W3C

EOWG 23 Sep 2011

Agenda

  1. Web accessibility outreach - discuss needs, issues, and ideas for addressing them
  2. Reminders:

Attendees

Present
Andrew, Shawn, Liam, Char, Jennifer, Ian, Denis, Cliff
Regrets
Sharron, Wayne, Sylvie, Shadi, Emmanuelle, Jason
Chair
Shawn
Scribe
Char

Contents


<shawn> www.w3.org/WAI/EO/2003/template.html

<scribe> scribe: char

<scribe> Scribe: Char

Web accessibility outreach - Accessibility Unconferences

<Char> Last year, comments said there weren't enough beginner sessions at the Boston Accessibility Unconference, so this year we had some pre-arranged speakers (mostly from out-of-town). Boston was funded by sponsors and donations, had four tracks. Attendees were 30% newbies, 30% advanced, 40% intermedate. I found out that next year we can apply for grants for CART and sign language interpreters (minimum of two months in advance) from the Mass Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

<Denis>Montreal was planned in advance, and had only one track. Attendee breakdown was similar to Boston's. We will move to more of an unconference next year (less structured).

London was partially funded in advance

<Cliff> About the same for Washington, maybe heavier on the newbies.

Toronto is tomorrow, sponsor-funded. Toronto has sign language interpreters because they got funding for it, but no one has requested it.

<Shawn> All unconferences had people with disabilities, which was good.

Making arrangements for (unstructured) unconferences are harder because we have to try to line up the accommodations for help.

<shawn> Shawn: How can WAI leverage education & outreach opportunity (with limited people and very limited travel budget)?

Denis: W3C helps build credibility for the event.

Jenn: Wishes that WCAG At A Glance could have been provided as handouts.

<shawn> Char: Boston has a website with followup material, could add to that.

Denis: needed to provide materials in French (in addition to any other format)
... we could come up with a starter kit of information provided by WAI and translate that.

<Shawn> Translating WAI documents: www.w3.org/WAI/translation.

Shawn: we'll be making translations more visible for all materials.

Cliff: How are websites created? Denis: WordPress (customized, linked to PayPal and EventBrite); Char: Drupal (accessible theme with customization; uses Drupal registration plug-in)

Andrew: Is EventBrite accessible?

Denis: EventBrite is not accessible enough. When someone asked, Denis would help them register.
... people would register for the free event (lunch not provided) or would pay (included lunch and T-shirt)
... Wants to bring up these issues with EventBrite to help improve the functionality
... EventBrite was better than a homegrown system. John Croston (DC) is working on creating a new system because EventBrite isn't accessible enough.

Cliff: Drupal has conference plug-in that provides more than just a registration form. Could also include WAI outreach info (slideshows, etc.)

Jenn: thinks that conferences could link to YouTube video (quick, simple) that provides more info

Denis: Need to build constructive criticism for companies to help them create apps that are more accessible

Shawn: WAI doesn't want to get into providing custom themes for various apps.

Shawn: What materials could WAI provide?

<Shawn> Contacting Organizations about Inaccessible Websites www.w3.org/WAI/users/inaccessible.html

<Jennifer> WCAG at a Glance

<AndrewA> www.w3.org/WAI/training/accessible

Denis: someone has to explain the "before" and "after" demos to show what's changed

<Shawn> We don't print so much, so print material uninteresting. Prefer URIs we can give people

<Ian> Have you tried small cards with a few URLs on them, rather than larger documents

<shawn> www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/accessibility

Cliff: would be good if we could provide documents in plain English; could also distribute cards with URLs

<clifftyllick> [me notes that www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/accessibility is but one document, and every link off of it hits the brick wall

Shawn: WCAG and EO would work together (technical and outreach) to provide information

<Denis> W3C Cheatsheetwww.w3.org/2009/cheatsheet/

<AndrewA> Android version - dev.w3.org/2009/cheatsheet/doc/android

<Shawn> Web Content Accessibility and Mobile Web: Making a Web Site Accessible Both for People with Disabilities and for Mobile Devices www.w3.org/WAI/mobile/Overview.html

Shawn: Ian talked about a flyer earlier, could use more help

Jenn: "Responsibility Breakdown" has gotten a lot of interest lately

Reminders

Under Web Accessibility Metrics - Online Symposium: send questions to Shedi

<AndrewA> Benchmarking Web Accessibility Metrics - www.w3.org/WAI/RD/wiki/Benchmarking_Web_Accessibility_Metrics

Under Updating Policies: intro has been revised by Shawn and Jenn (Judy hasn't looked at it yet); should be in plain language; have some policy updates for first round

Under Slidy Help: in Wiki, can make additional suggestions

Under TPAC 2011 session ideas: planning to have some unconference time, add ideas

Denis: unconference organizers talked about setting up a wiki as an instruction manual; W3C could host wiki or provide more visibility
... WAI support would mean a lot

Shawn: Strongly encourages and requests that unconference wiki points to accessible presentations, etc. where appropriate

Char: JTF Hosting can provide hosting for this if W3C can't

Summary of Action Items

[End of minutes]

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