide to apply. Please distribute this announcement among your networks. Good luck to all the candidates!
On behalf of the committee,
--Rosiestep (talk) 00:49, 19 June 2020 (UTC) via MassMessaging
June 21 All-Affiliates Brand Meeting
editAll Wikimedia affiliates are invited to join an urgent All-Affiliates Brand Meeting in two sessions on Sunday June 21, regarding the most recent developments.-- Pharos (talk) 19:59, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
Email Volunteer Response team ticket
editThis is a message from the email Volunteer Response Team or OTRS.
There seems to me nothing private in this message, but we assume that emails to info@wikimedia.org are private. The user is blind and asks an accessibility question. I am not sure where to send them. Blue Rasberry (talk) 17:26, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
- What is he asking about? If is an accessibility related "how to" question, you or some of us might know the answer. Regards. -- Tito Dutta (talk) 13:25, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
- Yes that. see my above reply. Graham87 (talk) 13:27, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
Feedback on movement names
editThere are a lot of conversations happening about the future of our movement names. We hope that you are part of these discussions and that your community is represented.
Since 16 June, the Foundation Brand Team has been running a survey in 7 languages about 3 naming options. There are also community members sharing concerns about renaming in a Community Open Letter.
You should have received a separate affiliate survey via email. If you have not, feel free to email brandproject wikimedia.org.
Our goal in this call for feedback is to hear from across the community, so we encourage you to participate in the survey, the open letter, or both. The survey will go through 7 July in all timezones. Input from the survey and discussions will be analyzed and published on Meta-Wiki.
Thanks for thinking about the future of the movement --The Brand Project team, 13:37, 2 July 2020 (UTC)
Note: The survey is conducted via a third-party service, which may subject it to additional terms. For more information on privacy and data-handling, see the survey privacy statement.
Announcing a new wiki project! Welcome, Abstract Wikipedia
editHello everyone. I am posting the announcement below, which you may have missed elsewhere, and in the hope that you can share it with your local communities. Please note that it may be available in your language at m:Special:MyLanguage/Abstract Wikipedia/July 2020 announcement. Thanks for your attention! m:User:Elitre (WMF)
Hi all,
It is my honor to introduce Abstract Wikipedia, a new project that has been unanimously approved by the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. Abstract Wikipedia proposes a new way to generate baseline encyclopedic content in a multilingual fashion, allowing more contributors and more readers to share more knowledge in more languages. It is an approach that aims to make cross-lingual cooperation easier on our projects, increase the sustainability of our movement through expanding access to participation, improve the user experience for readers of all languages, and innovate in free knowledge by connecting some of the strengths of our movement to create something new.
This is our first new project in over seven years. Abstract Wikipedia was submitted as a project proposal by Denny Vrandečić in May 2020 [1] after years of preparation and research, leading to a detailed plan and lively discussions in the Wikimedia communities. We know that the energy and the creativity of the community often runs up against language barriers, and information that is available in one language may not make it to other language Wikipedias. Abstract Wikipedia intends to look and feel like a Wikipedia, but build on the powerful, language-independent conceptual models of Wikidata, with the goal of letting volunteers create and maintain Wikipedia articles across our polyglot Wikimedia world.
The project will allow volunteers to assemble the fundamentals of an article using words and entities from Wikidata. Because Wikidata uses conceptual models that are meant to be universal across languages, it should be possible to use and extend these building blocks of knowledge to create models for articles that also have universal value. Using code, volunteers will be able to translate these abstract “articles” into their own languages. If successful, this could eventually allow everyone to read about any topic in Wikidata in their own language.
As you can imagine, this work will require a lot of software development, and a lot of cooperation among Wikimedians. In order to make this effort possible, Denny will join the Foundation as a staff member in July and lead this initiative. You may know Denny as the creator of Wikidata, a long-time community member, a former staff member at Wikimedia Deutschland, and a former Trustee at the Wikimedia Foundation [2]. We are very excited that Denny will bring his skills and expertise to work on this project alongside the Foundation’s product, technology, and community liaison teams.
It is important to acknowledge that this is an experimental project, and that every Wikipedia community has different needs. This project may offer some communities great advantages. Other communities may engage less. Every language Wikipedia community will be free to choose and moderate whether or how they would use content from this project.
We are excited that this new wiki-project has the possibility to advance knowledge equity through increased access to knowledge. It also invites us to consider and engage with critical questions about how and by whom knowledge is constructed. We look forward to working in cooperation with the communities to think through these important questions.
There is much to do as we begin designing a plan for Abstract Wikipedia in close collaboration with our communities. I encourage you to get involved by going to the project page and joining the new mailing list [3]. We recognize that Abstract Wikipedia is ambitious, but we also recognize its potential. We invite you all to join us on a new, unexplored path.
Yours,
Katherine Maher (Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation) -16:51, 10 July 2020 (UTC)
New Research: Characterizing Existing Practices for Identifying and Mitigating Knowledge Gaps
editHi All,
My name is Jim Maddock, and I’m with a researcher at Northwestern University working on identifying missing content on Wikipedia. As a first step, we want to talk to members of Wikipedia’s editor community to better understand how editors currently identify and add missing content. Participants must be Wikipedia editors who speak English and will be compensated for their time.
For more details about our project, please refer to our project meta page. If you are interested in participating, please fill out this screener and consent form. Additionally, feel free to reach out to me at maddock@u.northwestern.edu if you have any thoughts and suggestions. Thanks!
Study Information
editStudy Title: Characterizing Existing Practices for Identifying and Mitigating Knowledge Gaps
PI: Darren Gergle
IRB Study #: STU00212033
Cheers, Jmads-nu (talk) 16:13, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
Sunday August 23: Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a proposed forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
The idea is to follow up on the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting and other strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates, and you are all invited to RSVP here.--Pharos (talk) 21:40, 20 August 2020 (UTC)
Sunday September 20 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
Following up on the August SWAN meeting and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates, this month we are meeting on Sunday September 20, and you are all invited to RSVP here.--Pharos (talk) 01:38, 18 September 2020 (UTC)
Movement Strategy - What Are Your Choices For Implementation
editHello WikiBlind User Group,
The time has come to put Strategy into work and everyone's invited to participate.
The Movement Strategy Design Group and Support Team are inviting you to organize virtual meetings with your community and colleagues before the end of October. The aim is for you to decide what ideas from the Movement Strategy recommendations respond to your needs and will have an impact in the movement. The recommendations are available in different formats and in many languages. There are 10 awesome recommendations and close to 50 recommended changes and actions or initiatives. Not everything will be implemented. The aim of prioritization is to create an 18-month implementation plan to take some of the initiatives forward starting in 2021.
Prioritization is at the level of your group, affiliate, and community. Think local and relevant! Regional and thematic platforms are great ways to prepare and share ideas. Afterwards, we will come together in November to co-create the implementation plan. More information about November’s global events will be shared soon. For now and until the end of October, organize locally and share your priorities with us.
You can find guidance for the events, the simple reporting template, and other supporting materials here on Meta. You can share your results directly on Meta, by email, or by filling out this survey. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions or comments, strategy2030 wikimedia.org
We will be hosting office hours to answer any questions you might have, Thursday October 1 at 14.00 UTC (Google Meet).
Sunday October 25 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
Following up on the September and August SWAN meetings, and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including the recent proposed changes to the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws, this month we are meeting on Sunday October 25, and you are all invited to RSVP here.--Pharos (talk) 17:43, 20 October 2020 (UTC)
Join the Global Conversations on November 21 and 22
editHola, こんにちは, E kaabo, Ciao, ਸਤਿ ਸ਼੍ਰੀ, Hello, سلام, Halo, Salut, 你好, Nnọọ, হ্যালো, Hallo, สวัสดี, Dzień dobry, Gyebale ko, வணக்கம், Mi Kwabo, ନମସ୍କାର, приветствие, שלום, Mholo, नमस्ते, γεια, Ahoj, ഹലോ, 여보세요, مرحبا, Բարեւ Ձեզ, Xin chào, Hallå, ಹಲೋ, Sawubona, નમસ્તે, Здраво, Merhaba, Talofa, హలో, Olá, ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ
WikiBlind User Group, we would love to see you at the upcoming Movement Strategy Global Conversations. It’s been a while.
The Movement Strategy Global Conversations will take place on Saturday November 21, 11:00 to 15:00 UTC, and Sunday November 22, 17:00 to 21:00 UTC, and you are warmly invited.
The focus will be to look at priorities identified by communities and affiliates, and to begin to create a movement-wide implementation plan for 2021. The main sessions will be in English. Any group interested to support live interpretation in another language may be able to receive a rapid grant. Let us know as soon as possible.
Please register by Nov. 20 so we can share the Zoom login information with you. If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Support Team via Telegram, Wikimedia Chat or by email at strategy2030 wikimedia.org.
Looking forward to seeing you on November 21 or 22.
Call for insights on ways to better communicate the work of the movement
editThe Movement Strategy recommendations published this year made clear the importance of establishing stronger communications within our movement. To this end, the Foundation wants to gather insights from communities, including affiliates, on ways we all might more consistently communicate about our collective work, and better highlight community contributions from across the movement. Over the coming months, we will be running focus groups and online discussions to collect these insights. We hope your affiliate will decide to share your thoughts by participating in a focus group or joining the discussion on Meta-Wiki.
Sunday November 29 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
Following up on the August, September, and October SWAN meetings, and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including the recent proposed changes to the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws, this month we are meeting on Sunday November 29, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(Note that the UTC times of and are the same as before, although a number of places have had daylight savings time changes since our last meeting).--Pharos (talk) 18:52, 24 November 2020 (UTC)
Global Conversations continue on December 5 and 6
editHola, こんにちは, Ciao, Hello, سلام, Halo, Salut, 你好, Nnọọ, হ্যালো, Hallo, สวัสดี, Dzień dobry, வணக்கம், приветствие, שלום, Mholo, हैलो, γεια, Ahoj, ഹലോ, 여보세요, مرحبا, Բարեւ Ձեզ, Olá, Xin chào, Hallå, ಹಲೋ, Sawubona, Здраво, Merhaba, Talofa, హలో
Hi WikiBlind User Group. 250 people participated in virtual Global Conversations that took place on November 21 and 22. The conversation continues on December 5 and 6 and we warmly invite you to take part. Registration is open until December 4. Looking forward to seeing you.
Since September, many groups have shared their local, regional, and thematic priorities for implementing the Movement Strategy recommendations. During the first set of Global Conversations on Nov. 21 and 22, we focused on initiatives that should be globally prioritized and coordinated. We invite you to read the selected global priorities. What do you like about them? What is missing? And what would make you want to play an active role in implementation? Share your thoughts in advance and continue the conversation on December 5 and 6.
Looking forward to seeing you again, or for the first time, on December 5 and 6.
Fourteen Years
editOn 03 February 2006, it was reported to the WMF that our CAPTCHA system discriminates against the visually impaired. See phabricator T6845 and phabricator T241921.
This appears to be a direct violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and leaves Wikipedia open to the possibility of a discrimination lawsuit.
In particular, National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corp. was a case where a major retailer, Target Corp., was successfully sued because their web designers failed to design its website to enable persons with low or no vision to use it.
So why, after 14 years of inaction, do we not have a set of software requirements (including a testable definition of "done") and a schedule for solving this?
I am left with these known facts:
- For 14 years the WMF has failed to assign a single employee or contractor the task of fixing this problem.
- For 14 years the WMF has failed to budget a single dollar towards fixing this.
- For 14 years the WMF has failed to provide any estimate of how long it is expected to take to fix this.
- For 14 years the WMF has failed to create any requirements for fixing this. (Note: "Requirements" is geek talk for "please define what 'done' is and tell us exactly how how we will recognize that whoever is working on this is done").
- For 14 years the WMF has failed to make a plan for an independent third party (which in this case means "someone with a visual impairment accessing Wikipedia with a screen reader") to look at the results and verify whether the requirements were met.
If the WMF is not capable of solving this, why have we not put out a call for proposals in order to find someone who can?
You can expect me to bring this up again when we hit 15 years of Wikipedia violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, as I have for the last four years. :( --Guy Macon (talk) 13:42, 2 December 2020 (UTC)
part of Wikimedia 2030
editDear WikiBlind User Group,
we are a small team of humans and want to improve accessibility of Wikipedia for visually impaired people people especially picture descriptions via alt-texts. We have the possibility to have a lightning talk at WM2030 today, these is the content of our sheet:
- Let’s contribute to the accessibility of Wikipedia.
- We are a network of blind and sighted people who are working together in several projects on the topic of blindness and pictures since 2011. Thus we became experts in alt-texts and image descriptions.
- Therefore we would collaborate in Wikimedia-Wikis and outreach to schools and universities to motivate them to have their students write alt-texts and image descriptions for images in Wikipedia.
- We are looking for Wikimedians who want to foster accessibility and software developers who help us to adjust the upload-wizard and to implement these ideas open in structured data.
We want to invite you to work together as a little movement and are interessted in your knowledge and wishes - maybe we can put your ideas into the talk today also! Feel free to give us thinkings and feedback right here. We will start a WikiProject in german Wikipedia für "Barrierefreiheit" (accessibility) next time (draft is ready) and would be very happy to make an english project-page too or join into your working pages.
The plan is in short to improve alt-texts for people over all Wikimedia-Projects organized via Structured Commons or Wikidata. Thanks for your time, happy to read your words and concepts/thinkings, Conny (talk) 06:14, 5 December 2020 (UTC).
Alt-Texts need your support
editHey, please support this proposal. You can also share this to other Users. Thank you very much, Regards, Conny (talk) 15:53, 12 December 2020 (UTC).
- Strong Support! -Filipinayzd (talk) 10:00, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
- I have voiced my opinion there. Graham87 (talk) 13:17, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
- I have voiced my opinion Support --Nehaoua (talk) 18:16, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
Request for text to speech in Gujarati
editAt private Volunteer Response Team ticket:2020121810002921 a user requests Gujarati text to speech support due to visual impairment. About 60 million people speak this Indic language.
Wikispeech is our native tool which likely will not be developed before several years. I know of nothing more to share. @Graham87: I could tell the user this situation. Any other advice, or did you want to try to respond? Blue Rasberry (talk) 17:24, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
- @Bluerasberry: eSpeak supports Gujarati, along with many many other languages. Graham87 (talk) 02:13, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
- @Graham87: Great, I replied to them with that information.
- Blue Rasberry (talk) 02:26, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
Sunday January 10 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
Following up on the August, September, October, and November SWAN meetings, and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including SWAN input on Interim Global Council and Movement Charter, this month we are meeting on Sunday January 10, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
To start the exchange of ideas on the IGC early, and to help prepare before the SWAN calls, we have set up and invite everyone to participate at this etherpad. If you like a more interactive way of discussing, we have also made a jamboard. Check here for more details. |
Thank you Wikipedians!
editWikipedia has truly made a difference in my life. Every time I have a question, I can search online and almost instantly click on the link to Wikipedia and have a detailed answer immediately that’s well-sourced and reliable, almost every time. Even for breaking news, where it’s hard to tell where to find facts.
The past 20 years have been amazing to watch and be part of here. Thank you for launching WikiBlind to help all of us feel less like we are just consuming the knowledge and giving us ways to participate. Thank you to every Wikipedian who has made this resource what it is today, and working toward what it can be tomorrow. #wikikind #wikilove —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 2601:600:a180:31f0:7520:575b:3a46:adda (talk) 19:01, 13 January 2021 (UTC)
Page view statistics as of 14 January 2021
editJust went to look at our wikiblind page view statistics. 510 Views in last 90 days - looking forward to watching the numbers climb in the months to come. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by DrMel (talk) 02:28, 15 January 2021 (UTC)
Call for Feedback: Community-and-Affiliate Board Seats
editHi there! The WMF starts a Call for Feedback about community-and-affiliated seat selection processes, resulting from the recent approval of bylaws amendments. This call for feedback is going to start on Monday Feb 1 and will run until March 14.
Full details will be published on Monday at Call for Feedback:Community Board Seats. Discuss on the Talk page for general comments. Translated pages welcome discussions in multiple languages. If you are a user of Telegram, you can receive updates in the announcement Telegram group or join the discussion in this discussion Telegram group.
Furthermore we are organizing three different office hour sessions (for different time zones) on Tuesday, Feb 2 (see Call for Feedback:Community Board Seats). There we will introduce the call for feedback and will be available for any questions and comments.
We are looking for a broad representation of opinions. We welcome conversations in any language and in any channel. If you want us to organize a conversation or a meeting for your wiki project or your affiliate, please contact us. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 21:46, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
Project Grant Open Call
editThis is the announcement for the Project Grants program open call that started on January 11, with the submission deadline of February 10, 2021.
This first open call will be focussed on Community Organizing proposals. A second open call focused on research and software proposals is scheduled from February 15 with a submission deadline of March 16, 2021.
For the Round 1 open call, we invite you to propose grant applications that fall under community development and organizing (offline and online) categories. Project Grant funds are available to support individuals, groups, and organizations to implement new experiments and proven ideas, from organizing a better process on your wiki, coordinating a campaign or editathon series to providing other support for community building. We offer the following resources to help you plan your project and complete a grant proposal:
Weekly proposals clinics via Zoom during the Open Call. Join us for #Upcoming_Proposal_Clinics|real-time discussions with Program Officers and select thematic experts and get live feedback about your Project Grants proposal. We’ll answer questions and help you make your proposal better.
- Video tutorials for writing a strong application
- General planning page for Project Grants
- Program guidelines and criteria
Program officers are also available to offer individualized proposal support upon request. Contact us at projectgrants@wikimedia.org if you would like feedback or more information.
We are excited to see your grant ideas that will support our community and make an impact on the future of Wikimedia projects. Put your idea into motion, and submit your proposal by February 10, 2021!
Please feel free to get in touch with questions about getting started with your grant application, or about serving on the Project Grants Committee. Contact us at projectgrants wikimedia.org.
RSharma (WMF)MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:56, 28 January 2021 (UTC)
Notification of User Group Expiration - Renewal pending submission of reporting
editGreetings @Academic Challenger: & @Graham87:, This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization is currently past due on its required annual reporting. Wikimedia Affiliates are required to submit an annual activity report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period in order to prompt review for a renewal. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal. This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date. As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2020 annual reporting became past due in December. Please be sure to :
- Post your 2020 annual reporting to the meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal as soon as possible to return to compliance with your user group agreement.
- Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and
- Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.
If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Best regards,
MKaur (WMF) (talk) 19:58, 12 February 2021 (UTC)
Sunday February 21 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
Following up on the August, September, October, November, and January SWAN meetings and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates, this month we are meeting on Sunday February 21, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
To help set priorities for the SWAN agenda, and also to help manage which global conversations should be a focus in general, we have set up and invite everyone to participate at this SWAN priorities form.
Possible topics include Community Board seats, Interim Global Council, Strategy prioritization follow-up events, Branding, Universal Code of Conduct, Grant strategy, and WMF CEO search. That is a lot of things, which are most important to cover in our upcoming SWAN meeting? |
Call for Feedback: Community Board seats - Midpoint Update
editHi all, I am writing here to let you know a few things:
- The third weekly report is now available for the Call for Feedback: Community Board seats.
- This is the middle of the Call for Feedback, which means we are halfway through! If you have not joined the conversation, please do so. The facilitation team does not want to miss hearing your feedback.
- For the second half of the Call for Feedback the plan is to promote further discussion around four topics that need disentanglement: regional quotas, candidates' skills, vetting of candidates, and the connection of Board elections with the Global Council and the Regional Hubs.
Do reach out if you have any questions or comments. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 18:00, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
Four panel discussions - Call for Feedback: Community Board seats final sprint
editThe Facilitation team invites you to a round of panel sessions March 12 - 14 in the last days of the Call for feedback: Community Board seats.
We are confirming guests and times, and we are updating the wiki pages accordingly. Expect 90-minute sessions with video recording: 45 minutes for a panel to dive deep into possible scenarios followed by 45 minutes to continue the conversation with open mic for all participants. You can share your questions and comments now on the panel Talk pages. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 17:39, 5 March 2021 (UTC)
Sunday March 21 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, and February SWAN meetings and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Grants relaunch and Community Board seats, this month we are meeting on Sunday March 21, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(Note that the UTC times of and are the same as before, although some places have had daylight savings time changes since our last meeting).--Pharos (talk) 04:17, 17 March 2021 (UTC)
Call for Feedback: Community Board seats - Main Report draft comment period
editWe have concluded the Call for Feedback: Community Board seats. Thank you everyone who participated.
During the Call for Feedback period from February 1 to March 14, a team of 10 facilitators organized open and inclusive community discussions to gather feedback about ideas for trustee selection processes for community-and-affiliate Board seats. Some facilitators had a regional focus; some had a language focus. The intention was for the combined facilitation team to obtain a fair representation of the movement’s diversity and create a report for the Board. The facilitation team used the Weekly Reports as the main source of information to create the main report.
A draft of the Call for Feedback: Community Board seats main report is now available. It will be available for community comment until Monday, March 29.
After the community comment period the facilitation team will send the main report to the Board. The feedback in the main report informs the Board’s decision about these potential changes to trustee selection processes, procedures, and tools to meet the goals of the Board.
Please reach out if you have any questions or comments. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 13:17, 24 March 2021 (UTC)
Looking for 1-2 participants for a usability test of the Query Builder
editI am Charlie, a UX-Designer on the Wikidata Team at Wikimedia Deutschland.
I currently work on a project called the Query Builder. Our goal is to allow for the creation of simple queries without having to know SPARQL. This is useful for anyone who would like to create maintenance queries without the need to code.
We are currently working on improving the accessibility standards of our newly developed features and would like to make sure that the Query Builder is usable and accessible for people with a visual impairment. To ensure that this is the case we are looking for 1 to 2 people who would be interested in participating in a usability test with us.
We are looking for people who use maintenance lists in their work on Wikidata or Wikipedia and have little to no experience writing SPARQL queries. These maintenance lists could be created in SPARQL or manually. They could have been created using the Query Helper or adapted from an example query or maybe they were created with the help of a someone profissient in SPARQL, to name a few examples.
If you see yourself in this description and would be interested in helping us improve the Query Builder I'd be happy to continue about further details via email.
Thanks and kind regards, Charlie Kritschmar (WMDE) (talk) 16:19, 7 April 2021 (UTC)
Participating in usability tests is different from typical volunteer activities because of both the time commitment required and the adherence to researcher-directed tasks. For these reasons, testing time qualifies for compensation. See our wiki page for more details.
Community Resilience & Sustainability office hour April 17 15:00 UTC
editHi all! The Community Resilience & Sustainability team at the Wikimedia Foundation is hosting an office hour led by its Vice President Maggie Dennis. Topics within scope for this call include Movement Strategy coordination (recently transferred to CR&S), Trust and Safety (and the Universal Code of Conduct), Community Development, and Human Rights. Come with your questions or feedback, and let’s talk! You can also send us your questions in advance.
The meeting will be on April 17 at 15:00 UTC check your local time.
You can check all the details on Meta. Hope to see you there!
Sunday April 25 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, February, and March SWAN meetings and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Interim Global Council + Movement Charter, WMF Resolution about the upcoming Board elections, Community Resilience and Sustainability role in Movement Strategy coordination, Grants Strategy Relaunch, Wikimedia Enterprise / OKAPI, and WMF Executive Transition
This month we are meeting on Sunday April 25, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(Note that the UTC times of and are the same as before, although some places may have had daylight savings time changes since our last meeting).--Pharos (talk) 18:52, 21 April 2021 (UTC)
Resolution about the upcoming Board elections
editHi All! The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees met last week to decide on a plan for the 2021 Board elections. The Board Governance Committee created this proposal, based on the Call for Feedback about Community Board Seats. Please check the related announcement for details. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 16:19, 22 April 2021 (UTC)
Invitation for Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos 2021
editHello there,
We are inviting you to participate in Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos 2021, a global contest scheduled to run from July through August 2021.
Participants will choose among Wikipedia pages without photo images, then add a suitable file from among the many thousands of photos in the Wikimedia Commons, especially those uploaded from thematic contests (Wiki Loves Africa, Wiki Loves Earth, Wiki Loves Folklore, etc.) over the years.
In its first year (2020), 36 Wikimedia communities in 27 countries joined the campaign. Events relating to the campaign included training organized by at least 18 Wikimedia communities in 14 countries.
The campaign resulted in the addition of media files (photos, audios and videos) to more than 90,000 Wikipedia articles in 272 languages.
Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos (WPWP) offers an ideal task for recruiting and guiding new editors through the steps of adding content to existing pages. Besides individual participation, the WPWP campaign can be used by user groups and chapters to organize editing workshops and edit-a-thons.
The organizing team is looking for a contact person to coordinate WPWP participation at the Wikimedia user group or chapter level (geographically or thematically) or for a language WP. We’d be glad for you to reply to this message, or sign up directly at WPWP Participating Communities.
Please feel free to contact Organizing Team if you have any query.
Kind regards,
Tulsi Bhagat
Communication Manager
Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos Campaign
Message delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:48, 3 May 2021 (UTC)
Who are the Election Volunteers in your community?
editWould you like to get more people taking part in the Wikimedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees election?
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees announced the plan for the 2021 Board elections. That plan includes outreach and communication support for the Board elections. The Board election facilitators will:
- Inform communities of the trustee selection process
- Invite communities to engage in voting
- Encourage people representing emerging Wikimedia communities to run as candidates
Voter turnout in prior elections was about 10% globally. It was better in communities with volunteer election support. Some of those communities reached over 20% voter turnout. We know we can get more voters to help assess and promote the best candidates, but to do that, we need your help.
We are looking for volunteers to serve as Election Volunteers. Election Volunteers should have a good understanding of their communities. The facilitation team sees Election Volunteers as doing the following:
- Promote the election in their communities’ channels
- Organize discussions about the election in their communities
- Translate messages for their communities
Who are the Election Volunteers to connect your community with this movement effort? Is it you? Or someone you know? Check out more details about Election Volunteers and add your name next to the community you will support in this table or get in contact with a facilitator. We aim to have at least one Election Volunteer for Wiki Projects in the top 30 for eligible voters. Even better if there are two or more sharing the work.
First Community Affairs Committee office hour on May 13
editHello, all. The Board of Trustees’ Community Affairs Committee (CAC) is hosting its first office hour on May 13, 2021 at 19:00 UTC.
The CAC is a new Board of Trustees committee established to assess, explore and address current and future community-related efforts. The Committee's Charter lists its full responsibilities, with the first 3 being a priority for this coming year. As part of our commitment to foster better communications with the Wikimedia Movement Community, and based on feedback received from community members requesting more availability from the Board of Trustees, the CAC will be hosting its first Office hours.
All the details are on Meta. Send registration requests and questions to: askcac wikimedia.org. Please help us spread the word by sharing this message with your local / online communities. Hoping to see as many of you as possible! Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 20:39, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
Affiliations Committee Call for Candidates - June 2021
editThis is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.
The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!
The main role of the AffCom is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and update the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees as well as advise them on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.
The committee consists of five to fifteen members, selected at least once every year, to serve two-year terms.
Being a part of the AffCom requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a mix of different skill sets in our members.
- Responsibilities
- Availability of up to 5-8 hours per month
- Participate in monthly one and two-hour voice/video meetings
- Commitment to carry out assigned tasks in a given time.
- Facilitate and support communications
- Affiliate Support and growth
- Required and Recommended Abilities, Skills, Knowledge for Affiliations Committee Members
Strong interpersonal relationship among members of the committee and also with the Wikimedia community members. Across all committee members, there are additional relevant skills as well as requirements which help to support the committee and its sustainability which include both required and relevant general skills
- Required
- Fluency in English
- Availability of up to 5 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly one and two-hour voice/video meetings.
- Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.
- Strong track record of effective collaboration
- International orientation
- Relevant for all members
- Public Communications (English writing and speaking skills)
- Skills in other languages are a major plus.
- Understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the Wikimedia Foundation.
- Documentation practices
- Interviewing experience
- Experience with, or in, an active affiliate is a major plus.
- Teamwork: Project and people management skills to coordinate and collaborate with different parties on a shared plan and see it through to completion.
- Problem-Solving: Ability to evaluate various solutions, consider multiple interests and points of view, revisit unresolved issues, seek compromise and work and communicate across languages and cultures.
Given the expectations for maintaining the course in 2021 and preparing for potential 2021 transitions as part of the Movement Strategy implementation process, it is important that we are also clear about two different skill sets critical to committee support at this time. The first skillset is oriented to understanding affiliate dynamics and organizational development patterns to successfully process affiliate applications for recognition; the other is oriented to conflict prevention and intervention support for affiliates in conflict.
- Relevant to Affiliate Recognitions
- Administration & Attention to detail
- Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliation, and similar topics.
- Awareness of the affiliates ecosystem and models and understanding of community building, organizational development, and group dynamics
- Relevant to Conflict Prevention & Intervention
- Communication skills for active listening, clear instruction and turn-taking.
- Stress Management skills for maintaining patience and positivity
- Emotional intelligence to maintain awareness of emotions of oneself and others to practice empathy, impartiality, and mutual respect.
- Facilitation, negotiation, and mediation skills to guide diverse individuals and groups toward cooperation.
- Ability to work within a team
Do you have relevant skills and interest to support movement affiliates?
We are looking for people who are excited by the challenge of empowering volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world. In exchange, committee members will gain the experience of supporting their world-wide colleagues to develop their communities as well as personal development in guiding organizational development, facilitating affiliate partnerships, and professional communications.
- Selection process
As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2021 member selection process will include a public review and comment period and a self-assessment survey for candidates to share their skills and experience. This self-assessment information will help the committee to identify the skill sets relevant to our affiliate support processes. We invite you to apply for membership to the committee and join us in supporting the affiliates. The data shared in the self-assessment will only be made available to the committee and the relevant staff support. The nomination, candidate Q&A, and endorsements will be posted on Meta for public review at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Candidates/June_2021. Here the global community is welcome to provide comments and feedback about each candidate.
Once the nomination window closes June 30, 2021, the sitting members who are not candidates for re-election in this cycle will deliberate and then vote, taking into account all inputs from the meta page, self-assessment, advisors, Wikimedia Foundation staff and board liaisons, and committee member discussion.
A final decision will be made in late-July 2021, with new members to be notified for onboarding in August.
- How to apply
If you are interested in joining the committee, please:
Step 1. Post your application on the nomination page by 30 June 2021. Your application must include the following information:
- Your full name and Wikimedia username
- A statement describing your relevant education, experience, abilities, skills, knowledge, availability, and motivation for joining the committee.
Step 2. Complete the self-assessment survey between June 01, 2021 and June 30, 2021.
- The privacy statement that applies to the survey can be found here.
- NOTE: The survey will take 15 mins. Please do not close your browser. If you need a break, you are advised to keep the browser open. In case of losing the link, please reach out to mkaur-ctr wikimedia.org
- This survey must be completed before Steps 3 & 4, as it will provide more background as to the type of work and expectations of members of AffCom.
Step 3. Answers the following questions:
- NOTE: Questions 1-3 are required for all candidates.
- Question 4 & 5 should be answered by those interested in joining the Recognitions subcommittee.
- Question 6 & 7 should be answered by those interested in joining the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee.
- If you are willing to nominate yourself for both subcommittees, answer all questions.
- What roles have you served across any Wikimedia projects and affiliates that you think have prepared you for this role?
- AffCom members need to manage time, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and diverse situations across the global movement. How do you envision managing these?
- Members of AffCom serve on one of two subcommittees: Recognitions OR Conflicts Intervention. Which one of these are you most interested in serving on?
- If you are interested in serving on the Recognitions subcommittee, what do you think makes a group of Wikimedians ready to function together as an affiliate?
- If you are interested in serving on the Recognitions subcommittee, what do you think are the benefits and responsibilities of functioning as formal affiliates?
- If you are interested in serving on the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee, please describe your experience working with conflicts resolution.
- If you are interested in serving on the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee, please describe how you have helped build consensus and support diversity.
Step 4. Once you have completed the above, send an email announcing your application to affcom wikimedia.org before the application deadline.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!
On behalf of the committee,
-- FULBERT (talk) 15:30, 15 May 2021 (UTC) via MassMessaging
Dark mode and liking image descriptions
editUser Requests dark mode and comments that they like image descriptions.
They do not have a request but if anyone would like to respond they wrote in to OTRS ticket:2021051610006719
@Graham87: In the past I have pinged you on tickets. I would continue to do ping you and post to this talk page, if that works to match these tickets to people who can and wish to access them.
Blue Rasberry (talk) 14:13, 18 May 2021 (UTC)
- @Blue Rasberry: Sure, you can keep pinging me. I'm glad they like image descriptions. Re dark mode, you may well know this but there's now a gadget for that. Graham87 (talk) 14:47, 18 May 2021 (UTC)
Join the new Regional Committees for Grants
editDear all,
We hope this email finds you well and safe. The COVID 19 situation continues to affect many of us across the globe and our thoughts are with everyone affected. We are also aware that there are several processes currently in progress that demand volunteer time and we do not want to add more work to anyone's plate.
We do want to draw your attention to our new Regional Committees for Grants though as they are an opportunity for you to have an active say in the future of our Movement!
📣 So today, we invite you to join our new Regional Committees for Grants! 📣
We encourage Wikimedians and Free Knowledge advocates to be part of the new Regional Committees that the WMF Community Resources team is setting up as part of the grants strategy relaunch [1]. You will be a key strategic thought partner to help understand the complexities of any region, provide knowledge and expertise to applicants, to support successful movement activities, and make funding decisions for grant applications in the region.
👉Find out more on meta [2].
Regional Committees will be established for the following regions:
- Middle East and Africa
- SAARC [3] region (Includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)
- East, Southeast Asia, and Pacific (ESEAP) region
- Latin America (LATAM) and The Caribbean
- United States and Canada
- Northern and Western Europe
- Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
👉All details about the Committees and how to apply can be found on meta [4]. Applications have to be submitted by June 4, 2021!
If you have any questions or comments, please use the meta discussion page [5].
Please do share this announcement widely with your Network.
Best wishes,
JBrungs (WMF) (talk) 09:28, 21 May 2021 (UTC) on behalf of the Community Resources Team JBrungs (WMF) (talk) 09:28, 21 May 2021 (UTC)
UCoC Affiliates consultation report
editHello,
We are pleased to announce the completion of the Universal Code of Conduct Affiliates consultation process early this month. The summary report of the direct consultations and survey is now available at this Meta page: https://w.wiki/3Pew.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to leave a message on the talk page of the report, or contact Mervat ( msalman-ctr@wikimedia org) and Ramzy ( ramzym-ctr@wikimedia org).
Regards,
UCoC Team, Wikimedia Foundation
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:51, 27 May 2021 (UTC)
Sunday June 6 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, February, March, and April SWAN meetings, as well as last June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter + Movement Strategy/Events, WMF Board elections, Wikimania 2021, and Grants Regional Committees.
This month we are meeting on Sunday June 6, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(UTC meeting times are and – *Note that we have shifted the second call an hour earlier in UTC time due to popular demand and to accomodate daylight savings*.)--Pharos (talk) 20:22, 3 June 2021 (UTC)
2021 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees Call for Candidates
editThe 2021 Board of Trustees election is coming soon. Candidates from the community are needed to fill the available seats.
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees oversees the Wikimedia Foundation's operations. Community trustees and appointed trustees make up the Board of Trustees. Each trustee serves a three year term. The Wikimedia community has the opportunity to vote for community trustees.
Wikimedia contributors will vote to fill four seats on the Board in 2021. This is an opportunity to improve the representation, diversity, and expertise of the Board as a team.
Who are potential candidates? Are you a potential candidate? Find out more on the Call for Candidates announcement.
Wikimania 2021: Affiliate Program Submissions and Scholarships
editDear Wikimedia Affiliates,
Wikimania 2021 will be hosted virtually for the first time in the event's 15-year history. Since there is no in-person host, the event is being organized by a diverse group of Wikimedia volunteers that form the Core Organizing Team for Wikimania 2021.
Event Program - The program design of this Wikimania accommodates affiliates for them to curate a portion of the program. Wikimedia affiliates have an opportunity to host a series of their own sessions.
Below are some links to guide you through;
Please note that the deadline for submission is 18th June 2021.
Affiliate Scholarships - Scholarships are available to all Wikimedia movement affiliates to support practical access to and participation in Wikimania 2021 in their communities. Please read more about it in the Affiliate Announcement section here.
Office Hour - If you are left with questions, the COT will be hosting some office hours (in multiple languages), in multiple time-zones, to answer any programming questions that you might have. Details can be found here.
Best regards,
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:23, 15 June 2021 (UTC)
On behalf of Wikimania 2021 Core Organizing Team
An invitation to discuss three questions regarding the Movement Charter drafting committee
editHi there! This is an invitation to discuss three questions that need answers to create the Movement Charter drafting committee:
- What composition should the committee have in terms of movement roles, gender, regions, affiliations and other diversity factors?
- What is the best process to select the committee members to form a competent and diverse team?
- How much dedication is it reasonable to expect from committee members, in terms of hours per week and months of work? Should the initial members commit for the whole duration of the project or should renewals be expected?
The objective is to collect questions, opinions, ideas, points of agreement and disagreement. A first report of this conversation will be published by the end of Friday, June 25 to inform the Global Conversations on the 26-27 of June.
Find more about the questions and conversations in other languages.
I am glad to join meetings or community conversations to pose the questions and receive feedback. Please reach out if you would like me to attend any meeting or community conversation.
Final Call for Candidates for AffCom - June 2021
editThis is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.
This is a final Call for Candidates for the June 2021 Affiliations Committee election.
If you are interested in running, please post your application and follow all four steps on the nomination page by 30 June 2021.
If you know somebody you think may be interested, please share this with them and encourage them to consider it. If you have any questions about this process or the requirements, please email affcom@wikimedia.org before the application deadline or reach out to any of the current members.
On behalf of the AffCom elections committee,
--- FULBERT (talk) 14:15, 20 June 2021 (UTC) via MassMessaging [[Category:AffCom Elections June 2021|]]
Announcing the confirmed candidates for the 2021 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees election
editThe 2021 Board of Trustees election opens 4 August 2021. Candidates from the community were asked to submit their candidacy. After a three week long call for candidates, there are 20 candidates for the 2021 election.
The Wikimedia movement has the opportunity to vote for the selection of community-and-affiliate trustees. The Board is expected to select the four most voted candidates to serve as trustees. Voting closes 17 August 2021.
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees oversees the Wikimedia Foundation's operations. The Board wants to improve their competences and diversity as a team. They have shared the areas of expertise that they are currently missing and hope to cover with new trustees.
How can you get involved? Learn more about candidates. Organize campaign activities. Vote.
Read the full announcement.
Best,
The Elections Committee
Announcement posted by User:Xeno (WMF) at 18:33, 2 July 2021 (UTC)
Universal Code of Conduct News – Issue 2
editHey there! I'm delivering this second edition of the Universal Code of Conduct newsletter. It has important information about the upcoming enforcement draft guidelines review. Let me know if you have any questions. We are looking for volunteers interested in translating key material and helping to organize local reviews of the guidelines. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 18:44, 16 July 2021 (UTC)
Universal Code of Conduct News
Issue 2, July 2021Read the full newsletter
Welcome to the second issue of Universal Code of Conduct News! This newsletter will help Wikimedians stay involved with the development of the new code and will distribute relevant news, research, and upcoming events related to the UCoC.
If you haven’t already, please remember to subscribe here if you would like to be notified about future editions of the newsletter, and also leave your username here if you’d like to be contacted to help with translations in the future.
- Enforcement Draft Guidelines Review - Initial meetings of the drafting committee have helped to connect and align key topics on enforcement, while highlighting prior research around existing processes and gaps within our movement. (continue reading)
- Targets of Harassment Research - To support the drafting committee, the Wikimedia Foundation has conducted a research project focused on experiences of harassment on Wikimedia projects. (continue reading)
- Functionaries’ Consultation - Since June, Functionaries from across the various wikis have been meeting to discuss what the future will look like in a global context with the UCoC. (continue reading)
- Roundtable Discussions - The UCoC facilitation team once again, hosted another roundtable discussion, this time for Korean-speaking community members and participants of other ESEAP projects to discuss the enforcement of the UCoC. (continue reading)
- Early Adoption of UCoC by Communities - Since its ratification by the Board in February 2021, situations whereby UCoC is being adopted and applied within the Wikimedia community have grown. (continue reading)
- New Timeline for the Interim Trust & Safety Case Review Committee - The CRC was originally expected to conclude by July 1. However, with the UCoC now expected to be in development until December, the timeline for the CRC has also changed. (continue reading)
- Wikimania - The UCoC team is planning to hold a moderated discussion featuring representatives across the movement during Wikimania 2021. It also plans to have a presence at the conference’s Community Village. (continue reading)
- Diff blogs - Check out the most recent publications about the UCoC on Wikimedia Diff blog. (continue reading)
Thanks for reading - we welcome feedback about this newsletter.
2021 Board of Trustees election confirmed candidates and campaign events
editHi everyone! The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees election is coming soon. There are regional campaign events where you can meet the candidates. The team of facilitators supporting this Board election has planned some activities for the campaign period. Are you searching for another language or regional conversation? Community members are encouraged to organize activities in their own communities. We do ask that any activities intended to involve candidates remain respectful of their time, since candidacy can be very time-consuming. Please list activities you organize on the Board election page on Meta so that more people can find them.
Voting for the 2021 Board of Trustees election opens on 4 August 2021 and closes on 17 August 2021. The Elections Committee chose Single Transferable Vote for the voting system. This voting system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. This helps voters share their preferences more clearly than simple support or oppose votes. If your top-choice candidate already has enough votes to be selected or will not win, your vote will be moved to your second-choice candidate. And so on. The facilitation team came up with a fun example. More information will be coming mid-July. Learn more about voting requirements, the process, and frequently asked questions about voting. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 18:44, 16 July 2021 (UTC)
Sunday July 25 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, February, March, April, and June SWAN meetings, as well as last June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter + Drafting Committee, WMF Board elections, Wikimania 2021, and Grants Regional Committees.
This month we are meeting on Sunday July 25, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(UTC meeting times are and – *Note that we have shifted the second call an hour earlier in UTC time due to popular demand and to accomodate daylight savings*.)--Pharos (talk) 14:50, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
Call for Candidates for the Movement Charter Drafting Committee
editMovement Strategy announces the Call for Candidates for the Movement Charter Drafting Committee. The Call opens August 2, 2021 and closes September 1, 2021.
The Committee is expected to represent diversity in the Movement. Diversity includes gender, language, geography, and experience. This comprises participation in projects, affiliates, and the Wikimedia Foundation.
English fluency is not required to become a member. If needed, translation and interpretation support is provided. Members will receive an allowance to offset participation costs. It is US$100 every two months.
We are looking for people who have some of the following skills:
- Know how to write collaboratively. (demonstrated experience is a plus)
- Are ready to find compromises.
- Focus on inclusion and diversity.
- Have knowledge of community consultations.
- Have intercultural communication experience.
- Have governance or organization experience in non-profits or communities.
- Have experience negotiating with different parties.
The Committee is expected to start with 15 people. If there are 20 or more candidates, a mixed election and selection process will happen. If there are 19 or fewer candidates, then the process of selection without election takes place.
Will you help move Wikimedia forward in this important role? Submit your candidacy here. Please contact strategy2030 wikimedia.org with questions. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 22:15, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
Delay of the 2021 Board of Trustees election
editWe are reaching out to you today regarding the 2021 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees election. This election was due to open on August 4th. Due to some technical issues with SecurePoll, the election must be delayed by two weeks. This means we plan to launch the election on August 18th, which is the day after Wikimania concludes.
For information on the technical issues, you can see the Phabricator ticket.
We are truly sorry for this delay and hope that we will get back on schedule on August 18th. We are in touch with the Elections Committee and the candidates to coordinate next steps. We will update the Board election Talk page and Telegram channel as we know more. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 22:15, 4 August 2021 (UTC) Read this message in other languages
Universal Code of Conduct: Enforcement draft guidelines review
editThe Universal Code of Conduct Phase 2 drafting committee would like comments about the enforcement draft guidelines for the Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC). This review period is planned to begin 17 August 2021.
Community and staff members collaborated to develop these draft guidelines based on consultations, discussions, and research. These guidelines are not final but you can help move the progress forward. Provide comments about these guidelines by 17 October 2021. The committee will be revising the guidelines based upon community input.
Everyone may share comments in a number of places. Facilitators welcome comments in any language on the draft review talk page or by email. Comments can also be shared on talk pages of translations, at local discussions, or during round-table discussions and conversation hours.
There are planned live discussions about the UCoC enforcement draft guidelines:
- Wikimania 2021 session (recorded 16 August)
- Conversation hours - 24 August, 31 August, 7 September @ 03:00 UTC & 14:00 UTC
- Roundtable calls - 18 September @ 03:00 UTC & 15:00 UTC
The facilitation team supporting this review period hopes to reach a large number of communities. Having a shared understanding is important. If you do not see a conversation happening in your community, please organize a discussion. Facilitators can assist you in setting up the conversations.
Discussions will be summarized and presented to the drafting committee every two weeks. The summaries will be published here.
The full announcement and translations can be found here.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 22:50, 20 August 2021 (UTC)
Voting opens for the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
editVoting for the 2021 Board of Trustees election is now open. Candidates from the community were asked to submit their candidacy. After a three week long Call for Candidates, there are 19 candidates for the 2021 election.
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees oversees the Wikimedia Foundation's operations. The Board wants to improve their competences and diversity as a team. They have shared the areas of expertise that they are hoping to cover with new trustees.
The Wikimedia movement has the opportunity to select candidates who have the qualities to best serve the needs of the movement for the next several years. The Board is expected to select the four most voted candidates to serve as trustees. This term starts in September and lasts for three years. Learn more about the Board of Trustees in this short video.
Vote now until August 31.
Below is some useful information about the election process.
Learn more about the candidates
Candidates from across the movement have submitted their candidatures. Learn about each candidate to inform your vote. The community submitted questions for the candidates to answer during the campaign. Candidates answered the list of community questions collated by the Elections Committee on Meta.
Vote
Voting for the 2021 Board of Trustees election opened on 18 August 2021 and closes on 31 August 2021. The Elections Committee chose Single Transferable Vote for the voting system. The benefit of this is voters can rank their choices in order of preference. Learn more about voting requirements, how to vote, and frequently asked questions about voting.
Please help in the selection of those people who best fit the needs of the movement at this time. Vote and spread the word so more people can vote for candidates. Those selected will help guide the Wikimedia Foundation and support the needs of the movement over the next few years.
The full announcement and translations are available here. Please reach out with any questions. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 23:05, 20 August 2021 (UTC)
Results for the most contended Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees election
editThank you to everyone who participated in the 2021 Board election. The Elections Committee has reviewed the votes of the 2021 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees election, organized to select four new trustees. A record 6,873 people from across 214 projects cast their valid votes. The following four candidates received the most support:
- Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight
- Victoria Doronina
- Dariusz Jemielniak
- Lorenzo Losa
While these candidates have been ranked through the community vote, they are not yet appointed to the Board of Trustees. They still need to pass a successful background check and meet the qualifications outlined in the Bylaws. The Board has set a tentative date to appoint new trustees at the end of this month.
Sunday September 26 SWANniversary Party and All-Affiliates Strategic Meeting
editJoin the SWANniversary on September 26 as we mark the first year of the Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network!
We will have the regular All-Affiliates Strategic Meeting, to be followed by a SWANniversary Party in the after hours session, likely through spatialized chat on WorkAdventure.
The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, February, March, April, June, and July SWAN meetings, as well as last June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, we'll look together at strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter + Drafting Committee, WMF Board elections, Wikimania 2021, and Grants Regional Committees.
This month we are meeting on Sunday September 26, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(UTC meeting times are and .)--Pharos (talk) 20:15, 21 September 2021 (UTC)
Movement Charter Drafting Committee - Community Elections to take place October 11 - 24
editSee translations of this message.
Dear fellow Wikimedians,
This is an update from the Movement Charter process. We have closed the call for candidates on September 14 for the Drafting Committee and now have a pool of candidates with diverse backgrounds to choose from.
The 15 member committee will be selected with a 3-step process:
- Election process for project communities to elect 7 members of the committee.
- Selection process for affiliates to select 6 members of the committee.
- Wikimedia Foundation process to appoint 2 members of the committee.
Communities elect 7 members: This announcement is related to the community elections, which will take place in a time period of 2 weeks from October 11 to October 24. We look forward to a wide participation across the communities to create the committee to curate the writing of the Movement Charter. The Election Results will be published on November 1.
Affiliates select 6 members: Parallel to the election process, all affiliates asked to contribute as well: All affiliates were divided into eight geographic and one ‘thematic’ region (check the list), and each region chooses one person who will act as a selector for that region. These 9 selectors will come together to select 6 of the committee (from the same pool of candidates). The selection results will be published on November 1.
Wikimedia Foundation appoints 2 members: Finally, the Wikimedia Foundation will appoint two members to the committee by November 1.
All three processes will be concluded by November 1, 2021, so that the Movement Charter Drafting Committee can start working by then.
For the full context of the Movement Charter, its role, as well the process for its creation, please have a look at Meta. You can also contact us at any time on Telegram or via email (wikimedia2030 wikimedia.org).
Best regards, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 20:31, 24 September 2021 (UTC)
Movement Charter Drafting Committee Thematic Affiliates selection
editGreetings! You are listed as a Thematic Affiliate for the Selection Process of the Movement Charter Drafting Committee. We need to make a decision about our selector by October 10; I started this page (Movement Charter/Affiliates by Region/Thematic Affiliates) to collect ideas for how we'll pick our selector and self-nominations for who our selector could be. Please add to it! --LiAnna (Wiki Ed) (talk) 20:10, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
Voting to elect members to the Movement Charter drafting committee is now open (October 12 - 24)
editVoting to elect members to the Movement Charter drafting committee is now open. In total, 70 Wikimedians are running for 7 seats in these elections.
Voting is open from October 12 to October 24, 2021.
We are piloting a voting advice application for this election. It helps show which candidates hold positions similar to the choices entered.
According to the set up process, the committee will initially consist of 15 members in total. 7 members elected in this process, 6 members selected by Wikimedia affiliates, and 2 members appointed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Up to 3 additional members may be appointed by the committee, and steps may be taken to replace members as needed.
More details and the voting link is here.
Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions about this process.
Xeno (WMF) (talk) 02:40, 15 October 2021 (UTC) (Movement Strategy & Governance Team, Wikimedia Foundation)
Discussion at en:Talk:List of screw drives#Images in Section Headings
editYou are invited to join the discussion at en:Talk:List of screw drives#Images in Section Headings. -- Marchjuly (talk) 21:21, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
Learn how the Implementation Grants can support your Movement Strategy plans
editWe are excited to announce the reopening of the Movement Strategy Implementation Grants. This program funds projects that advance a specific Movement Strategy initiative. The projects can be big or small, but they must all make a case for advancing one initiative. Affiliates that have received funding from the Simple/Annual Plan Grants are welcome to apply.
Read more about the criteria, what to apply for, and how to apply.
Best regards,
Movement Strategy and Governance Team
Wikimedia Foundation
15:31, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
Movement Charter Drafting Committee election Call to Action: Vote now!
editYour participation is needed. Community elections for the Movement Charter Drafting Committee last until October 24 (23:59 AoE). We have gathered just over 700 votes. It would be great to increase community participation. Let’s try to double that number! Please vote before October 24. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 17:01, 22 October 2021 (UTC)
Sunday October 31 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, February, March, April, and June, July, and September SWAN meetings, as well as last June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter Drafting Committee Set Up Process, Next Steps for Brand Work, 2021, Wikipedia Asian Month 2021, and other ongoing activities.
This month we are meeting on Sunday October 31, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(UTC meeting times are and – *Note that we have shifted the second call a half-hour later in UTC time due to WikidataCon*.)--Pharos (talk) 02:01, 29 October 2021 (UTC)
Meet the new Movement Charter Drafting Committee members
editThe Movement Charter Drafting Committee election and selection processes are complete.
- The election results have been published. 1018 participants voted to elect seven members to the committee: Richard Knipel (Pharos),Anne Clin (Risker),Alice Wiegand (Lyzzy),Michał Buczyński (Aegis Maelstrom),Richard (Nosebagbear),Ravan J Al-Taie (Ravan),Ciell (Ciell).
- The affiliate process has selected six members: Anass Sedrati (Anass Sedrati),Érica Azzellini (EricaAzzellini), Jamie Li-Yun Lin (Li-Yun Lin),Georges Fodouop (Geugeor),Manavpreet Kaur (Manavpreet Kaur),Pepe Flores (Padaguan).
- The Wikimedia Foundation has appointed two members: Runa Bhattacharjee (Runab WMF) and Jorge Vargas (JVargas (WMF)).
The committee will convene soon to start its work. The committee can appoint up to three more members to bridge diversity and expertise gaps.
If you are interested in engaging with Movement Charter drafting process, follow the updates on Meta and join the Telegram group.
With thanks from the Movement Strategy and Governance team
Sunday November 28 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Hubs+Hubs Workshop, Movement Charter+Drafting Committee, WMDE's 'Future of Wikimedia Governance' proposal, Wikipedia Asian Month 2021, and other ongoing activities.
This month we are meeting on Sunday November 28, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(UTC meeting times are and , note that some areas recently experienced daylight savings time changes).--Pharos (talk) 20:23, 24 November 2021 (UTC)
Affiliations Committee (AffCom) Call for candidates - January 2022
editTranslations are available.
The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!
The main role of the AffCom is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and update the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees as well as advise them on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.
The committee consists of five to fifteen members, selected at least once every year, to serve two-year terms.
Being a part of the AffCom requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a mix of different skill sets in our members.
- Responsibilities
- Availability of up to 5-8 hours per month
- Participate in monthly one and two-hour voice/video meetings
- Commitment to carry out assigned tasks in a given time.
- Facilitate and support communications
- Affiliate Support and growth
- Required and Recommended Abilities, Skills, Knowledge for Affiliations Committee Members
Strong interpersonal relationship among members of the committee and also with the Wikimedia community members. Across all committee members, there are additional relevant skills as well as requirements which help to support the committee and its sustainability which include both required and relevant general skills
- Required
- Fluency in English
- Availability of up to 5 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly one and two-hour voice/video meetings.
- Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.
- Strong track record of effective collaboration
- International orientation
- Relevant for all members
- Public Communications (English writing and speaking skills)
- Skills in other languages are a major plus.
- Understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the Wikimedia Foundation.
- Documentation practices
- Interviewing experience
- Experience with, or in, an active affiliate is a major plus.
- Teamwork: Project and people management skills to coordinate and collaborate with different parties on a shared plan and see it through to completion.
- Problem-Solving: Ability to evaluate various solutions, consider multiple interests and points of view, revisit unresolved issues, seek compromise and work and communicate across languages and cultures.
Given the expectations for maintaining the course in 2022 and preparing for potential 2022 transitions as part of the Movement Strategy implementation process, it is important that we are also clear about two different skill sets critical to committee support at this time. The first skillset is oriented to understanding affiliate dynamics and organizational development patterns to successfully process affiliate applications for recognition; the other is oriented to conflict prevention and intervention support for affiliates in conflict.
- Relevant to Affiliate Recognitions
- Administration & Attention to detail
- Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliation, and similar topics.
- Awareness of the affiliates ecosystem and models and understanding of community building, organizational development, and group dynamics
- Relevant to Conflict Prevention & Intervention
- Communication skills for active listening, clear instruction and turn-taking.
- Stress Management skills for maintaining patience and positivity
- Emotional intelligence to maintain awareness of emotions of oneself and others to practice empathy, impartiality, and mutual respect.
- Facilitation, negotiation, and mediation skills to guide diverse individuals and groups toward cooperation.
- Ability to work within a team
Do you have relevant skills and interest to support movement affiliates?
We are looking for people who are excited by the challenge of empowering volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world. In exchange, committee members will gain the experience of supporting their world-wide colleagues to develop their communities as well as personal development in guiding organizational development, facilitating affiliate partnerships, and professional communications.
- Selection process
As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2022 member selection process will include a public review and comment period and a self-assessment survey for candidates to share their skills and their experience. This self-assessment information will help the committee to identify the skill sets relevant and supportive to our affiliate support processes. We invite you to apply for membership to the committee and join us in supporting the affiliates. The data shared in the self-assessment will only be made available to the committee and the relevant staff support. The nomination, candidate Q&A, and endorsements will still take place posted on Meta for public review at January 2022 page. Here the global community is welcome to provide comments and feedback about each candidate.
Once the nomination window closes 31 January 2022, the sitting members who are not candidates for re-election in this cycle will deliberate and then vote, taking into account all inputs from the meta page, self-assessment, advisors, Wikimedia Foundation staff and board liaisons, and committee member discussion.
A final decision will be made in late-February 2022, with new members to be notified for onboarding in February.
- How to apply
If you are interested in joining the committee, please:
Step 1. Post your application on the nomination page by 31 January 2022. Your application must include the following information:
- Your full name and Wikimedia username
- A statement describing your relevant education, experience, abilities, skills, knowledge, availability, and motivation for joining the committee.
Step 2. Complete the self-assessment survey between January 1, 2021 and January 31, 2021.
- The privacy statement that applies to the survey can be found here.
- NOTE: The survey will take 15 mins. Please do not close your browser. If you need a break, you are advised to keep the browser open. In case of losing the link, please reach out to mkaur-ctr wikimedia.org
- This survey must be completed before Steps 3 & 4, as it will provide more background as to the type of work and expectations of members of AffCom.
Step 3. Answers the following questions:
- NOTE: Questions 1-3 are required for all candidates.
- Question 4 & 5 should be answered by those interested in joining the Recognitions subcommittee.
- Question 6 & 7 should be answered by those interested in joining the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee.
- If you are willing to nominate yourself for both subcommittees, answer all questions.
- What roles have you served across any Wikimedia projects and affiliates that you think have prepared you for this role?
- AffCom members need to manage time, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and diverse situations across the global movement. How do you envision managing these?
- Members of AffCom serve on one of two subcommittees: Recognitions OR Conflicts Intervention. Which one of these are you most interested in serving on?
- If you are interested in serving on the Recognitions subcommittee, what do you think makes a group of Wikimedians ready to function together as an affiliate?
- If you are interested in serving on the Recognitions subcommittee, what do you think are the benefits and responsibilities of functioning as formal affiliates?
- If you are interested in serving on the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee, please describe your experience working with conflicts resolution.
- If you are interested in serving on the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee, please describe how you have helped build consensus and support diversity.
Step 4. Once you have completed the above, send an email announcing your application to affcom wikimedia.org before the application deadline.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a webinar call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!
On behalf of the committee,
Affiliations Committee (AffCom) Call for advisors - January 2022
editTranslations are available.
The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!
The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia Chapters, Thematic Organizations, and User Groups – is looking for advisors!
The main role of the Affiliations Committee is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and advise the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.
We are looking for advisors who are excited by the challenge of empowering volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world. In exchange, committee advisors selected will gain the experience of supporting their world-wide colleagues to develop their communities as well as personal development in guiding organizational development, facilitating affiliate partnerships, and professional communications.
AffCom advisors can engage with the committee in a variety of capacities:
- Consultant
Individuals with extensive movement experience can be engaged as Consultants for specific cases or initiatives by AffCom.
- Trainer
Individuals with specific expertise may be engaged for short-term projects for training AffCom or Affiliates. They might also lead the Capacity Building initiatives for AffCom or affiliates.
- Observer
AffCom can request specific or all advisors to act as an observer in different cases to ensure neutrality & compliance with guidelines.
- AffCom Support
Development of Policies: While advisors cannot create legally binding policies for the committee, they can help create policies that provide direction and support for the committee.
Planning and Implementing Community Relations: The advisors are long-term wikimedians & also include influential community leaders who can be effective at spreading the word about initiatives and services.
Supporting Subcommittees: The advisors can support subcommittees that have assigned tasks in specific areas.
Other Tasks: Advisors can be engaged to address a specific need. Such engagements are usually short-lived and are disbanded as soon as their specific goals are met.
- Key skills
We look for a healthy mix of different skill sets in our advisors, including the following key skills and experience:
- Strong understanding of the structure and work of Wikimedia affiliates and the Wikimedia Foundation.
- Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliation, and similar topics.
- Availability of up to 2 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly two-hour voice/video meeting
- International orientation and ability to work and communicate with other languages and cultures.
- Knowledge of different legal systems and experience in community building and organizing are a plus.
- Fluency in English is required; skills in other languages are a major plus.
- Experience with or in an active Wikimedia affiliate is a major plus.
- Strong track record of effective collaboration (such as evidenced skills at facilitation, mediation, negotiation, and so forth) is a major plus.
- Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.
- Selection process
As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2022 advisors selection process will include a public review and comment period. All applications must be posted on Meta between January 01 and January 31, 2022 at Affiliations Committee/Advisors/2022, and the community will be invited to provide comments and feedback about each candidate. At the end of the nomination period, the applications will be voted on by the members of the committee, taking into account comments put forward by the committee's members, advisors, Wikimedia Foundation staff and board liaisons, and the community. A final decision will be made in February 2022, with new advisors expected to begin later that month.
- How to apply
If you are interested in advising the committee, please submit your candidacy on Affiliations Committee/Advisors/2022 between January 01 to January 31, 2022. Your application must include the following information:
- Your full name and Wikimedia username
- A statement describing your relevant experience, skills, and motivation for joining the committee as an advisor.
- The advisor role you would like to serve
- Answers to the following three questions:
- How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
- What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
- What do you feel you will bring as an advisor to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the committee. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!
On behalf of the committee,
Movement Strategy Implementation grants
editThe Movement Strategy and Governance team wishes you a good start of the new 2022!
As we begin this year, we look forward to seeing more collaboration, increased support and connection between communities and affiliates. We would like to use this chance to share some information on the Movement Strategy Implementation Grants that aim to support volunteers and affiliates looking to help in implementing the Movement Strategy Initiatives within their communities.
These grants support big and small projects that aim to take the current state of an initiative and push it one step forward. Apply for a grant to implement a Movement Strategy initiative with a budget up to $25,000. We understand that ideas flow at their own pace, so Movement Strategy Implementation Grants are designed to be flexible with no set deadline. Your applications are welcome at any time. Applications received after the 15th of each month will be reviewed in the following month.
Get in touch with us if you would like to discuss your project proposal or if you need more information about the program. The Movement Strategy and Governance team is happy to host conversations regarding these grants. Conversations may help answer your questions, develop your ideas, and connect with other communities with similar interests.
Please visit this meta page to look at some suggested examples, and you are welcome to join the “MS – Grants Community of Practice” group on Telegram!
Best regards, Movement Strategy and Governance team --YKo (WMF) (talk) 03:04, 7 January 2022 (UTC)
Affiliations Committee (AffCom) Member & Advisor Elections - Final Reminder for January 2022
editTranslations are available.
This is a friendly reminder that the Affiliations Committee – which is responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing and sustaining Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is seeking new members and advisors! The deadline to post your application on the Member nomination page and Advisor nomination is 31 January 2022.
If you know somebody you think may be interested, please share and encourage them to consider applying. If you have any questions please email affcom@wikimedia.org before the application deadline or reach out to any of the current members. Good luck to all the candidates!
On behalf of the committee,
FULBERT (talk) 17:32, 25 January 2022 (UTC)
Sunday February 27 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Hubs+Dialogue, Movement Charter, Universal Code of Conduct+Enforcement Voting, Brand, International Women's Day+Gender Gap and WikiForHumanRights campaigns, and other ongoing activities.
This month we are meeting on Sunday February 27, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(UTC meeting times are and ).----Pharos (talk) 18:05, 23 February 2022 (UTC)
Sunday April 3 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including UCoC Voting, Hubs Global Conversation held + CEE Hub update, Movement Charter + Leadership Development Working Group, Desktop Improvements, Celebrate Women in March + International Women's Day, Wikimania 2022 survey concluded + Wikimedia Hackathon 2022 May 20-22 + local events, and other ongoing activities.
This month we are meeting on Sunday April 3, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(UTC meeting times are and , note that some areas recently experienced daylight savings time changes).--Pharos (talk) 17:36, 29 March 2022 (UTC)
Sunday May 8 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including 2022 Board of Trustees Call for Candidates, Movement Charter/Content preliminary narrative, Human Rights Policy Community Conversations, Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan Feedback, IP blocking and Open Proxies discussion, Wikimedia Hackathon 2022 May 20-22 + local events, and other ongoing activities.
This month we are meeting on Sunday May 8, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(UTC meeting times are and , note that some areas recently experienced daylight savings time changes).--Pharos (talk) 18:08, 3 May 2022 (UTC)
2022 Wikimedia Hackathon - May 20th - 22nd
edit
Hello all, This is to invite you for this year's Wikimedia Hackathon from May 20-22. We hope to see you there! You can share the update with your community as well. The main event will be held online this year. We have an open call for sessions on our schedule page. If you'd like to host a session, you can simply pick an open slot in the category which best fits your topic. The developer advocacy team also put together some suggestions for how to create a fun session.
We will share more information soon about how to join the online space. You can also check through the list of local meetups holding around the world, you may find any closer to you. If you have any enquiry or translation requests, please contact hlepp@wikimedia.org
Best regards, James Popoola On behalf of the 2022 Wikimedia Hackathon Committee. |
Wikimedia Sound Logo contest discussion
editHello,
The Wikimedia sound logo contest is under discussion here, and your input on the talk page is appreciated:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications/Sound_Logo/Contest_proposal
There will also be two video conversations on Friday May 27 @11:00 UTC and Tuesday May 31 @15:00 UTC, in case you want to chat live.
Thank you!
Sunday June 5 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter, Hubs Global Conversation this June, WMF Proposal for Movement Strategy Forum, New rounds of WMF Conference Funds including in-person events, WMF Proposal for Sound Logo Contest, WMF Elections Analysis Committee selection, wikimania:Program submissions due June 10 (scholarship and local event grants due June 3) and other ongoing activities.
This month we are meeting on Sunday June 5, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(UTC meeting times are and ).--Pharos (talk) 20:49, 31 May 2022 (UTC)
Sunday July 3 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter, Hubs Global Conversation last week, Affiliate voting period to shortlist WMF Board candidates (July 1-15), Wikimania updates, Desktop improvements, Wikimedia Enterprise first customers, Call for program submissions and updates for a global diversity of regional/linguistic Wiki-Conferences, Wikidata:Wiki Mentor Africa and other ongoing activities.
This month we are meeting on Sunday July 3, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(UTC meeting times are and ).--Pharos via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:55, 30 June 2022 (UTC)
Screening team for the new Wikimedia sound logo
editHello WikiBlind community,
The Wikimedia sound logo contest is progressing and as we get ready to launch in September, we are looking for a few volunteers to help with screening contest entries. Please let us know on our talk page or get directly in touch with me if you are interested. There are also other ways for community members to get involved and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.
Vote for Election Compass Statements
editHi all,
Volunteers in the 2022 Board of Trustees election are invited to vote for statements to use in the Election Compass. You can vote for the statements you would like to see included in the Election Compass on Meta-wiki.
An Election Compass is a tool to help voters select the candidates that best align with their beliefs and views. The community members will propose statements for the candidates to answer using a Lickert scale (agree/neutral/disagree). The candidates’ answers to the statements will be loaded into the Election Compass tool. Voters will use the tool by entering in their answer to the statements (agree/disagree/neutral). The results will show the candidates that best align with the voter’s beliefs and views.
Here is the timeline for the Election Compass:
July 8 - 20: Volunteers propose statements for the Election CompassJuly 21 - 22: Elections Committee reviews statements for clarity and removes off-topic statements- July 23 - August 1: Volunteers vote on the statements
- August 2 - 4: Elections Committee selects the top 15 statements
- August 5 - 12: candidates align themselves with the statements
- August 15: The Election Compass opens for voters to use to help guide their voting decision
The Elections Committee will select the top 15 statements at the beginning of August
Best,
Movement Strategy and Governance
This message was sent on behalf of the Board Selection Task Force and the Elections Committee
Delay of the 2022 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees election
editHi all,
I am reaching out to you today with an update about the timing of the voting for the Board of Trustees election.
As many of you are already aware, this year we are offering an Election Compass to help voters identify the alignment of candidates on some key topics. Several candidates requested an extension of the character limitation on their responses expanding on their positions, and the Elections Committee felt their reasoning was consistent with the goals of a fair and equitable election process.
To ensure that the longer statements can be translated in time for the election, the Elections Committee and Board Selection Task Force decided to delay the opening of the Board of Trustees election by one week - a time proposed as ideal by staff working to support the election.
Although it is not expected that everyone will want to use the Election Compass to inform their voting decision, the Elections Committee felt it was more appropriate to open the voting period with essential translations for community members across languages to use if they wish to make this important decision.
The voting will open on August 23 at 00:00 UTC and close on September 6 at 23:59 UTC.
Best regards,
Matanya, on behalf of the Elections Committee
Revised Enforcement Draft Guidelines for the Universal Code of Conduct
editHello everyone,
The Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines Revisions committee is requesting comments regarding the Revised Enforcement Draft Guidelines for the Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC). This review period will be open from 8 September 2022 until 8 October 2022.
The Committee collaborated to revise these draft guidelines based on input gathered from the community discussion period from May through July, as well as the community vote that concluded in March 2022. The revisions are focused on the following four areas:
- To identify the type, purpose, and applicability of the UCoC training;
- To simplify the language for more accessible translation and comprehension by non-experts;
- To explore the concept of affirmation, including its pros and cons;
- To review the balancing of the privacy of the accuser and the accused
The Committee requests comments and suggestions about these revisions by 8 October 2022. From there, the Revisions Committee anticipates further revising the guidelines based on community input.
Find the Revised Guidelines on Meta, and a comparison page in some languages.
Everyone may share comments in a number of places. Facilitators welcome comments in any language on the Revised Enforcement Guidelines talk page. Comments can also be shared on talk pages of translations, at local discussions, or during conversation hours. There are a series of conversation hours planned about the Revised Enforcement Guidelines; please see Meta for the times and details.
The facilitation team supporting this review period hopes to reach a large number of communities. If you do not see a conversation happening in your community, please organize a discussion. Facilitators can assist you in setting up the conversations. Discussions will be summarized and presented to the drafting committee every two weeks. The summaries will be published here.
On behalf of the UCoC Project Team,
Review period on the revised Enforcement Guidelines for the Universal Code of Conduct closed
editDear Wikimedians,
Thank you for participating in the review of the Revised Enforcement Draft Guidelines for the Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC). The UCoC project team and the UCoC Enforcement Guidelines Revisions Committee appreciate you all taking the time to discuss the guidelines, suggest changes, and ask questions.
This community review period lasted from 8 September 2022 to 8 October 2022.
Over the past four weeks, the UCoC project team has collected valuable community input from various channels, including three conversation hours sessions, where Wikimedians could get together to discuss the revised UCoC Enforcement Guidelines.
The Revisions Committee will review community input when they reconvene in the second week of October 2022. The UCoC project team will support them in providing updates as they continue their work and will continue to inform the community about all important developments and milestones as the Committee prepares the final version of the UCoC Enforcement Guidelines that is currently scheduled for a community-wide vote in mid-January of 2023.
On behalf of the UCoC Project Team,
Sunday November 13 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Wikimedia Research Fund, 2023 Ombuds commission and Case Review Committee appointments process, feedback on consultation and community session of the Movement Charter Drafting Committee, various Wikimania topics: (ideas/suggestions for Wikimania 2023, expressions of interest for Wikimania 2024 and beyond, expressions of interest to join Wikimania Steering Committee), and other ongoing activities.
This month we are meeting on Sunday November 13, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
(UTC meeting times are and
UTC times are different from before, and also note that some areas may have recently experienced daylight savings time changes.).--MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:18, 9 November 2022 (UTC)
Notification of upcoming reporting due date
editGreetings DrMel,
This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization reporting date is coming up in 29 day(s). Wikimedia Affiliates are required to submit an annual activity report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period in order to prompt review for a renewal. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal.
This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.
As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2023 annual reporting will be due in 2023-01-06. Please be sure to:
- Post your 2023 annual reporting to the meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal as soon as possible to return to compliance with your user group agreement.
- Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and
- Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.
If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to wadportal wikimedia.org.
Best regards,
Dumisani Ndubane
Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
(Initial Review) Notification of Affiliate Expiration - Renewal pending submission of reporting
editGreetings DrMel,
This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization is currently past due on its required annual reporting. Wikimedia Affiliates are required to submit an annual activity report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period in order to prompt review for a renewal. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal.
This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.
As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2023 annual reporting became past due in 2023-01-06. Please be sure to:
- Post your 2023 annual reporting to the meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal as soon as possible to return to compliance with your user group agreement.
- Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and
- Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.
If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to wadportal wikimedia.org.
Best regards,
Dumisani Ndubane
Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal
Sunday, January 8, 2023
Upcoming vote on the revised Enforcement Guidelines for the Universal Code of Conduct
editHello all,
In mid-January 2023, the Enforcement Guidelines for the Universal Code of Conduct will undergo a second community-wide ratification vote. This follows the March 2022 vote, which resulted in a majority of voters supporting the Enforcement Guidelines. During the vote, participants helped highlight important community concerns. The Board’s Community Affairs Committee requested that these areas of concern be reviewed.
The volunteer-led Revisions Committee worked hard reviewing community input and making changes. They updated areas of concern, such as training and affirmation requirements, privacy and transparency in the process, and readability and translatability of the document itself.
The revised Enforcement Guidelines can be viewed here, and a comparison of changes can be found here.
How to vote?
Beginning January 17, 2023, voting will be open. This page on Meta-wiki outlines information on how to vote using SecurePoll.
Who can vote?
The eligibility requirements for this vote are the same as for the Wikimedia Board of Trustees elections. See the voter information page for more details about voter eligibility. If you are an eligible voter, you can use your Wikimedia account to access the voting server.
What happens after the vote?
Votes will be scrutinized by an independent group of volunteers, and the results will be published on Wikimedia-l, the Movement Strategy Forum, Diff and on Meta-wiki. Voters will again be able to vote and share concerns they have about the guidelines. The Board of Trustees will look at the levels of support and concerns raised as they look at how the Enforcement Guidelines should be ratified or developed further.
On behalf of the UCoC Project Team,
Accesible indentation
editIn Wikipedia, en:MOS:INDENTGAP is a guidance for indentation that points out some issues with colons. Is en:Template:Block indent a better option for accesibility? Regards, --Thinker78 (talk) 01:06, 23 January 2023 (UTC)
- @Thinker78: Yes, but getting it universally implemented would be next-to-impossible at this point and this isn't the place to discuss this matter. Try the English Wikipedia accessibility talk pages. Graham87 (talk) 10:34, 10 March 2023 (UTC)
Voting on the revised Enforcement Guidelines for the Universal Code of Conduct is closed
editHello all,
The vote on the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines is now closed. The results will now be counted and scrutinized to ensure that only eligible votes are included. Results will be published on Meta and other movement forums as soon as they become available, as well as information on future steps. Thank you to all who participated in the voting process, and who have contributed to the drafting of Guidelines.
On behalf of the UCoC Project Team,
(First Reminder) Notification of Affiliate Expiration - Renewal pending submission of reporting
editGreetings DrMel,
This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization is currently past due on its required annual reporting. Wikimedia Affiliates are required to submit an annual activity report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period in order to prompt review for a renewal. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal.
This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.
As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2023 annual reporting became past due in 2023-01-06. Please be sure to:
- Post your 2023 annual reporting to the meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal as soon as possible to return to compliance with your user group agreement.
- Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and
- Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.
If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to wadportal wikimedia.org.
Best regards,
Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal
Universal Code of Conduct revised enforcement guidelines vote results
editThe recent community-wide vote on the Universal Code of Conduct revised Enforcement Guidelines has been tallied and scrutinized. Thank you to everyone who participated.
After 3097 voters from 146 Wikimedia communities voted, the results are 76% in support of the Enforcement Guidelines, and 24% in opposition. Statistics for the vote are available. A more detailed summary of comments submitted during the vote will be published soon.
From here, the results and comments collected during this vote will be submitted to the Board of Trustees for their review. The current expectation is that the Board of Trustees review process will complete in March 2023. We will update you when their review process is completed.
On behalf of the UCoC Project Team,
(Second Reminder) Notification of Affiliate Expiration - Renewal pending submission of reporting
editGreetings DrMel,
This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization is currently past due on its required annual reporting. Wikimedia Affiliates are required to submit an annual activity report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period in order to prompt review for a renewal. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal.
This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.
As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2023 annual reporting became past due in 2023-01-06. Please be sure to:
- Post your 2023 annual reporting to the meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal as soon as possible to return to compliance with your user group agreement.
- Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and
- Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.
If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to wadportal wikimedia.org.
Best regards,
Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal
Report on voter comments from the revised UCoC Enforcement Guidelines ratification vote
editHello all,
The Universal Code of Conduct project team has completed the analysis of the comments accompanying the ratification vote on the revised Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines.
All respondents to the vote had the opportunity to provide comments regarding the contents of the revised Enforcement Guidelines draft document. A total of 369 participants left comments in 18 languages; compared to 657 commenters in 27 languages in 2022. The Trust and Safety Policy team completed an analysis of these results, categorizing comments to identify major themes and areas of focus within the comments. The report is available in translated versions on Meta-wiki here. Please help translate into your language.
Again, we are thankful to all who participated in the vote and discussions. More information about the Universal Code of Conduct and its Enforcement Guidelines can be found on Meta-wiki.
On behalf of the Universal Code of Conduct project team,
Upcoming community review of the Movement Charter ratification methodology
editHello everyone,
The Movement Charter Drafting Committee (MCDC) will propose a ratification methodology for the future Movement Charter on April 10, 2023. The proposed ratification methodology is a result of learnings from previous ratification processes.
The MCDC will organize a consultation period with the Wikimedia Movement to hear feedback on the proposed ratification methodology from April 10 to 28, 2023. People will be invited to share their feedback on the questions mainly via the Meta Talk page discussion, on the Movement Strategy Forum, and during the community conversation hours. The MCDC welcomes your input on some open questions.
Join the community conversation hours
The MCDC invites everyone interested in sharing their feedback on the proposed methodology to join the community conversation hours:
- Community conversation hour #1: 18 April at 10:00 UTC (your local time)
- Community conversation hour #2: 24 April at 17:00 UTC (your local time)
When signing up, please leave a comment if you need language support. Please note that language interpretation will be provided if at least 3 people expressed interest to participate in the following languages: Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian and Spanish.
Thank you,
On behalf of the Movement Charter Drafting Committee,
(Third Reminder) Notification of Affiliate Expiration - Renewal pending submission of reporting
editGreetings DrMel,
This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization is currently past due on its required annual reporting. Wikimedia Affiliates are required to submit an annual activity report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period in order to prompt review for a renewal. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal.
This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.
As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2023 annual reporting became past due in 2023-01-06. Please be sure to:
- Post your 2023 annual reporting to the meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal as soon as possible to return to compliance with your user group agreement.
- Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and
- Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.
If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to wadportal wikimedia.org.
Best regards,
Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal
Elections Committee: Call for New Members
editHello everyone,
The Wikimedia Foundation elections committee (Elections Committee) is, from today until April 24, seeking an additional 2–4 members to help facilitate the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustee (Board) selection process.
The 2024 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees election is being planned. New members are invited to join the Elections Committee. The Elections Committee oversees the Board of Trustees community seat selection process. Join the committee and contribute your valuable skills and ideas to the Trustee selection process.
There are eight community- and affiliate-selected seats on the Wikimedia Foundation Board. The wider Wikimedia community votes for community members to occupy these seats. In 2024, the Elections Committee will oversee this selection process for the community- and affiliate-selected seats with expiring terms. This process will be supported by the Wikimedia Foundation.
Elections Committee members sign up for three-year terms and will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. Members can expect to contribute 2–5 hours per week before the selection process and 5–8 hours per week during the selection process.
As an Elections Committee member, you will be responsible for:
- Attending online meetings between now and the next election (mid-2024)
- Attending onboarding and online training in May–June 2023
- Working with the Committee to fulfill its other responsibilities
New members should have the following qualities:
- Fluency in English
- Responsiveness to email collaboration
- Knowledge of the movement and movement governance
If you would like to volunteer for this role, please submit your candidacy by April 24, 2023 23:59 AoE (Anywhere on Earth) on this Meta-Wiki page.
You can read the full announcement here. Thank you in advance for your interest! If you are not interested but know someone who might be, share this message with them. Please let me know if you have questions.
On behalf of the Elections Committee,
Invitation to join the Wikimedia Affiliate strategy discussions
editHope this message finds you well. I am sharing an update about the Wikimedia Foundation Affiliate strategy initiative. In November, Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees announced the beginning of Wikimedia Foundation Affiliate strategy.
We are working on the next steps of the Affiliate strategy. We invite you to a session with the Board of Trustees, AffCom, and supporting staff to provide input into this process. These sessions will be conducted in groups and the language will be English. If you are able to attend one of these meetings, please sign up here. If you prefer a 1:1 session for a detailed discussion, please reach out to me. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please respond via the survey or in writing to askcac@wikimedia.org or on the Talk page.
This message was also sent by email to affiliate primary contacts.
WikiWomenCamp 2023 Scholarship Application
editHello all,
We are thrilled to announce the opening of the scholarship applications for Wiki Women Camp 2023 which will run from 20-23 October in New Delhi, India. The scholarship application deadline is July 4th, end of the day (anywhere in the world), and applicants will receive notification of decisions in mid-July.
Please submit your application directly through the provided forms available here.
If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at admin@wikiwomencamp.org.
Cheers,
Maffeth.opiana (talk) 11:25, 23 June 2023 (UTC)
On behalf of the WikiWomenCamp 2023 Team
Sunday July 16 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting (Global Council focus, now available in ar, es, fr!)
editThe Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.
We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Wikimania Singapore, Future of SWAN, Movement Charter/Content new sections (particularly Movement Charter/Content/Global Council), other activities you submit, and we will top it all off with a grand finale AI Happy Hour / Doom Hour!
This month we are meeting on Sunday July 16, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
UTC meeting times are and
Note that we are now meeting on Zoom, with interpretation in the 2nd session in (Arabic) (Spanish) (French)--Pharos (talk) 02:41, 12 July 2023 (UTC)
Call for Affiliates & Call for Trainers WikiWomenCamp 2023
editDear all,
The WikiWomenCamp 2023 team is excited to announce that the calls for Affiliates and Trainers are open now!
- Self-funded affiliates attendance
If your affiliate is interested, kindly fill out the registration form by 8 August 2023, anywhere on earth. Please note that self-funded attendance means participants will be responsible for their travel, accommodation, visa (if required), and related expenses. We have 10 seats reserved for affiliates. Here is the form link: Google Forms
- Trainers
The call for trainers to facilitate gender-focused sessions at WikiWomenCamp 2023 is open. To propose your session(s), please submit the application form by 8th August 2023. More details about the call for trainers (benefits for trainers and key dates) are here: m:WWC2023/Program
To read more about the camp, please visit: m:WikiWomenCamp 2023
Cheers,
Maffeth.opiana (talk) 03:37, 29 July 2023 (UTC)
On behalf of the WWC23 team
Volunteer Response Team request
editAt OTRS:2023082710000507 a blind user is having difficulty with password reset. They had several other issues before this.
Is there anyone here with rights to Volunteer Response Team who is willing to take this ticket? If so, please note here and follow the link. Thanks. Bluerasberry (talk) 18:24, 13 September 2023 (UTC)
Call for Highlight Videos for WikiWomenCamp 2023
editDear Community Members,
As we gear up for the upcoming WikiWomenCamp in India, we are excited to announce a unique opportunity to share your incredible work and its impact with the global community.
What We're Looking For: We invite you to submit short (3-5 minute) videos highlighting your projects, initiatives, or efforts that have made a significant difference in addressing gender gaps. We know that many of you are doing remarkable work in various corners of the world, and we want to shine a spotlight on your achievements.
Why Short Videos: Our camp sessions are extensive, covering a wide range of topics and discussions. In the interest of time and with a commitment to showcasing the amazing initiatives across our movement, we believe that short videos are an effective way to capture and share the essence of your work.
How Your Videos Will Be Used: The selected videos will be featured on our social media channels and played during breaks at the camp. This provides an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your work to a broader audience and inspire others to get involved or collaborate with you.
Submission Guidelines:
- Videos should be 3-5 minutes in length.
- Please focus on the impact of your work, highlighting how it contributes to addressing gender gap.
- Be creative and engage in your presentation.
- Ensure video quality is clear and audible.
- Narration (optional): If possible, include a brief voiceover or text captions to provide context and explanation.
- Language: While English is preferred for wider accessibility, videos in other languages are also welcome. Kindly ensure that non-English videos are accompanied by English subtitles or captions.
Submission Deadline:
To be considered for inclusion in our camp programming, please submit your videos by Thursday, 28th September 2023. Late submissions may still be featured later on our social media channels.
How to Submit:
To avoid any issues with file sizes, we recommend using a file transfer service like WeTransfer or Google Drive while sharing your videos with us at admin@wikiwomencamp.org. In your email, include a brief description of your project, affiliate name / your name or username, and contact information.
We believe that your stories and experiences are powerful tools for change. By sharing them with our community, you contribute to a collective effort to bridge the gender gap and empower women and girls worldwide.
Thank you for being a part of the camp initiatives, and we look forward to receiving your inspiring videos.
Warm regards,
WikiWomenCamp 2023 COT
Introducing the Wikimedia photo library and a workshop invite
editDear Wikimedia affiliates communications leads,
We are so excited to share a new resource with you: The Wikimedia Photo Library. In it you will find high quality images that help to tell the story of free knowledge. We hope that this library will help you in the important work you do as a communication lead. Alongside this library, we’ve also updated guidelines on how to effectively use imagery to tell brand stories.
Curious to learn more about these resources?
We will be holding a short workshop for 45 minutes on Tuesday 3 October 2023, at 16:00 UTC (add event to your calendar) and again on Thursday 5 October at 7:00 UTC (add event to your calendar) to accommodate different time zones. During these workshops, we will walk you through some examples of images that align with the Movement Brand Guidelines, some basics of quality photography and answer any questions you may have about this topic.
The need for a Wikimedia Photo Library
Our research showed that there are lots of photos available from Wikimedia events, usually featuring people using computers. There were very few images showing mobile editing or reading, and even fewer showing people using the projects in their everyday lives.
These images are the first steps in creating a photo library that is representative of the whole movement. We have added images that are aligned with the Movement Brand Guidelines in this category on Wikimedia Commons. Photography is a powerful tool to create cohesion in Wikimedia communication. Our hope is that all of you will help to build this resource out with images from your region.
By continuing to add to this category, we will be helping one another tell more impactful stories of the free knowledge movement – learn how on the Brand portal on Meta-wiki.
Thank you so much and please let me know if you have any questions. We hope to see you at one of the workshops!
Best,
Samir and the Brand Studio team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:54, 23 September 2023 (UTC)
Follow up on the last message about the photography workshop
editHi everyone,
This is a reminder about our photography sessions happening this week. Also, some people reached out with concerns about not being able to open the links to meetings in the previous message. Please find a direct link to the Google Meet sessions here:
Thank you and please let me know if you have any questions. If you have any questions please reach out to selsharbaty wikimedia org . --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:21, 2 October 2023 (UTC)
Opportunities open for the Affiliations Committee, Ombuds commission, and the Case Review Committee
editYou can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki.
More languages • Please help translate to your languageHi everyone! The Affiliations Committee (AffCom), Ombuds commission (OC), and the Case Review Committee (CRC) are looking for new members. These volunteer groups provide important structural and oversight support for the community and movement. People are encouraged to nominate themselves or encourage others they feel would contribute to these groups to apply. There is more information about the roles of the groups, the skills needed, and the opportunity to apply on the Meta-wiki page.
If you are aware of participants in your affiliate who may be interested in these roles, please share this message with them.
On behalf of the Committee Support team,
Keegan (WMF) (talk) 20:23, 18 October 2023 (UTC)
Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy: Summary and Report
editDear Wikimedia affiliate,
Last year, the Wikimedia Foundation Board announced they started the process with creating an Affiliates Strategy in collaboration with the Affiliations Committee, the affiliates, and the broader communities with the intention to develop a strategy that will help guide the Foundation’s immediate work in supporting affiliates for the next few years, with a primary focus on the recognition process, as a direct responsibility of the Board.
Over several months, the Wikimedia Foundation Board engaged with an outside consultant to drive a review process of what work the Foundation was doing to support affiliates. The end goal was to have several recommended actions.
You can read more about the findings and the recommendations on this Meta-Wiki page.
Best,
Discussion regarding en:WP:Spoken Wikipedia
editHello everyone—I've had a few preliminary ideas regarding the niche of spoken articles on Wikipedia, and I wanted to request any input blind or low sighted Wikimedians may have, as one of my primary goals is to ensure a format that provides additional value to blind or low sighted readers, on top of the existing capabilities provided by their screen readers. Cheers! Remsense (talk) 02:24, 9 January 2024 (UTC)
Feedback invited on proposed requirements for affiliates & user groups recognition changes
edit- You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language
Dear Wikimedia Affiliates,
Following up on the development of Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy, we would like to invite you to give feedback on requirements for affiliates & user groups recognition changes. You can find the details of the proposed changes in this message from Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees liaisons to the Affiliations Committee, as well as the ways to give your feedback.
We have also reached out to your contact persons via the emails provided.
Best regards,
Introducing Let's Connect! to WikiBlind User Group
editDear WikiBlind User Group,
We hope this message finds you well and that you are in good spirits. We are the Let’s Connect working group - a team of movement contributors/organizers who are liaison representatives of 7/8 regions. We are connecting with you to see if WikiBlind User Group is interested in and/or know about the peer-to-peer program, Let’s Connect!
The program creates an open and safe learning space for any Wikimedian who is part of an organized group to share and learn different skills (organizational/interpersonal / grant related / learning & evaluation ...) with other peers to add value and contribute collectively to the community. The purpose is to further develop skills, share knowledge and promote human connections and mutual support between different groups and communities, in alignment with the Movement Strategy.
Every month, we host 2-3 live 2-hour learning clinics with interesting topics selected by our team and our interested sharers. Our live learning sessions have up to 4 interpreters translating the clinic for our participants. Our main languages are Spanish | Arabic | French | Portuguese. If there is a specific language you would like to see in the calls, we are happy to see how we can accommodate it.
Let’s Connect is directed at Wikimedians in all regions that are part of organized groups (this can range from a group of individuals that are not formally organized user groups, chapters and mission-aligned organizations). Please see our Meta page for more criteria. To participate as a sharer, you can register in this initial registration form where you can register your learning and sharing interests and state if you want to share your knowledge through Learning Clinics.
Below, you will find our team of 8 who are excited to meet with you if you are interested. Please email our team at letsconnect@wikimedia.org if you have any questions :) We look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Bukola James
The Let’s Connect Working Group Bukky658 (talk) 07:36, 20 March 2024 (UTC)
The full draft of the Wikimedia Movement Charter will soon be shared
edit- You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language
Hi there,
The Movement Charter Drafting Committee is happy to announce that the full draft of the Movement Charter will be published on April 2nd, 2024. This will kick off the community engagement period from April 2nd to April 22nd.
The Movement Charter is a proposed document to define roles and responsibilities for all the members and entities of the Wikimedia Movement, including to lay out a new Global Council for movement governance.
Everyone in the Wikimedia Movement is invited to share opinions on the full version of the Charter draft – this is the last chance to offer feedback before the Charter draft is updated for the ratification vote in June 2024.
How to share your feedback?
- share your message or question on the Movement Charter Talk page;
- attend a community drop-in session on April 4th at 15.00-17.00 UTC;
- or email movementcharter@wikimedia.org.
Read the Committee's latest updates for more information.
On behalf of the MCDC,
The full Movement Charter draft awaits your review on Meta
edit- You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language
Hi everyone,
The full draft of the Movement Charter has been published on Meta for your review.
Why should you care?
The Charter is important as it will be an essential document for the implementation of the 2030 strategy recommendations. Participating in the Charter discussions means that you ensure that your voice is heard and your interests are represented in shaping the future of the Movement.
Community Engagement – April 2nd to April 30th, 2024
The Movement Charter Drafting Committee (MCDC) cordially invites everyone in the Wikimedia movement to share feedback on the full draft of the Movement Charter.
Let your voice be heard by sharing your feedback it in any language on the Movement Charter talk pages, attend a community drop-in session, or email movementcharter@wikimedia.org.
Please read the Committee's latest updates for more information.
Thank you.
On behalf of the MCDC,
Affiliations Committee News (January-March 2024)
editYou can find this newsletter translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language
Quarterly newsletter sharing news and events about the work of Wikimedia's Affiliations Committee.
Affiliate Recognition and Derecognition: Recognition of Cyprus, Botswana, Niger, and Telugu user groups
Affiliate Activities Report: Reports from Belgium, South African, and Ukrainian chapters
AffCom Movement Contribution: AffCom engagement with the new Affiliates Strategy and Movement Charter drafts
AffCom Administration: New AffCom members and advisors
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:55, 18 April 2024 (UTC)
Board of Trustees selection call for candidates
editHello all,
The call for candidates for the 2024 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees selection is now open from May 8, 2024 - May 29, 2024 at 23:59 UTC. The Board of Trustees oversees the Wikimedia Foundation's work, and each Trustee serves a three-year term. This is a volunteer position.
This year, the Wikimedia community will vote to fill four (4) seats on the Foundation Board in August 2024. You can see the timeline of the full selection process here.
Traits
Wikimedia is a global movement and seeks candidates from the broader community. Ideal candidates are thoughtful, respectful, community-oriented and align with the Wikimedia Foundation mission. Candidates should think about what experiences and perspectives they will bring to the Board.
The Board would like to find perspectives and voices that are essential but underrepresented in our movement. Accordingly, all candidates will be asked to include statements in their application that speak to their experiences in the world and in the movement and share how those experiences have equipped them to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Trustees commitment
Trustees serve a three year term and can serve up to three consecutive terms. The expectation is that Trustees serve on at least one of the Board’s committees. The time commitment is about 150 hours per year, excluding travel. This time is not evenly spread throughout the year. The time is concentrated around meetings.
Trustees requirements
English is the language of business for the Board. Candidates must be fluent in written and spoken English. Previous experience serving on a collective decision-making body, especially Boards or committees, and significant experience in Wikimedia (or equivalent) movement building and organizing are expected from candidates.
Apply
Candidates from all projects and communities who meet the criteria to become a Wikimedia Trustee are welcome to apply. Could you - or someone you know - be a good fit to join the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees? Encourage them to run for election. Candidates can find information and submit their nomination on the candidate application page. If you want to learn more about the role of Trustees or have questions, refer to this candidate resources page.
Community questions for candidates
All community members, including affiliates, are invited to submit questions for the Board of Trustees candidates to answer. From the list of questions, the Election Committee selects 5 questions for candidates to answer, which the candidates are expected to answer. The selected questions may be a combination of what’s been submitted from the community, if they’re alike or related. Questions can be submitted between May 8 - June 12 at 23:59 UTC. Learn more about how to submit your questions on this Meta-wiki page.
Best regards,
The Elections Committee and Board Selection Working Group
MPossoupe_(WMF) 18:33, 8 May 2024 (UTC)
Feedback invited on Procedure for Sibling Project Lifecycle
edit- You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language
Dear Wikimedia Affiliates,
The Community Affairs Committee (CAC) of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees invites you to give feedback on a draft Procedure for Sibling Project Lifecycle. Affiliates play important roles in the Movement, working with communities and external partners, and thus they bring valuable perspectives to the table. We warmly welcome you to the conversations. In addition, please share information about this with your affiliate membership, and any project communities your affiliate works with or supports. You can also help translate the procedure into more languages so that people can join the discussions in their language.
This draft Procedure outlines proposed steps and requirements for opening and closing Wikimedia Sibling Projects. It aims to ensure any newly approved projects are set up for success. This is separate from the procedures for opening or closing language versions of projects, which is handled by the Language Committee. It is also separate from the closing projects policy.
You can find the details of the proposal on this page, as well as the ways to give your feedback from today until the end of the day on June 23, 2024, anywhere on Earth.
We have also reached out to your contact persons via the emails provided.
On behalf of the CAC,
RamzyM (WMF) 16:08, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
The final text of the Wikimedia Movement Charter is now on Meta
edit- You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language
Hi everyone,
The final text of the Wikimedia Movement Charter is now up on Meta in more than 20 languages for your reading.
What is the Wikimedia Movement Charter?
The Wikimedia Movement Charter is a proposed document to define roles and responsibilities for all the members and entities of the Wikimedia movement, including the creation of a new body – the Global Council – for movement governance.
Join the Wikimedia Movement Charter “Launch Party”
Join the “Launch Party” on June 20, 2024 at 14.00-15.00 UTC (your local time). During this call, we will celebrate the release of the final Charter and present the content of the Charter. Join and learn about the Charter before casting your vote.
Movement Charter ratification vote
Voting will commence on SecurePoll on June 25, 2024 at 00:01 UTC and will conclude on July 9, 2024 at 23:59 UTC. You can read more about the voting process, eligibility criteria, and other details on Meta.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment on the Meta talk page or email the MCDC at mcdc@wikimedia.org.
On behalf of the MCDC,
RamzyM (WMF) 08:43, 11 June 2024 (UTC)
Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy: Affiliate health criteria and changes to User Group recognition process
edit- This communication has been adapted from the original message.
Dear all,
We would like to thank all of you who shared feedback with us during this phase of the Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy process that started in November 2022, both on- and off-wiki. You can read the report from the first phase here.
Since that point, AffCom has been working with the Board of Trustees, Foundation staff, affiliates, and wider community members to enable them to provide appropriate guidance to affiliates regarding what it means to be an active and healthy Wikimedia organisation. As a result of those conversations, the committee has voted to adopt the following 10 criteria for affiliates, grouped into four main areas:
- Goal delivery
- Organisational Development
- Good governance & communication
- Financial & legal compliance
- Affiliate health & resilience
- Leadership & Inclusion
- Diverse, skilled, and accountable leadership
- Diversity balance (especially gender)
- Universal Code of Conduct compliance)
- Engagement & Collaboration
- Internal (membership) engagement
- Community connection
- Partnerships & collaboration
You are encouraged to read more details about each of these criteria here, including guidance on how each can be met. All criteria will be tracked for all affiliates, except for the criteria around financial and legal compliance, which only apply to those affiliates receiving funds and/or that are incorporated.
Staff and AffCom are working on streamlining affiliate reporting requirements, and responding to feedback raised during the community feedback period about the reporting burden. The new requirements of data collected in reports would be useful also for different Foundation teams and departments, and allow for the creation of detailed regional or global reports that demonstrate affiliate health and impact.
In July 2024, AffCom will work to finalise the implementation plans for the changes to the affiliate requirements and application process. In August 2024, updates will be made to Meta-wiki and other supporting platforms.
You can follow the process here.
The insights from the 2023 process also included recognising a need to strengthen AffCom processes for evaluating potential User Groups’ furtherance of shared movement goals, sustainability, and general ability to be healthy and active movement participants. AffCom has adopted a revised process for User Group recognition, and will be pausing new User Group recognitions until September 2024.
No immediate changes are happening, except the pause of considering new User Group recognitions until September, for applications received after today, June 12, 2024. Once more detailed implementation plans are developed, there will be an update here and on the relevant Meta pages with the next steps after Wikimania.
To provide your feedback, please leave a comment on the main talk page on Meta.
Alternatively, you can join AffCom's open office hours on June 19 at 14:00 UTC or request a conversation as a part of Talking:2024. You can use the Let’s Talk to sign up for a time to speak with us.
Looking forward to your feedback!
Best regards,
Nat, Mike & Lorenzo
Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees Liaisons to the Affiliations Committee
Sunday June 23 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting (WMF BoT statement on Movement Charter ratification)
editHello everyone!
The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas about current developments in the Wikimedia Movement. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for further Wikimedia 2030 strategy process work.
At this meeting we will focus on the recent statement by the WMF Board of Trustees liaisons statement on the Movement Charter in which the liaisons stated that they will be recommending the Board of Trustees not to ratify the final draft of the Movement Charter. The community and affiliate votes on the ratification are supposed to start on Tuesday, 25 June. This meeting offers a venue to discuss the situation and formulate the "next steps".
This month, we are meeting on Sunday, June 23, and you are all invited to RSVP here.
Nadzik (talk) 16:30, 22 June 2024 (UTC)
Affiliations Committee News (April-June 2024)
editYou can find this newsletter translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language
Quarterly newsletter sharing news and events about the work of Wikimedia's Affiliations Committee.
Affiliate Recognition and Derecognition: Recognition of Madagascar, Senegal, Republic of Congo, and Namibia user groups
Affiliate Activities and Compliance Report: Activities reports around the world
AffCom Conflict Intervention: Six active conflicts, no new reports for Q4
AffCom Movement Contribution: AffCom engagement at Wikimedia Summit and ESEAP Conference
AffCom Administration: Officers elections and departing members
Upcoming AffCom Events: AffCom at Wikimania 2024
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:20, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
Sunday July 28 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting (Results of Movement Charter ratification)
editHello everyone!
The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas about current developments in the Wikimedia Movement. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for further Wikimedia 2030 strategy process work.
At this meeting we will focus on the results of the Movement Charter ratification. We will also discuss the aftermath of the Board of Trustees' decision to veto the Movement Charter, including their recent proposals. We will also cover updates about upcoming Wikimania 2024.
This month, we are meeting on Sunday, July 28, and you are all invited to RSVP here.