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W3C

Techniques for WCAG 2.0

Techniques and Failures for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0

W3C Working Group Note 3 January 2012

This version:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2012/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20120103/
Latest version:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/
Previous version:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2010/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20101014/
Editors:
Michael Cooper, W3C
Loretta Guarino Reid, Google, Inc.
Gregg Vanderheiden, Trace R&D Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Previous Editors:
Ben Caldwell (until September 2010 while at Trace R&D Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Wendy Chisholm (until July 2006 while at W3C)
John Slatin (until June 2006 while at Accessibility Institute, University of Texas at Austin)

This document is also available in these non-normative formats:


Abstract

"Techniques for WCAG 2.0" provides information to Web content developers who wish to satisfy the success criteria of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 [WCAG20]. Techniques are specific authoring practices that may be used in support of the WCAG 2.0 success criteria. This document provides "General Techniques" that describe basic practices that are applicable to any technology, and technology-specific techniques that provide information applicable to specific technologies. Technology-specific techniques do not supplant the general techniques: content developers should consider both general techniques and technology-specific techniques as they work toward conformance. Use of the techniques provided in this document makes it easier for Web content to demonstrate conformance to WCAG 2.0 success criteria than if these techniques are not used.

Besides the techniques provided in this document, there may be other techniques that can be used to implement conformance to WCAG 2.0. The WCAG WG encourages submission of such techniques so they can be considered for inclusion in this document, in order to make the set of techniques maintained by the WCAG WG as comprehensive as possible. Please submit techniques for consideration using the "Techniques Submission Form."

Some techniques contain User Agent and Assistive Technology Support Notes. As time passes, these versions of user agents or assistive technologies may no longer be current, and there is no commitment to update the notes as new versions are released. Authors should test techniques against the user agents and assistive technologies currently available to their users. See also Understanding Accessibility Support.

This document is part of a series of documents published by the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) to support WCAG 2.0. This document was published as a Working Group Note at the same time WCAG 2.0 was published as a W3C Recommendation. Unlike WCAG 2.0, it is expected that the information in Understanding WCAG 2.0 will be updated from time to time. See Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview for an introduction to WCAG, supporting technical documents, and educational material.

Status of This Document

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at http://www.w3.org/TR/.

This is a Working Group Note "Techniques for WCAG 2.0". These techniques are produced by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group to provide guidance about how to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Recommendation. Techniques are referenced from Understanding WCAG 2.0 and How to Meet WCAG 2.0. Please note that the contents of this document are informative (they provide guidance), and not normative (they do not set requirements for conforming to WCAG 2.0).

WCAG 2.0 Techniques was previously published on 11 December 2008 as a Working Group Note and updated 14 October 2010. This new version updates the support information provided for WCAG 2.0. Note that WCAG 2.0 itself remains unchanged, only the informative support materials have been updated. Primary changes include addition of PDF and Silverlight techniques, and clarifications based on input from the public and translators. The changes are highlighted in the diff-marked version.

The Working Group requests that any comments be made using the provided online comment form. If this is not possible, comments can also be sent to public-comments-wcag20@w3.org. The archives for the public comments list are publicly available. Comments received on this document may be addressed in future versions of this document, or in another manner. Archives of the WCAG WG mailing list discussions are also publicly available, and future work undertaken by the Working Group may address comments received on this document.

Materials from the public to assist in documenting techniques are particularly welcomed. Please use the Techniques Submission Form to submit techniques.

This document has been produced as part of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The goals of the WCAG Working Group are discussed in the WCAG Working Group charter. The WCAG Working Group is part of the WAI Technical Activity.

Publication as a Working Group Note does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.

This document was produced by a group operating under the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.


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