Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG) Charter

This charter is written in accordance with Section 6.2.6 of the 5 February 2004 W3C Process Document.

Mission
Scope
Duration
Deliverables
Milestones
Dependencies
Confidentiality
Meetings
Communication
Voting
Patent Policy
Participation

Information about participation in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group is available.

The mission of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG) is to develop guidelines to make Web content accessible for people with disabilities. In particular, the WCAG WG will publish the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 as a W3C Recommendation.

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 WCAG WG is part of the WAI Technical Activity.

The WCAG WG was first chartered in August 1997 (charter) to produce WCAG 1.0 which became a W3C Recommendation in May 1999. The WCAG WG was rechartered in November 2000 (charter) to continue W3C's work on guidelines for creating accessible Web content.The early history of this group is documented in the "End of Charter Report for the Web Content Guidelines Working Group." The group is being rechartered to allow additional time for development of WCAG 2.0.

The WCAG WG's scope of work includes:

Advance WCAG 2.0 to a W3C Recommendation
Develop techniques for implementing the WCAG 2.0 in W3C Recommendations (such as XHTML, SMIL, SVG, and MathML) as well as ECMAScript
Develop a test suite for WCAG 2.0 in coordination with other WAI Working Groups
Document implementation testing experience of WCAG 2.0

Consistent with W3C Process requirements on Task Forces, the WCAG WG may form task forces composed of WCAG WG participants or join other W3C task forces to carry out assignments when under the chartered scope of WCAG WG. Any such task force must have a work statement (including objectives, communication, participation, and leadership) that has been announced on the WCAG WG mailing list, approved by the WCAG WG, and is available from the WCAG WG home page. WCAG WG task forces should produce requirements documents that outline the scope and expectations for work. Task forces may set up separate teleconferences and hold face-to-face meetings per the W3C process and with the approval of the WCAG WG.

The Working Group is scheduled for 24 months, from 1 January 2005 through 31 December 2006.

In January 2008, the duration of this charter was extended to 30 June 2008 (Member-only link). In November 2008, the duration of this charter was extended to 31 December 2008 (Member-only link). In April 2009, the duration of this charter was extended to 30 June 2009 (Member-only link). In June 2010, the duration of this charter was extended to 9 August 2010 (Member-only link).

4.1 Planned deliverables

The WCAG WG will produce the following deliverables:

Requirements for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, to be published as a W3C Working Group Note
Requirements for WCAG 2.0 Checklists and Techniques, to be published as a W3C Working Group Note
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, to be published as a W3C Recommendation
Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, a package of documents to be published as W3C Working Group Notes. The WCAG WG will produce these documents to demonstrate applicability of WCAG 2.0 to a variety of technologies. The WCAG WG does not expect them to be a comprehensive list of all techniques and anticipates these documents will evolve over time.
- CSS Techniques for WCAG 2.0
- Cross-technology Techniques (working title: Gateway to Techniques for WCAG 2.0)
- HTML Techniques for WCAG 2.0 (includes XHTML)
- SMIL Techniques for WCAG 2.0
- SVG Techniques for WCAG 2.0
- Techniques for Web applications, including client-side scripting (working title: Scripting Techniques for WCAG 2.0)
- Techniques for server-side and metadata solutions (working title: RDF Techniques for WCAG 2.0)
- XForms Techniques for WCAG 2.0
Technology-specific checklists, to be published either as a W3C Working Group Note or as a W3C Recommendation
WCAG 2.0 test suite
Documentation of open issues, resolutions, responses to comments, and implementation reports and other artifacts of the W3C Process as described in section 7.2 General Requirements for Advancement of the W3C Process document.
Meeting minutes

4.2 QA Framework

The WCAG WG intends to produce deliverables conforming to the Quality Assurance (QA) Framework developed by W3C's QA Activity.

All publishing milestones are approximate. (Note: The Techniques documents are being prepared by the Techniques Task Force of the WCAG WG)

1Q 2005
- Begin operating under new charter
- Requirements for WCAG 2.0 Working Draft
- Requirements for WCAG 2.0 Checklists and Techniques Working Draft
- WCAG 2.0 Test Suite
- WCAG 2.0 Last Call
- Checklist for Techniques for WCAG 2.0 Working Group Note or Last Call
- Gateway to Techniques for WCAG 2.0 Working Draft
- HTML Techniques for WCAG 2.0 Working Draft
- CSS Techniques for WCAG 2.0 Working Draft
- Scripting Techniques for WCAG 2.0 Working Draft
2Q 2005
- WCAG 2.0 Candidate Recommendation
- Checklist for Techniques for WCAG 2.0 either Working Group Note or Candidate Recommendation
- VoiceXML Techniques for WCAG 2.0 Working Draft #1
- RDF Techniques for WCAG 2.0 Working Draft #1
- SMIL Techniques for WCAG 2.0 Working Draft #1
- SVG Techniques for WCAG 2.0 Working Draft #1
- WCAG 2.0 Proposed Recommendation
- Checklist for Techniques for WCAG 2.0 either Working Group Note or Proposed Recommendation
3Q 2005
- WCAG 2.0 Recommendation
- Checklist for Techniques for WCAG 2.0 either Working Group Note or Recommendation
- Gateway to Techniques for WCAG 2.0 WG Note #3
- HTML Techniques for WCAG 2.0 WG Note #3
- CSS Techniques for WCAG 2.0 WG Note #3
- Scripting Techniques for WCAG 2.0 WG Note #3
4Q 2005
- implementation tracking for WCAG 2.0 and Techniques documents
- VoiceXML Techniques for WCAG 2.0 WG Note
- RDF Techniques for WCAG 2.0 WG Note #2
- SMIL Techniques for WCAG 2.0 WG Note #2
- SVG Techniques for WCAG 2.0 WG Note #2
1Q 2006
- implementation tracking for WCAG 2.0 and Techniques documents
- XForms Techniques for WCAG 2.0 WG Note
2Q 2006
- implementation tracking for WCAG 2.0 and Techniques documents
- updated Techniques Notes as needed
3Q 2006
- implementation tracking for WCAG 2.0 and Techniques documents
- updated Techniques Notes as needed
4Q 2006
- implementation tracking for WCAG 2.0 and Techniques documents
- updated Techniques Notes as needed

WCAG WG dependencies with WAI Working Groups and other W3C Groups include:

Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AUWG) -- ensure that WCAG 2.0 reflects correct interpretation and integration with ATAG 1.0 and ATAG 2.0, coordinate on development of test files and test suites
User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (UAWG) -- ensure that WCAG 2.0 reflects correct interpretation and integration with UAAG 1.0, coordinate on development of test files and test suites
Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG member page is also available) -- ensure that WCAG 2.0 reflects correct interpretation and integration with XAG, work with PFWG to provide input into other W3C groups on accessibility requirements and to review WCAG 2.0 Techniques
Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group (ERT WG) -- interpret and coordinate development of techniques for developers of testing methodologies and tools, coordinate on development of test files and test suites
Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) -- coordinate on making WCAG 2.0 usable by a wider audience, on developing strategies and materials to increase awareness and to educate Web community about WCAG 2.0, ensure WCAG 2.0 uses terms from WAI Glossary properly, Historically, the EOWG has created business case information, evaluation processes, curriculum, quick tips and other resources to clarify the work of the WCAG WG.
WAI Interest Group (WAI IG) -- send deliverables for review
WAI Coordination Group (WAI CG) -- address questions on dependencies
Quality Assurance Working Group (QAWG) -- coordinate on ensuring conformance with Quality Assurance (QA) Framework and test suite development
Other W3C Working Groups -
- ensure Techniques are in-line with technology specification,
- request review and contributions to techniques,
- determine if and how guidelines and success criteria are applicable to W3C technologies
External organizations -- solicit review comments from external organizations that may reference WCAG 2.0 in policies and tools.

The WCAG WG is a public Working Group as defined by Section 4.1 of the W3C Process Document. The Working Group maintains a public mailing list at w3c-wai-gl@w3.org.

Distributed meetings every week
Approximately three face-to-face meetings per year

9.1 Communication within group

9.2 Communication within W3C

9.3 Communication with public

The primary means of decision-making in the WCAG WG is consensus. This charter is written in accordance with Section 3.4, Votes of the 5 February 2004 W3C Process Document. The Chair decides whether a quorum is present for any Working Group meeting.

This Working Group operates under the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. To promote the widest adoption of Web standards, W3C seeks to issue Recommendations that can be implemented, according to this policy, on a Royalty-Free basis.

12.1 Member and Invited Expert participation

The WCAG WG welcomes participation from W3C Member Organizations, and also invites experts from disability organizations, accessibility researchers, assistive technology developers, government organizations, and others interested in promoting accessibility of Web content, subject to the W3C Invited Expert policy.

Participants are expected to observe individual participation criteria and maintain Good Standing as defined in the W3C Process Document to ensure effective consensus-building of the WCAG WG. For the WCAG WG, the following commitment is expected to qualify for Good Standing:

Minimum 4 hours per week, including meeting time and reading/responding to mailing list
Contribute to WCAG WG deliverables
Remain current on w3c-wai-gl list (mailing list archive) and respond in timely manner to postings on mailing list
Participate in most weekly teleconferences of the WCAG WG (attending only task force teleconferences and not Working Group teleconferences does not meet this criteria)
Participate in face-to-face meetings
Remain aware of work in other WAI Working Groups

12.2 Subscribing to the mailing list or joining the group