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[Proposed] Education and Outreach Working Group Charter (EOWG)
- Mission
- Scope
- Deliverables
- Dependencies
- Duration
- Success
- Communication
- Confidentiality
- Voting
- Participation
This charter is written in accordance with Section
6.2.6 of the 18
June 2003 W3C Process Document.
Information on how to join this group is
available on the Web.
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. It is extending
the duration of its charter in order to develop additional resources.
The scope of EOWG work includes:
- consulting with other WAI groups
to identify outreach needs; to develop strategies and resources
to address those needs; and to advise on ease-of-use of other
WAI groups' deliverables, including presentation of information
(structure, style, semantics) across all areas of the WAI Web
site;
- developing and maintaining a variety of online
and hard-copy education and outreach resources to promote awareness
of Web accessibility, and also coordinating translations for these.
These materials include items such as Quick Tips, WAI Flyers,
Web accessibility curricula, fact sheets, pages of reference links
(on policies, alternative browsers, other projects related to Web
accessibility, standards-tracking, etc.), demonstration materials
(such as galleries of accessible sites, videos, online tutorials,
etc.), introductory pages, etc.;
- developing resource networks to promote increased expertise
in Web accessibility within the Web community (including for
technical and non-technical audiences) such as international outreach
strategy exchanges, trainer best-practice exchanges, expanded
course offerings in Web accessibility, review teams for Web site
accessibility, etc.;
- promoting harmonization of Web accessibility standards.
EOWG work may at times be conducted in one or more task
forces according to W3C Process. Any EOWG task force must have a statement
of work that is approved by the EOWG.
In general, EOWG deliverables have the status of "WAI Resources" when
completed; in some cases they become W3C 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.
An approximate schedule of work on
deliverables is maintained by EOWG and updated on at least a quarterly
basis.
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:
- EOWG Deliverables to be maintained during this period (e.g.,
routine updating of reference links and information):
- EOWG Deliverables to be completed during this period (e.g.,
completed publishing of materials currently in draft form):
- EOWG Deliverables to start major revision during this period
(note strong dependency with WCAG 2.0 progress):
- New EOWG Deliverables which may be started during this period:
- Benefits of Standards Harmonization (planned WAI resource
page)
- Before & After Reconstruction Demonstration with model
evaluation (online slides)
- Templates & tutorials (planned WAI Resource Suite)
- Web Sites that Work Web site (Web page with excerpts from
online WSTW video)
- Basic Introduction to Web accessibility (planned WAI
Resource page or suite)
The EOWG coordinates with the following W3C/WAI groups:
- Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG public
page) (PFWG Member-only 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) (WAI CG Member-only
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:
The EOWG is scheduled to last for 9 months, from October 2003 through
June 2004, the currently chartered remaining duration of the WAI International Program
Office Activity. EOWG expects at that point to re-charter as part
of a renewed WAI International Program Office Activity.
Criteria for success of EOWG include:
- production and maintenance of the types of deliverables described in this charter;
- utilization in the Web community of deliverables described
in this charter;
- increased awareness of the need for Web accessibility;
- increased harmonization of Web accessibility standards.
Communication mechanisms for EOWG include:
- EOWG mailing list <w3c-wai-eo@w3.org> and
archives;
- A confidential mailing list for review comments on candidate
sites for WAI Gallery;
- Weekly EOWG teleconferences;
- EOWG home page,
with meeting schedules, work-in-progress, links to minutes,
etc.;
- EOWG face-to-face meetings approximately four times
per year;
- Communication to public through WAI Interest Group as needed;
- Communication to W3C Member organizations through W3C
Newsletter and/or NewsWire.
EOWG communications, home page, and charter are public. The majority of
EOWG 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.
This charter has been written in accordance with Section
3.4 "Votes" of the 18 June 2003 Process Document and includes no voting
procedures beyond what the Process Document requires.
10.1 W3C Member and invited expert participation
The EOWG welcomes participation from representatives of W3C Member organizations,
and also from invited
experts from disability organizations, accessibility research
projects, government organizations, and others interested in promoting
Web accessibility, particularly those who have expertise in preparation
of promotional materials and online educational resources relating to
Web technologies.
Participants are expected to observe the requirements of Section
6.2.1.7 "Good Standing in a Working Group" of the W3C Process Document.
For EOWG, the following commitment is expected of participants in good
standing:
- minimum 4 hours per week of EOWG work, including assisting
in preparing EOWG deliverables for discussion;
- remain current on the EOWG mailing list (mailing list
archive) and respond in a timely manner to postings on mailing
list;
- participate in weekly teleconferences or send regrets
to the list;
- participate in face-to-face meetings or send regrets
to the list.
10.2 W3C Team resources
- 15% Judy Brewer (Chair)
- 60% Shawn Henry (Team contact)
- 5% Matt May
10.3 Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
W3C promotes an open working environment. Whenever possible, decisions
should be made unencumbered by intellectual property right (IPR) claims.
This is a Royalty Free Working Group, as described in W3C's Current Patent
Practice.
Working Group participants disclose IPR claims by sending email to
patent-issues@w3.org; please see Current Patent Practice for more information
about disclosures.
10.4 How to join
Information about how
to join the EOWG is available on the Web.
Last modified: $Date: 2003/09/29 19:04:16 $ by $Author: jbrewer $ Judy Brewer
<jbrewer@w3.org>
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