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Research and Development Interest Group (RDIG) Charter

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 Disclosures
    
12. Participation

Information about how to participate in RDIG is available.

1. Mission

The mission of the Research and Development Interest Group (RDIG) is:

• to increase the incorporation of accessibility considerations into research on Web technologies, and
  
• to identify projects researching Web accessibility and suggest research questions that may contribute to new projects.

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.

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 RDIG is part of the WAI International Program Activity.

2. Scope

2.1 Intended audience of deliverables

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.

2.2 Focus of activities

Items in the scope of work are:

• creating a forum, through a mailing list, teleconference seminars, face-to-face meetings and other medium, for exchange of information on key areas of Web-related research and current accessibility trends;
• identifying and prioritizing areas of research (existing or absent) that may significantly impact the accessibility of the Web;
• developing approaches to promote awareness and provide guidance to researchers in prioritized areas, such as:
  • promoting partnerships between researchers with complementary expertise;
  • compiling accessibility-aware research resources for public reference, including summaries of the results of forum discussions;
  • posting a prioritized list of research problems needing investigation;
  • coordinating with projects external to the W3C, and where relevant, with W3C activities.

3. Duration

The RDIG is scheduled for 24 months, from 1 January 2005 through 31 December 2006, at which point the RDIG should be re-evaluated for possible extension to continue activities relating to accessibility considerations in Web research and development.

4. Deliverables

1. Teleconference Calendar: proposed list of topics, with schedule of teleconferences at which those topics will be addressed. Potential topics include:
   • virtual reality markup languages,
   • e-commerce,
   • digital TV,
   • agents,
   • mobile technologies,
   • intellectual property rights and security issues,
   • affordability,
   • adaptability,
   • internationalization,
   • semantic web,
   • distance learning,
   • assistive technologies for people with disabilities.
2. Teleconference seminars: Two hour teleconferences, scheduled approximately four times per year, to explore a given research topic in depth. Topics will be nominated and selected by the RDIG participants in good standing. Materials will be available at least one week in advance of the teleconference and will include:
   • a list of confirmed speakers;
   • Web-based reading materials, including presenter slides if available;
   • general questions including:
     • What are the implications of this area on accessibility?
     • What are the possible coordination points (people, places, projects)?
   • questions collected from participants;
   • upcoming teleconference will be publicized including in:
     • WAI Calendar,
     • WAI Interest Group,
       
     • W3C Calendar,
     • W3C Advisory Committee Newswire.
3. Reports: A brief written synopsis of discussion with links to the material generated for the seminar such as a reading list, key research projects for the topic, and audio and text transcripts.
4. Prioritized Research Problems: Prioritized list of research questions that are not being investigated or are not being sufficiently investigated. Descriptions and implications of each question or issue will be provided as well as links to additional information if available.
5. Tips for Accessibility-Aware Research: Start-up tips and very basic guidance for researchers, to help them incorporate accessibility into their research designs (not a comprehensive statement about how to do universal research design). Perhaps publish as a W3C Interest Group Note.
6. Research Resources: Web page of reference links to accessibility-based research resources.

5. Milestones

All publishing milestones are approximate:

• 1Q 2005
  • Teleconference seminar #3
  • Summary of research questions from Teleconference #3
• 2Q 2005
  • Teleconference seminar #4
  • Summary of research questions from Teleconference #4
  • Initial compilation of research resources
• 3Q 2005
  • Teleconference seminar #5
  • Summary of research questions from Teleconference #5
  • Prioritization of research problems from topics covered to date
• 4Q 2005
  • Teleconference seminar #6
  • Summary of research questions from Teleconference #6
  • Tips for Accessibility-Aware Research, Working Draft (to become W3C Note)
• 1Q 2006
  • Teleconference seminar #7
  • Summary of research questions from Teleconference #7
  • Expanded compilation of research resources
• 2Q 2006
  • Teleconference seminar #8
  • Summary of research questions from Teleconference #8
  • Updated prioritization of research problems from topics covered to date
• 3Q 2006
  • Teleconference seminar #9
  • Summary of research questions from Teleconference #9
• 4Q 2006
  • Teleconference seminar #10
  • Summary of research questions from Teleconference #10
    

6. Dependencies

• WAI Coordination Group (WAI CG) -- address questions on dependencies, harvest ideas for potential topics, raise awareness of future Web access issues and implications
• Education & Outreach Working Group (EOWG) -- coordinate on materials to reach policy makers, researchers not reached by the RDIG, students, accessibility experts, Web developers and other people interested in the work of the RDIG.
• Other W3C Groups -- coordinate with W3C activities including Mobile Access, Internationalization, and Voice Browsing to maintain awareness of key developments, researchers, and relevant projects.
• External organizations -- coordinate with other groups worldwide who perform research and development or who coordinate research and development in their geographical region or topic area. For example:
  • COST 219 bis works to increase the availability of telecommunications products, including the Web, for people with disabilities and the elderly. They accomplish this by creating industry guidelines, disseminating research results, surveying the practical needs of disabled people and elderly and evaluating the future possibilities of Information Technologies.
  • The Web3D Consortium provides a forum for the creation of open standards for 3D specifications to be used on the Web, and to accelerate the worldwide demand for products based on these standards through the sponsorship of market and user education programs. This community created the VRML 1.0 and 2.0 specifications.

7. Confidentiality

The RDIG is a public Interest Group as defined by Section 4.1 of the W3C Process Document. The Interest Group maintains a public mailing list at public-wai-rd@w3.org.

8. Meetings

• Teleconferences every other week as needed, including calls for planning purposes, and planned topical teleconference seminar to occur quarterly.
• Face-to-face meetings: Approximately twice a year. The RDIG may also schedule:
  • "Birds of a Feather" ("BOF") sessions in conjunction with heavily attended research-type conferences

9. Communication

9.1 Communication within group

• RDIG home page
• RDIG mailing list: public-wai-rd@w3.org

9.2 Communication within W3C

• WAI Coordination Group
• WAI Domain Lead
• Member newswire & newsletter
• W3C Chairs mailing list (Member-only)
• Specific W3C Working Groups as needed

9.3 Communication with public

• RDIG home page
• Participant presentations
• Education and Outreach Working Group work
• WAI Interest Group

10. Voting

The primary means of decision-making in the RDIG 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 Disclosures

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

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

12. Participation

12.1 W3C Member and Invited Expert participation

The RDIG welcomes participation from W3C Member Organizations, and also invites experts from organizations researching Web technologies and accessibility, disability organizations, assistive technology developers, government organizations, and other interested in promoting accessibility of Web content, subject to the W3C Invited Expert policy. The RDIG is particularly interested in people with experience in:

• new Web applications and user interfaces;
• usability studies of Web usage and tools;
• studies of Web accessibility issues;
• development of Web architecture;
• investigating future applications of Web or Internet technologies (telecommunications, Web appliances, etc.).

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 RDIG, the following commitment is expected:

• Minimum 4 hours per week, including meeting time and reading/responding to mailing list
• Remain current on w3c-wai-rd mailing list and respond in timely manner to postings on mailing list
• Contribute to development of RDIG deliverables
  
• Participate in teleconferences with regrets sent when one has to be missed
• Participate in face-to-face meetings or send regrets to the list
• Remain aware of related work in other WAI Working Groups

12.2 Participating in RDIG

12.3 W3C Team participation

• 10% Wendy Chisholm
• 40% TBA
  

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