DRAFT - 7 March 2013
User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group Charter
The mission of the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (UAWG), part of the WAI Technical Activity, is to produce guidelines for the development of accessible user agents (e.g., browsers, media players, etc.) and their interoperability with assistive technology: software that retrieves and renders Web content, including text, graphics, sounds, video, images, etc. In particular, the UAWG will publish the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (UAAG 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.
| End date | 30 June 2016 |
|---|---|
| Confidentiality | Proceedings are Public. Some communications between editors and/or during implementation testing period may be member-confidential. |
| Initial Chairs | Jim Allan Kelly Ford |
| Initial Team Contacts (FTE %: 40) |
Jeanne Spellman |
| Usual Meeting Schedule | Teleconferences: Weekly Face-to-face: 1-2 per year |
Scope
The UAWG's scope of work includes:
- Develop UAAG 2.0 as a W3C Recommendation.
- Develop Implementing UAAG 2.0 as a Note.
- Develop UAAG 2.0 Test Materials to support the evaluation of UAAG 2.0 implementations.
- Document implementation testing experience of UAAG 2.0.
- Review and comment on the work in other W3C Working Groups for dependencies with the requirements of UAAG 2.0.
- Promote and support the development of user agent best practices and implementation guides for W3C technologies. Where appropriate, the resulting documents may be linked to by the UAWG or hosted by the Working Group as W3C Notes.
- Contribute input where appropriate into WAI 3.0.
Consistent with W3C Process requirements on Task Forces, the UAWG may form task forces composed of UAWG participants or join other W3C task forces to carry out assignments when under the chartered scope of UAWG. Any such task force must have a work statement (including objectives, communication, participation, and leadership) that has been announced on the UAWG mailing list, approved by the UAWG, and is available from the UAWG home page. UAWG 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 UAWG.
Success Criteria
- During Candidate Recommendation, there are implementations of UAAG 2.0
- Publication of UAAG 2.0 as a W3C Recommendation.
- Publication of Implementing UAAG 2.0 as a Note.
- Publication of Testing Materials to support UAAG 2.0 conformance.
Deliverables
W3C Technical Reports
- User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Requirements, to be updated as a W3C Note.
- User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, to be published as a W3C Recommendation.
- Implementing UAAG 2.0, to be published as a W3C Note.
- UAAG 2.0 Testing Materials, to help support UAAG 2.0 conformance.
Milestones
| Note: The group will document significant changes from this initial schedule on the group home page. | |||||
| Specification | FPWD | LC | CR | PR | Rec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAAG 2.0 Guidelines | March 2008 | June 2013 | May 2015 | April 2016 | June 2016 |
Timeline View Summary
- Q2 2013:
- Publish Last Call Working Draft of UAAG 2.0
- Publish Last Call Working Draft of Implementing UAAG 2.0 as a W3C Note
- Write tests for UAAG 2.0
- Review and comment on the work in other W3C Working Groups
- Q3 2013 - Q1 2015
- Write tests for UAAG 2.0
- Respond to comments on Last Call Working Draft of UAAG 2.0 and Implementing UAAG 2.0
- Publish First Public Working Draft of UAAG 2.0 Test Materials
- Publish regular updates of Working Draft of UAAG 2.0 Test Materials
- Contact implementers of UAAG 2.0 success criteria
- Review and comment on the work in other W3C Working Groups
- Write exit criteria for Candidate Recommendation
- Q2 2015:
- Candidate Recommendation of UAAG 2.0
- Candidate Recommendation of Implementing UAAG 2.0 as a W3C Note
- Publish update of Working Draft of UAAG 2.0 Test Materials
- Test implementations of UAAG 2.0
- Work with UAAG 2.0 implementers to address issues
- Prepare testimonials, announcements and promotional materials
- Review and comment on the work in other W3C Working Groups
- UAAG 2.0 Implementation Report
- Q1 2016
:
- Publish Proposed Recommendation Working Draft of UAAG 2.0
- Prepare testimonials, announcements and promotional materials
- Review and comment on the work in other W3C Working Groups
- Q2 2016:
- UAAG 2.0 becomes W3C Recommendation
- Implementing UAAG 2.0 becomes Working Group Note
- UAAG 2.0 Test Materials becomes Working Group Note
- Support implementation of UAAG 2.0
- Support best practices and promotion of UAAG 2.0
- Process any public comments on UAAG 2.0
Dependencies
W3C Groups
- (WAI) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WG: UAAG 2.0 will rely on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 to set out best practices for web content;
- (WAI) Protocols and Formats WG (PFWG public page): The UAWG provides input on accessibility requirements with regard to W3C technologies for which PFWG manages dependencies;
- (WAI) Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines WG: The two groups coordinate on common approaches to user interface accessibility;
- (WAI) Education and Outreach WG: EOWG will assist in promoting awareness and implementation of UAAG 2.0.
The UAWG may also interact with non-WAI W3C Working Groups (e.g., CSS WG, HTML WG, Compound Document Formats WG, WebAPI WG, etc.) either via the Protocols and Formats Working Group or directly in the case of responding to requests for input on suggested user agent behavior.
Furthermore, UAWG expects to follow these W3C Recommendations:
Participation
To be successful, the UAWG is expected to have 6 or more active participants for its duration, with participation where possible including representation from industry, disability communities, accessibility research and government. Effective participation in UAWG is expected to consume 6 hours per week for each participant; one day 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-ua@w3.org (archive). The public mailing list public-uaag2-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 User Agent 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 User Agent 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.
The UAWG was first chartered in December 1997. The UAWG was rechartered on 5 November 1999, 5 May 2000, 18 December 2001, 1 January 2005 and on 23 August 2010.
Please also see the previous charter for this group.
Jim Allan, Co-Chair
Kelly Ford, Co-Chair
Jeanne Spellman, Staff Contact
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