W3C WAI update Dr Scott Hollier OZeWAI 2011

INTRODUCTION Overview of the W3C Australian W3C presence Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Working group updates and standards Non-WAI working groups with accessibility relevance How to get involved

W3C OVERVIEW Founded by Tim Berners-Lee in 1994 An international community where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. Mission: to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C standards becoming ISO/IEC standards Administered by three institutions: MIT (USA) ERCIM (EU) Keio University (Japan)

AUSTRALIAN PRESENCE 325 member organisations worldwide 6 Australian members: AGIMO (Brian Stonebridge) CSIRO (Kerry Taylor) Effective Measure (Scott Julian) Media Access Australia (Scott Hollier) NICTA Ltd (N/A) Vision Australia (Damien McCormack) Australian office run by CSIRO (w3c.org.au)

W3C PROCESSES Groups: Advisory Committee Working groups: about 50 long-term standard development Interest groups: more forum-based Incubator groups: 12 month investigation

W3C WAI Launched in 1997 Mission: to develop strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities

AUTHORING TOOLS Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0 Public Draft (22 July 2011) Implementing ATAG 2.0 Public Draft (22 July 2011) Guidelines split into two parts: PART A: making the user interface of the authoring tool is accessible PART B: ensuring the tool produces accessible content

EDUCATION & OUTREACH Before and After Demonstration (BAD) open for comment Policies relating to web accessibility Presentation materials Promoting of WAI standards Documents relating to making presentations accessible to all Contributing to other W3C groups

EVALUATION & REPAIR TOOLS Evaluation and Repair Language (EARL) requirements and scheme significantly updated in May 2011 WCAG 2.0 Evaluation Methodology Task Force (Eval TF) commenced this year Eval TF aim: to develop an internationally harmonized methodology for evaluating the conformance of websites to WCAG 2.0

PROTOCOLS & FORMATS Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) at Candidate Recommendation (18 January 2011) Why so important: Allows developers to provide specific semantic information to assistive technologies Tied in closely with HTML5 standards development and the HTML accessibility Task Force

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT Moved from IG to WG this year Aim: to increase the incorporation of accessibility considerations into research on web technologies First topic: web accessibility metrics Online symposium 5 December 2011

USER AGENTS Designed for developers building web browsers User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (draft) internal update (20 October 2011) Implementing UAAG 2.0 updated (20 October 2011)

WEB CONTENT Many updated resources during 2011: How to meet WCAG 2.0 Understanding WCAG 2.0 Techniques for WCAG 2.0 Flash techniques (end 2010) PDF techniques Most of these resources are in draft

WAI-ACT Cooperation Framework for: Guidance on Advanced Technologies Evaluation Methodologies Research Agenda to Support eAccessibility Audio-visual media accessibility European Commission (EC)-funded project.

OTHER NON-WAI DEVELOPMENTS HTML 5: big accessibility potential, especially for multimedia integration and accessible media players, closely tried in with ARIA Mobile web Document formats Cloud Social media

GET INVOLVED Organisations: Must pass W3C evaluation Cost varies based on type of organisation and geographical location Individuals: Join the WAI IG mailing list Participate in public feedback requests Apply to become an invited expert for a WG

FURTHER INFORMATION Advice is free! Telephone: (08) Website: Other active W3C participants here at OZeWAI: Dr Andrew Arch Vivienne Conway Shadi Abou-Zahra (via Skype)