World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

• International, vendor-neutral consortium
• Develops core standards for the Web
• Five main domains of technical work

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

1. Accessibility of core Web technologies
2. Accessibility guidelines
3. Evaluation resources
4. Education and outreach
5. Coordination with research and development

WAI Includes

• Involvement: industry, disability, government, research, education
• Support: government, industry, disabilities
• Participation: W3C Members, invited experts
• Cross-disability: visual, hearing, physical, speech, cognitive, neurological

Ingredients for an Accessible Web

• Beyond Web content, Web accessibility also requires...
  • support in core Web technologies
  • support in authoring tools
  • accessible browsers
  • testable criteria
  • trained developers, evaluations, and more

Three WAI Guidelines

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
  • Web content, sites, applications
• Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
  • software used to produce Web sites
• User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
  • browsers, media players, assistive technologies

...But What About Ajax?

• Ajax
  • Asynchronous JavaScript and XML
  • Web development technique for creating interactive Web applications
  • can create accessibility barriers
• Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) suite
  • maps controls & events to accessible APIs
  • outlines new navigation techniques
  • addresses accessibility of Ajax and more

Why Web Standards Matter

• Accelerate Web accessibility
  • builds a unified market for accessibility tools 
  • authoring & evaluation tools make accessibility easier
  • built-in accessibility support improves implementations
  • enables sharing of training and evaluation resources
  • eliminates conflicting requirements
  • supports clearer expectations by user community

Efforts to Facilitate Standards Harmonization

• Broad public review of WCAG 2.0
• Increased testability of WCAG 2.0
• Policy for Authorized W3C Translations
• Liaison with other standards organizations
  • Internationally
  • US
  • Europe
  • Japan

Some Steps to Advance Web Accessibility

• Promote awareness
• Set clear organizational priorities and policies
• Allocate resources where needed
• Select authoring tools that conform to ATAG
• Evaluate the conformance of your Web site
• Select browsers and media players that conform to UAAG
• Participate in or comment on standards processes

Thank You

WAI home page

Japanese: http://www.w3.org/Talks/2006/11-WAI-INSTAC/wai-jb.ja

English: http://www.w3.org/Talks/2006/11-WAI-INSTAC/wai-jb.en