AC Meeting 2017 Presentation

From the beginning

W3C = Accessibility

1994

• W3C hosts accessibility pages
• Curated by Mike Paciello (Yuri Rubinski Insight Foundation (YRIF))
• Helped by Dave Raggett (W3C)

1996

• Daniel Dardailler joins W3C, and begins helping with the accessibility pages
• Mike, Daniel, and Jim Miller (W3C propose a new web accessibility project

September 1996

Tim Berners-Lee invites support from W3C members:

"As part of its commitment to realize the full potential of the Web, the Consortium has been promoting a high degree of usability for disabled people... Michael has proposed that a more extensive project be started, if there is sufficient provision of resources and enthusiasm by Consortium Members."

January 1997

• At a Whitehouse meeting, W3C is agreed as the ideal host
• Five words describe the proposed project: International, Normative, Consensus, Predictability, and Participation

January 1997

Jim Miller presents the web accessibility project to the AC

February 1997

The project is named the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

April 1997

WAI is officially launched in Santa Clara, USA

May 1997

• WAI WG and WAI IG mailing lists are created
• First WAI technical meetings are held in Sophia-Antipolis, France
• Judy Brewer selected as WAI International Program Director

1998 to 2016

WAI becomes a world leader for accessibility

Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG)

• ATAG 1.0, W3C Recommendation 2000
• ATAG 2.0, W3C Recommendation 2015

User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG)

• UAAG 1.0, W3C Recommendation 2002
• UAAG 2.0, W3C Note 2015

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

• WCAG 1.0, W3C Recommendation 1999
• WCAG 2.0, W3C Recommendation 2008
• WCAG 2.1, W3C FPWD 2017

Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA)

• ARIA 1.0, W3C Recommendation 2014
• ARIA 1.1, W3C Candidate Recommendation 2017

Accessibility API Mappings (AAM)

• Core AAM 1.1, W3C Working Draft 2016
• HTML AAM 1.0, W3C Working Draft 2017
• SVG AAM 1.0, W3C Working Draft 2016

October 2015

PF WG split into:

• Accessible Platform Architectures (APA WG)
• Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA WG)

November 2016

• The WAI domain is deprecated, but continues as a W3C brand
• HTML AAM 1.0 becomes a Web Platform WG deliverable

2017

• APA WG provides horizontal review
• APA WG and CSS WG joint Task Force

Challenges: Horizontal review

• Frequently creates conflict
• Often lacks specification domain knowledge

Challenges: Joint Task Forces

• Require additional W3C resources
• Require additional member participation

Solution

• Accessibility specialists in every WG
• Already in HTML, CSS, SVG, Web Payments and others

Vision

W3C = Accessibility as a core design principle

References

• WAI history:
  https://www.w3.org/WAI/history
• WAI launch agenda:
  https://www.w3.org/WAI/References/agenda
• W3C WAI press release:
  https://www.w3.org/Press/WAI-Launch.html
• Whitehouse WAI press release:
  https://www.w3.org/Press/Clinton.html
• WAI mailing lists notice:
  http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-wg/1997AprJun/0004.html
• First WAI technical meeting agenda:
  https://www.w3.org/WAI/References/970522/agenda.html
• Yuri Rubinski Insight Foundation at W3C:
  https://www.w3.org/WAI/References/WAIyrif.html