This charter is written in accordance with section 4.2.2 of the W3C Process Document.
The mission of the Research and Development Interest Group (RDIG) is
The desired outcome of more research in Web accessibility and awareness of accessibility in mainstream Web-related research should decrease the number of potential barriers in future Web-related technologies.
The work of this group is part of the WAI International Program Office.
The primary audience for the RDIG's deliverables is public and private researchers of Web-related technologies including assistive technologies for people with disabilities. We expect that this work may also be of interest to potential funders of Web-related research.
Items in the scope of work are:
The RDIG is scheduled for 24 months, from July 2002 through June 2004.
The following questions will be discussed for each research topic:
Other questions will be collected.
Upcoming teleconference will be publicized in such places as:
To be considered successful, the RDIG should:
Group proceedings, e-mail list, archives, charter, and deliverables are all public.
This group coordinates with other WAI Working Groups through the WAI Coordination Group (WAI CG) [Members only WAI CG page]. Other WAI groups may advise the RDIG of potential topics for teleconferences. The RDIG will also identify future Web access issues and implications for the other WAI working groups. As potential future barriers are identified, the WAI CG will be notified if it appears a resolution is within the scope of a WAI working group. If resolution appears to be outside the scope of the WAI or W3C, the RDIG will coordinate with the external organization per their process.
Since the RDIG will be focusing its efforts on researchers willing to participate in discussions, to reach other researchers it will have to create educational materials to educate policy makers, researchers not reached by the RDIG, students, and other people interested in the work of this group. The Education & Outreach Working Group will advise this group on creating materials to reach these audiences.
As mobile applications and internationalization of products drive the development of Web applications over the next few years, key research contacts and topics for RDIG may come from these developments. The RDIG will coordinate with W3C activities including Mobile Access, Internationalization, and Voice Browsing to maintain awareness of key developments, researchers, and relevant projects.
Currently, much of the research that this group will investigate occurs outside of the W3C. Thus the RDIG will coordinate with other groups worldwide who perform the research and development or who coordinate research and development in their geographical region or topic area. For example:
The RDIG will follow the W3C Process for consensus and votes, using the criteria for membership in good standing as described in section 10 of this charter. In case the RDIG is required to vote on a particular issue, each Member organization or technical expert's organization will have one vote.
Membership in the RDIG is open to the public. RDIG members in good standing are those who meet the terms of membership in good standing according to the W3C Process document, including consideration of their participation in meetings for purposes of planning RDIG teleconferences and contributions to reports resulting from teleconferences.
Participation in the RDIG is open to all employees of W3C Member organizations.
The RDIG also welcomes participation from non-W3C-member invited experts who are involved or interested in an area of research that is related to the Web such as:
The RDIG provides a forum to share perspectives on how future research
might affect Web accessibility. W3C invites presenters and participants to
share information and perspectives on accessibility issues in Web-related
research and development, but advises presenters and participants that
information shared in RDIG meetings and proceedings is publicly visible. W3C
reminds presenters and participants to disclose, where known, the IPR status
of information that they share in RDIG meetings and materials, in accordance
with Section
2.2, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy, of the W3C Process
Document.
The RDIG makes summaries of accessibility issues in Web-related research publicly available, in order to encourage more research in these areas. Individuals reading such summaries are advised that W3C makes no guarantee as to the IPR status of information or ideas represented in these summaries, and that it is their own obligation to ascertain the IPR status of such ideas if they proceed with research and/or development based on any ideas listed in such summaries. W3C makes no commitments regarding the licensing requirements that may be associated with technologies discussed in the RDIG.
Please note that the W3C Current
Patent Practice (CPP) document, 24 January 2002 version, focuses on W3C
working groups which develop specifications, and therefore does not address
the IPR situation in W3C interest groups. If in the future the W3C CPP
document or a more formal patent policy does address this, this charter will
be revised following the recommendations of the Patent Policy Working Group
in a manner consistent with the IPR goals of the current charter. Should
technology discussed in the Interest Group lead to development of a W3C
Recommendation Track document under this or another W3C group, then the CPP
and relevant section(s) of the W3C Process
Document would apply to that work.
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