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Community & Business Groups

ACT Rules Community Group

The ACT Rules Community Group (previously known as Auto-WCAG), is an open forum set up to document and harmonise the interpretation of W3C accessibility standards, such as WCAG and WAI-ARIA, for testing purposes.

The ACT Rules Community Group (ACT-R) achieves this by bringing together the people developing, implementing and using various accessibility testing tools and methodologies to document interpretations as test rules. Test rules are defined using the ACT Rules Format, and reviewed by the community. The process of researching, documenting, and sharing knowledge from different perspectives within the group, builds towards a common understanding. Publishing rules is not an end point for harmonization, it's a starting point. By publishing such test rules, ACT-R hopes to motivate organisations to share their own insights, and encourage adoption of commonly agreed test rules.

ACT-R is not set up to remove differences or impose changes on accessibility testing tools and methodologies. There is value in innovation and diverse approaches. Rather it aims to contribute to more consistent results, regardless of how the testing is done. Knowing when something meets a requirement, and when it does not, should be clear and consistent.

This group will not publish specifications.

act-rules/
Group's public email, repo and wiki activity over time

Note: Community Groups are proposed and run by the community. Although W3C hosts these conversations, the groups do not necessarily represent the views of the W3C Membership or staff.

Chairs, when logged in, may publish draft and final reports. Please see report requirements.

Call for Participation in ACT Rules Community Group

The ACT Rules Community Group has been launched:


The ACT Rules Community Group (previously known as Auto-WCAG), is an open forum set up to document and harmonise the interpretation of W3C accessibility standards, such as WCAG and WAI-ARIA, for testing purposes.

The ACT Rules Community Group (ACT-R) achieves this by bringing together the people developing, implementing and using various accessibility testing tools and methodologies to document interpretations as test rules. Test rules are defined using the ACT Rules Format, and reviewed by the community. The process of researching, documenting, and sharing knowledge from different perspectives within the group, builds towards a common understanding. Publishing rules is not an end point for harmonization, it’s a starting point. By publishing such test rules, ACT-R hopes to motivate organisations to share their own insights, and encourage adoption of commonly agreed test rules.

ACT-R is not set up to remove differences or impose changes on accessibility testing tools and methodologies. There is value in innovation and diverse approaches. Rather it aims to contribute to more consistent results, regardless of how the testing is done. Knowing when something meets a requirement, and when it does not, should be clear and consistent.

This group will not publish specifications.


In order to join the group, you will need a W3C account. Please note, however, that W3C Membership is not required to join a Community Group.

This is a community initiative. This group was originally proposed on 2019-04-04 by Wilco Fiers. The following people supported its creation: Wilco Fiers, Bryn Anderson, Brian Bors, Emma Pratt Richens, Jey Nandakumar, Anne Thyme Nørregaard, JOSE HILERA, Frank Berker, Audrey Maniez, Steve Faulkner, Corbb O’Connor. W3C’s hosting of this group does not imply endorsement of the activities.

Read more about how to get started in a new group and good practice for running a group.

We invite you to share news of this new group in social media and other channels.

If you believe that there is an issue with this group that requires the attention of the W3C staff, please email us at site-comments@w3.org

Thank you,
W3C Community Development Team