Web Accessibility

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is the leading international forum for development of authoritative solutions for Web accessibility. WAI enables partnering of industry, disability communities, accessibility research, government, and others interested in improving accessibility of the Web for people with disabilities and older people. WAI ensures that W3C technologies support accessibility; develops accessibility standards and guidelines for web content, browsers, multimedia players, authoring tools, and dynamic web content; develops resources for evaluation and repair of Web sites, and for education and outreach; and coordinates with research and development which may impact future accessibility of the Web. Benefits of WAI sponsorship include visibility for your organization's commitment to accessibility of the Web. Learn more about WAI Sponsorship.

WAI Platinum Sponsor

• Identified as a sponsor for one W3C/WAI Workshop, or host for up to two face-to-face W3C/WAI meetings, per year.
• Full day or two half-day web accessibility briefings or consultations (annually; mutually agreeable schedule)
• Visibility in select WAI publications
• Participation in advisory discussions on WAI's work (WAI Steering Council)
• Featured on WAI Sponsor page as WAI Platinum Sponsor (logo, 2 images, 250-word blurb)
  
• Use of WAI Platinum Sponsor logo on Sponsor's website

Amount: 100K USD annually, for three years

WAI Gold Sponsor

• Half-day web accessibility briefings or consultations (annually; mutually agreeable schedule)
  
• Visibility in select WAI publications
• Participation in advisory discussions on WAI's work (WAI Steering Council)
• Featured on WAI Sponsor page as WAI Gold Sponsor (logo, 100-word blurb)
• Use of WAI Gold Sponsor logo on Sponsor's website
  

Amount: 50K USD annually, for three years

WAI Silver Sponsor

• Participation in advisory discussions on WAI's work (WAI Steering Council)
• Featured on WAI Sponsor page as WAI Silver Sponsor (logo and 50-word blurb)
• Use of WAI Silver Sponsor logo for this sponsor level on Sponsor's website

Amount: 25K USD annually, for three years

WAI Contributor

• Visibility on WAI Sponsor page as WAI Contributor

Amount: 1000 USD and up, annually

Multilingual Web

New Technical Roadmap and Educational Programs for Multi-Lingual Web

To help achieve the goal of a multilingual Web, new technical roadmaps are required to encompass technical, engagement, and educational needs, and to map core standardization work, language-specific proofs of concept, and extended development of support in individual languages across an appropriate range of collaborating organizations. This program will have both development and education components as well as active liaison and outreach programs with relevant communities. Estimated budget: $250K per year. Contact Judy Brewer <jbrewer@w3.org>

Global Inclusion and Participation

Voice Access to the Web for Underserved Communities

Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, south-east Asia and Latin America have a low rate of literacy among adults, sometimes less than 30 or 40 percent of the population. This is a high barrier for accessing written content and applications on the Web. The ability to "speak with the Web" through voice applications is an easier way to access the Web for many people with disabilities, low literacy, and people accessing Web content in a non-native language regardless of their literacy level. User scenarios, guidelines and best practices will be developed through this project. Estimated budget: $200K per year. Contact Judy Brewer <jbrewer@w3.org>

Improve Mobile Authoring

This project will investigate existing tools to author Web content from mobile phones, identify existing gaps in the landscape, develop the requirements of the targeted tool through a community-based process involving potential users, tools manufacturers, etc. and develop a first version to demonstrate the concept and bootstrap an open source initiative. Estimated budget: $80K per year. Contact Judy Brewer <jbrewer@w3.org>

W3C Workshops in New Regions

Hold more W3C Workshops in Brazil, Russia, India, China, in developing countries, and in other countries with emerging economies, to engage more individuals and organizations globally in informing, driving, and contributing to W3C work, with the goals of increasing access to the Web for more people around the world, and shifting the membership profile of W3C so that it better matches trends of Web usage. Estimated budget: $30K per year. Contact Alan Bird <abird@w3.org>

Enhanced W3C Offices Program

In order to improve the Web and make it truly global, W3C needs to work more closely with people in regions in the world that have other economic, social, political and educational conditions than the highly industrialized countries. To this end, we seek to expand and enhance the W3C Offices Program with activities to increase education, outreach, community forming, and regional feedback. Estimated budget: $80K per year. Contact Alan Bird <abird@w3.org>