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Education and Outreach Working Group Charter (EOWG)

This charter is written in accordance with Section 6.2.6 of the 5 February 2004 W3C Process Document.

  1. Mission
  2. Scope
  3. Duration
  4. Deliverables
  5. Milestones
  6. Dependencies
  7. Confidentiality
  8. Meetings
  9. Communication
  10. Voting
  11. Patent Disclosure
  12. Participation

Information about how to participate in EOWG is available.

1. Mission

The mission of the Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) is to develop strategies, and awareness and training resources, to educate a variety of audiences regarding the need for Web accessibility and approaches to implementing Web accessibility.

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 EOWG is part of the WAI International Program Office.

The EOWG was originally chartered in March 1998. Its charter was renewed in November 2000, and it has developed a variety of resources since then. A third EOWG charter was reviewed by the W3C Advisory Committee but not formally announced. The EOWG is renewing its charter in order to continue work on education and outreach deliverables in support of Web accessibility.

2. Scope

The scope of EOWG work includes:

Consistent with W3C Process requirements on Task Forces, the EOWG may form task forces composed of EOWG participants or join other W3C task forces to carry out assignments when under the chartered scope of EOWG. Any such task force must have a work statement (including objectives, communication, participation, and leadership) that has been announced on the EOWG mailing list, approved by the EOWG, and is available from the EOWG home page. EOWG 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 EOWG.

3. Duration

The EOWG is scheduled for 36 months, from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2007. This charter has been extended through June 2008.

4. Deliverables

In general, EOWG deliverables have the status of "WAI Resources" when completed; in some cases they become Working Group Notes. EOWG members and/or WAI staff develop most deliverables. Some are produced under subcontract but with the guidance of this group. EOWG deliverables must address cross-disability considerations, be consensus-based, technically sound, and reflect the most current W3C specifications.

The following list includes deliverables which EOWG plans to maintain, complete, substantially revise, or start as new projects at some point during this chartered period of EOWG's work:

5. Milestones

The EOWG maintains a deliverables schedule for one year in advance which is updated quarterly.

6. Dependencies

The EOWG coordinates with the following W3C/WAI groups:

Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG public page) ( Member-only PFWG page):
Coordinate on providing public information about the work of PFWG.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG):
Assist in developing awareness and training strategies and materials, to support promotion and implementation of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and to transition between WCAG 1.0 and WCAG 2.0 when needed. Consult with WCAG WG as needed on usability of WCAG working drafts under development.
Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AUWG):
Assist in developing awareness and training strategies and materials, to support promotion and implementation of Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines.
User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (UAWG):
Assist in developing awareness and training strategies and materials, to support promotion and implementation of User Agent Accessibility Guidelines.
Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group (ERT WG):
Assist in developing awareness and training strategies and materials, to support evaluation of Web sites for WCAG conformance, and/or for conformance to UAAG, ATAG, and XAG; assist in maintaining the reference links in existing evaluation and repair tools.
Research and Development Interest Group (RDIG):
Assist RDIG in developing materials to educate?policy makers, researchers, students, and others about "Prioritized Research Problems" arising from RDIG discussions, and about "Tips for Accessibility-Aware Research."
WAI Interest Group (WAI IG):
Assist other W3C/WAI groups in identifying issues to bring into WAI IG for discussion; also assist in tracking and capturing issues from the WAI IG mailing list and identifying areas where awareness and/or training resources are needed.
WAI Coordination Group (WAI CG public page) (Member-only WAI CG page):
EOWG chair participates in the WAI CG in order to coordinate its activities with other WAI groups.
In addition, the EOWG coordinates with other W3C working groups developing education and outreach materials, including:

7. Confidentiality

The EOWG is a primarily a public Working Group as defined by Section 4.1 of the W3C Process Document.

The EOWG home page, and charter are public. The majority of EOWG communications and deliverables are public, except deliverables where there is a specific confidentiality requirement during development, such as in preparation of a fact sheet for use as part of press package to accompany an as-yet unreleased W3C Recommendation; or deliverables where there is a privacy concern continuing after development, such as in the case of a compilation of addresses of product managers willing to be contacted regarding accessibility resources but not wanting their contact information available to the general public; or results of accessibility reviews for sites nominated for the Gallery.

8. Meetings

9. Communication

Communication within group:

Communication within W3C:

Communication with public:

10. Voting

The primary means of decision-making in the EOWG is consensus. This charter is written in accordance with Section 3.4, Votes of the 5 February 2004 W3C Process Document and includes no voting procedures beyond what the Process Document requires.

11. Patent Disclosure

The EOWG provides an opportunity to share perspectives on Web accessibility. W3C reminds EOWG participants of their obligation to comply with patent disclosure obligations as set out in Section 6 of the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. While the EOWG does not produce Recommendation-track documents, when EOWG participants review Recommendation-track specifications from Working Groups, the patent disclosure obligations do apply.

Please note that the proceedings of EOWG (mailing list archives, minutes, etc.) are publicly visible.

12. Participation

12.1 W3C Member and Invited Expert participation

The EOWG welcomes participation from W3C Member Organizations, and also invites experts from disability organizations, accessibility researchers, assistive technology developers, government organizations, and other interested in promoting accessibility of Web content, subject to the W3C Invited Expert policy.

Participants are expected to observe general participation requirements and to maintain good standing in the group as defined in the W3C Process Document. For the EOWG, the following commitment is expected:

12.2 Participation in EOWG

Information about how to participate in EOWG is available.

12.3 W3C Team participation

Last modified: $Date: 2008/01/31 05:30:28 $ by $Author: jbrewer $ (jbrewer@w3.org)

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