Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group Charter

The mission of the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AUWG), part of the WAI Technical Activity, is to produce guidelines for the development of authoring tools that are both accessible to authors and also enable all authors to create content that is accessible to end users. In particular, the AUWG will publish the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (ATAG 2.0) as a W3C Recommendation. This mission is complementary to the work of other Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) groups within the WAI Technical Activity and the WAI International Program Office Activity.

The AUWG was first chartered in December 1997. THe AUWG was recharterted was in February 1999, January 2000, June 2001, and September 2004.

Join the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group.

End date	31 December 2009
Confidentiality	Proceedings are Public. Some communications between editors and/or during implementation testing period may be member-confidential.
Initial Chairs	Jutta Treviranus
Initial Team Contacts (FTE %: 35)	Jan Richards
Usual Meeting Schedule	Teleconferences: Every two weeks Face-to-face: 3-4 per year

Scope

The UAWG's scope of work includes:

Continue the process of developing ATAG 2.0 as a W3C Recommendation
Update techniques for implementing ATAG 2.0
Develop tests to support the evaluation of ATAG 2.0 implementations
Document implementation testing experience of ATAG 2.0
Review and comment on the work in other W3C Working Groups for dependencies with the requirements of ATAG 2.0

Consistent with W3C Process requirements on Task Forces, the AUWG may form task forces composed of AUWG participants or join other W3C task forces to carry out assignments when under the chartered scope of AUWG. Any such task force must have a work statement (including objectives, communication, participation, and leadership) that has been announced on the AUWG mailing list, approved by the AUWG, and is available from the AUWG home page. AUWG task forces should produce requirements documents that outline the scope and expectations for work. Task forces may set up separate teleconferences and hold face-to-face meetings per the W3C process and with the approval of the AUWG.

Success Criteria

Publication of ATAG 2.0 as a W3C Recommendation.
Publication of Techniques for ATAG 2.0 Note.

Deliverables

Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WD), to be published as a W3C Recommendation.
Implementation Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WD), to be published as a W3C Working Group Note.

Other Deliverables

ATAG 2.0 Testing Materials, to help assess ATAG 2.0 conformance.

Milestones

Milestones
Specification	FPWD	LC	CR	PR	Rec
Note: The group will document significant changes from this initial schedule on the group home page.
ATAG 2.0	March 2003	June 2008	October 2008	April 2009	May 2009

Timeline View Summary

April 2008:
- Begin operating under new charter
June 2008:
- Publish LC Draft of ATAG 2.0
- Updated Working Draft for Techniques document
October 2008:
- Publish CR Draft of ATAG 2.0
- Updated Working Draft for Techniques document
April 2009:
- Publish PR Draft of ATAG 2.0
- Updated Working Draft for Techniques document
May 2009:
- Publish ATAG 2.0 as W3C Recommendation

Dependencies

W3C Groups

(WAI) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WG: The Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines rely on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to set out best practices for the content to be authored and also for implementing Web-based user interfaces;
- The Test Samples Task Force is also relevant to the development of an ATAG 2.0 Test Suite.
(WAI) Protocols and Formats WG (PFWG public page): The AUWG sometimes provides input on accessibility requirements with regard to W3C technologies for which PFWG manages dependencies;
(WAI) User Agent Accessibility Guidelines WG: The two groups coordinate on common approaches to user interface accessibility;
(WAI) Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group: Providing for accessibility evaluation and repair are ATAG 2.0 requirements and the WAI-ERT group produces material relevant to the provision of these functions.
(WAI) Education and Outreach WG: EOWG will assist in promoting awareness and implementation of ATAG 2.0.

Furthermore, Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group expects to follow these W3C Recommendations:

Participation

To be successful, the AUWG is expected to have 10 or more active participants for its duration. Effective participation in AUWG is expected to consume 4 hours per week for each participant; two days per week for editors.

Participants are reminded of the Good Standing requirements of the W3C Process.

Communication

This group primarily conducts its work on the public mailing list w3c-wai-au@w3.org (archive). The public mailing list public-atag2-comments@w3.org (archive) is used for public feedback.

Information about the group (deliverables, participants, face-to-face meetings, teleconferences, etc.) is available from the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group home page.

Decision Policy

As explained in the Process Document (section 3.3), this group will seek to make decisions when there is consensus. When the Chair puts a question and observes dissent, after due consideration of different opinions, the Chair should record a decision (possibly after a formal vote) and any objections, and move on.

When deciding a substantive technical issue, the Chair may put a question before the group. The Chair must only do so during a group meeting, and at least two-thirds of participants in Good Standing must be in attendance. When the Chair conducts a formal vote to reach a decision on a substantive technical issue, eligible voters may vote on a proposal one of three ways: for a proposal, against a proposal, or abstain. For the proposal to pass there must be more votes for the proposal than against. In case of a tie, the Chair will decide the outcome of the proposal.
This charter is written in accordance with Section 3.4, Votes of the W3C Process Document and includes no voting procedures beyond what the Process Document requires.

Patent Policy

This Working Group operates under the W3C Patent Policy (5 February 2004 Version). To promote the widest adoption of Web standards, W3C seeks to issue Recommendations that can be implemented, according to this policy, on a Royalty-Free basis.

For more information about disclosure obligations for this group, please see the W3C Patent Policy Implementation.

About this Charter

This charter for the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group has been created according to section 6.2 of the Process Document. In the event of a conflict between this document or the provisions of any charter and the W3C Process, the W3C Process shall take precedence.

Please also see the previous charter for this group.

Jutta Treviranus, Chair
Jan Richards, Interim Staff Contact

$Date: 2008/05/28 16:43:37 $