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WAI: Strategies, guidelines, and resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities
This is an unapproved rough draft; it
should not be quoted or referenced under any circumstances.
Updated: $Date: 2009/02/26 01:59:33 $ [requirements/analysis & changelog]
This page provides guidance on referencing and linking to accessibility guidelines and other technical reports from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
In many cases, it is best to link to the Overview page instead of the technical report because the Overview page provides an introduction, links to related documents, and the status of revisions in progress. Overview pages include:
WAI's technical reports — including accessibility guidelines, Working Group Notes, W3C Recommendations, and Working Drafts — use a "shortname" in the URI (the Web address); for example, "WCAG" and "wai-aria" are shortnames. Specific versions are indicated with a number. Without a number, you get the latest version.
To refer to and link to the latest version, do not include a number, for example:
Note about links: The content at these links will change when new versions are published. New versions will usually change the fragments (also called targets and anchors, e.g., "#focus-area").
Note about references: When policies do not include a number, they can be interpreted to reference the latest version.
To link to a specific version, include a number, for example:
Even when referencing the technical report, it is usually good to include a link to the Overview page, for example:
| Use | URI | What | Content change. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use this for most links about WCAG. | www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag | WCAG Overview | Content will change; however, we plan to keep fragments/targets/anchors stable. |
| Use this for most links to the technical specification, so
that it always provides the latest version. However, be aware that fragments/targets/anchors will likely change when new versions are published. |
www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/ | The latest version of WCAG (for example, could be Version 2.0 or 2.1 or 3.0) |
The content will change when there are new versions of WCAG. |
| Use this only to point to Version 2.0 of the technical
specification, not to the latest version. To point to the latest version of WCAG, use www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/ |
www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/ | Version 2.0 | The content at this URI will not change. |
| Use this only to point to Version 1.0 of the technical
specification. To point to the latest version of WCAG, use www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/ |
www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/ | Version 1.0 | The content at this URI will not change. |
| We prefer that you not use this link; instead, for WCAG 1.0 please use www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/ | www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT | old link to Version 1.0 | The content at this URI will not change. |
Related information is provided in: