Proposal for unified conformance scheme

Abstract

This document proposes a unified conformance scheme for the Web Content, Authoring Tool, and User Agent Accessibility Guidelines.

Status of this Document

This document is a draft for consideration by the W3C Team. It may be made available to a larger audience (probably public) after review by the Team. It is expected that after review, the conformance scheme will be integrated into all three Guidelines.

This document is the result of an action item assigned at the 14 December WAI CG meeting (Member-only link).

This document has been published as part of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

A list of current W3C Recommendations and other technical documents can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR.

Conformance claims

The following text is generic but may be tailored where appropriate to each Guidelines document.

Location of a claim

A claim and the details of the claim may be published anywhere (e.g., on the Web or in product documentation). If the claim details are published separately from the claim, the claim must include a reference to the details. The claim and claim details must be accessible according to the WCAG.

Each claim must refer to the W3C explanation of the claim. The reference may appear along with the details.

For example, an author may put a conformance icon on a Web page and could link that to a separate page for the claim details. On the details page, the author must refer to the W3C explanation of the claim. Or, the icon itself may link directly to the W3C explanation, and the claim details might appear on the same page as the icon.

Details of a claim

Each claim must include all of the following details:

1. The title and version of the guidelines that is the object of the claim.
2. The URI of the guidelines.
3. The conformance level satisfied.
4. The date of the claim.
5. The checkpoints of the chosen conformance level considered not applicable. W3C encourages claimants to use the provided checklists for this purpose.
6. The scope of the claim. The scope details will differ from guideline to guideline:
   1. In WCAG, the scope refers to the page, site, or defined portion of a site.
   2. In ATAG and UAAG, the scope refers to the software name, version, platform, and other pertinent information such as which patches must be applied, which upgrades are necessary, which operating system features must be available, etc.

This information may be provided in text or metdata markup (e.g., using RDF and an RDF schema designed for WAI conformance claims). The details must be accessible according to the WCAG.

Validation of a claim

This text would appear in the explanation of the claim

Anyone may make a conformance claim (e.g., vendors about their own products, third parties about those products, content providers about their own Web sites, journalists about Web sites of others, etc.). Claimants are solely responsible for their claims and the use of the conformance logos. The appearance of a WAI conformance logo does not imply that W3C has reviewed the claim or agrees with it.

Claimants (or relevant assuring parties) are responsible for the validity of a claim. As of January 2000, W3C does not act as an assuring party, but it may do so in the future, or establish recommendations for assuring parties.

Claimants should modify or retract a claim if it is demonstrated that the claim is flawed or incomplete.

Example

The following would be the modification to the User Agent Guidelines.

The terms "must", "should", and "may" (and related terms) are used in this document in accordance with RFC 2119 [[RFC2119]].

User agents must satisfy all the applicable checkpoints for a chosen conformance level.

Conformance levels

This section defines three levels of conformance to this document.

• Conformance Level "A": all Priority 1 checkpoints are satisfied
• Conformance Level "Double-A": all Priority 1 and 2 checkpoints are satisfied
• Conformance Level "Triple-A": all Priority 1, 2, and 3 checkpoints are satisfied

Note. Conformance levels are spelled out in text (e.g., "Double-A" rather than "AA") so they may be understood when rendered as speech.

Location of a claim

Use text above. Include the URI to the W3C explanation of User Agent Guideline claims.

Details of a claim

Each claim must include all of the following details:

1. The title and version of the guidelines that is the object of the claim: "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0"
2. The URI of the guidelines: http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-WAI-UAAG-199904XX
3. The conformance level satisfied: "A", "Double-A", or "Triple-A".
4. The date of the claim. XX April 2000.
5. The checkpoints of the chosen conformance level considered not applicable. W3C encourages claimants to use the provided checklists for this purpose.
6. The version number and operating system of the software covered by the claim.

This information may be provided in text or metadata markup (e.g., using RDF and an RDF schema designed for WAI conformance claims). The details must be accessible according to the WCAG.

@@Add sample RDF here.@@

Example in text:

This product conforms to W3C's "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0", available at http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-WAI-UAAG-199904XX, level Double-A.