Participating in WAI

Introduction

WAI welcomes participation from individuals and organizations around the world in activities that help improve accessibility of the Web. The participation opportunities described below range from volunteering to implement, promote, and review guidelines, to vocational participation in an interest group, to dedicated participation in a working group.

Implementing Guidelines

• Use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) [change link to Intro page] to make your Web site accessible.
• If you develop authoring tools - any software or service that people use to create or modify Web content, including content management systems - implement the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG)[change link to Intro page].
• If you develop user agents - any software that retrieves and renders Web content for users, including browsers, media players, and assistive technologies - implement the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG)[change link to Intro page].

Promoting Awareness

• Link to WAI's home page
• Distribute Quick Tips to Make Accessible Web Sites
• Place WCAG logos on your site that meets WCAG 1.0
• Include accessibility basics and accessibility benefits in presentations to Web developers, designers, managers, and others

Promoting Implementation

• Encourage authoring tools to meet ATAG 1.0 by directly contacting vendors and requesting increased accessibility support in future versions, and by purchasing tools that provide the best support for accessibility
• Encourage browsers and other user agents to meet UAAG 1.0
• Encourage organizations to adopt an accessibility policy for their organization that defines their commitment to Web accessibility
• Provide any feedback on inaccessible sites with an encouraging tone, rather than a negative critical tone

Reviewing Guidelines and Documents

The W3C specification development process includes formal periods for public review. Opportunities for review of WAI documents are announced on the WAI home page and WAI Interest Group mailing list.

The WCAG Working Group also maintains a reviewer list for people who want to get direct notification of WCAG documents for review. To be added to the WCAG reviewer list, contact the WCAG WG Team Contact. [@@need to check this with Wendy]

Participating in WAI Interest Groups

The WAI Interest Group (WAI IG) is for general discussion and feedback on all areas of WAI's work. Most of the interaction within WAI IG is through the public mailing list. WAI IG usually meets once per year in conjunction with the CSUN conference in March in Los Angeles, California, USA.

The Research and Development Interest Group (RDIG) facilitates discussion and discovery of the accessibility aspects of research and development of future Web technologies. Current participation opportunities include: [@@ need to check with Mark &/or Wendy on this]

• participating in meetings to plan RDIG teleconferences and contributing to reports resulting from teleconference events
• participating in teleconference events as a presenter or observer

Participating in WAI Working Groups

WAI Working Groups have specific criteria for joining, including requirements for participation. Working Group mailing list archives are viewable to the public. The Working Group pages linked below include information on participation and links to the public mailing list archives.

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group develops guidelines for Web sites.
• Authoring Tools Accessibility Guidelines Working Group develops guidelines for the software used to make Web sites.
• User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group develops guidelines for browsers, media players, and assistive technology.
• Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group develops techniques for evaluating and retrofitting Web sites.
• Education and Outreach Working Group to develops awareness, training, and implementation resources supporting Web accessibility.
• Protocols and Formats Working Group (public page) reviews and comments on support for accessibility throughout W3C's other working groups and developing technical specifications.
  • Protocols and Formats Working Group (member-only page)
• [@@ suggest deleting from here since very limited participation opportunity WAI Coordination Group (W3C Members only) manages coordination between working groups in the WAI Technical Activity and the International Program Office.]

Sponsoring WAI

WAI's work is supported in part by sponsorship from industry, disability, and government organizations interested in contributing to WAI's efforts to make the Web more accessible. Please see the list of current sponsors on the WAI home page, and Sponsoring WAI for more information on WAI sponsorship.

Document Information

Editor: Shawn Lawton Henry. Last updated $Date: 2004/07/14 21:38:50 $ by $Author: shawn $