Using W3C/WAI Standards, and Technical and Educational Resources
To support harmonization and avoid standards fragmentation, the W3C and WAI have created a wide array of technical and educational resources. These valuable resources are made freely available to policy makers. Take advantage of years of development work by following these steps when adopting or referencing W3C/WAI standards within national and local policies:
Step 1: Engage with national and local stakeholders.
Build a strong foundation for wide adoption of accessibility standards by ensuring the involvement of all interested parties from the beginning - people from government, industry, disability organizations, research, education, others - to build a commitment to shared goals.
Step 2: Take advantage of existing resources.
Let stakeholders know about W3C/WAI standards that you can freely reuse. Check before recreating standards, and technical and educational resources, that may already exist in forms that meet national and local needs.
- Use the W3C's complementary Web accessibility standards - for Web content and websites, for authoring tools, and for browsers and media players - to improve efficiency and internationalization. The three standards were developed to work together and greatly improve interoperability.
- License standards for free. Licensing through the W3C document license process allows free reusability of standards and supporting technical and educational material with proper acknowledgement of source. The accompanying FAQ may address your questions; if not, please let us know.
- Leverage the implementation support techniques that accompany each W3C/WAI standard. For instance, the How to Meet WCAG 2.0 customizable checklist links to Techniques for WCAG 2.0, which include general implementation techniques as well as techniques for HTML, XHTML, CSS, Scripting, SMIL, Text, ARIA, Flash, PDF, and Silverlight.
- Adopt standards at a level that meets specific need. Three different conformance levels allow adoption or referencing of W3C/WAI standards at levels supporting different degrees of accessibility. Typically, policies reference WCAG 2.0 AA, which includes success criteria levels A and AA, to provide an effective level of accessibility support. AAA is infrequently used as a required conformance level.
- Maximize translation capacity since many W3C/WAI documents have already been translated into different languages. The Policy for Authorized W3C Translations can be used for translating additional W3C/WAI technical reports as needed.
Step 3: Adopt W3C/WAI standards, technical and educational resources as needed, acknowledging the source.
Determine what is needed for your national, local, or organizational policy, including the conformance level and timelines for the standards that you plan to adopt or reference. Follow the W3C Document License to acknowledge the source.
- Choose from a vast library of W3C/WAI presentation and training resources. Resources are extensible, and can be freely adapted to meet national or local needs.
- Use existing translation or prepare authorized translations of key resources if needed.
- Consider education and training resources that may need to be adapted or developed on the national or local level.
Step 4: Contact or participate with W3C/WAI as needed and/or interested.
WAI welcomes, encourages, and values the active participation of individuals and organizations around the world to collaborate in activities that help improve accessibility of the web.