- From: Judy Brewer <JBrewer@w3.org>
- Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 15:15:46 -0500
- To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Hello WAI Interest Group Members,
This is the Call for Participation for the WAI Protocols & Formats Working
Group.
- Judy Brewer
----------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 22:10:24 -0500
From: Sally Khudairi <khudairi@w3.org>
Organization: W3C - World Wide Web Consortium
To: W3C Advisory Committee Representatives <w3c-ac-members@w3.org>
Subject: WAI Call for Participation [1 of 3]: WAI Protocols & Formats
Working Group
Dear Advisory Committee Representative,
As a followup on our recent Web Accessibility Initiative International
Program Office (WAI/IPO) working group re-organization, we
are now announcing the WAI/W3C Protocols & Formats Working Group (PF)
The Call for Participation is attached, and is available online at
http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/charter.txt
Background information on the WAI and its structure is available at
http://www.w3.org/WAI.
If you have any questions regarding this Call for Participation,
please contact Daniel Dardailler, WAI Project Manager <dd@w3.org> or
Judy Brewer, WAI IPO Director <jbrewer@w3.org>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
* WAI/W3C Protocols & Formats Working Group
Code Name: WAI-PF
Focus: The WAI-PF Working Group looks at the formal technology
(protocols, formats, etc.) on which the Web runs from an
accessibility perspective. Best practices for using these
technologies are addressed by other WAI groups.
This includes both that:
- The Web should be intrinsically and universally accessible.
That is, the formally specified formats and protocols
at the foundation of the World Wide Web, enable and
foster the creation of a web of universal resources
free from access barriers for those using adapted user
interface modes to accomodate disabilities.
- Accessibility should be by universal design.
That is, steps taken to remedy accessibility problems are achieved
to the greatest extent possible by generic improvements in
Web technology that render a broad benefit which goes beyond
accomodating disabilities.
Nature of activities: To support this objective, the PF working
group will do the following kinds of things:
- Review W3C work in progress for its projected
accessibility and usability in adapted environments.
The medium of exchange at the interface to a W3C
Working Group developing some technology with access
implications is to consult with the WAI Interest Group
on policy issues and to adapt to the work style
of the group developing the technology.
- Help the more User-oriented groups in the WAI (GL, UI, etc)
who have identified access issues to find solutions and
to isolate the technology applications or adaptations
that offer the least disruptive or costly path to a solution.
The medium of exchange with the User-oriented WAI groups
is to capture (document) usage scenarios together with
threshold (accessibility floor) and goal (universality target)
usability level definitions for those scenarios.
- Gradually build accessibility assurance into
the development process of the WWW. That is,
work with those in the W3C who are developing a forward-planning
design discipline for the Web technology, and assist in the
conversion of Accessibility scenarios and requirements into
a form suitable for use in forward planning and early design
for Web technologies.
Dependencies: To carry out its mission, the PF working group
seeks support from other groups in the following areas:
- W3C technology development groups:
(These include but are not necessarily limited
to HTML, CSS, HTTP, XML, XSL, and RDF.)
Accomodation of accessibility requirements.
Explanation of technology alternatives.
- WAI UI group (Browser guidelines):
Definition of desirable client-side software
behavior expressed as Object-Oriented
capability classes.
- WAI RC group (Rating & Certification):
Assessment of accessibility achievements and failures.
This helps to clarify the severity of service degradation and
the necessity of changing the implicated technologies.
- WAI GL group (Markup Guidelines):
Development of application scenarios which clarify
content issues. The GL, PF and UI groups will need to
cooperate to trade off authoring, application, and infrastructure
solutions to the need scenarios that have been qualified
by the RC group.
- The PF working group will also rely on the RC, UI and GL
groups to provide first-level support to the EO working group
(Education & Outreach) and other public information
requirements. The PF emphasis will be to connect with the
private communications inside the W3C early in the development
of Web technolgies.
Often, the group will use interlocking group membership to
address cross-cutting issues effectively.
* Deliverables:
The principal deliverables of the WAI-PF Working Group are
working papers compatible with the processes of the groups
developing W3C and possibly externally-developed protocols and
formats. Following the desire to achieve universal design as
opposed to large amounts of adaptation-peculiar technology, it is
not anticipated that the WAI-PF will be developing any separate
protocols or formats for accessibility.
* WAI-PF Timeline:
Duration: 12 months.
1 Jan 98 -- Forward Planning calendar of W3C chairs group
annotated with access considerations and WAI-PF liaison relationships
in place.
[two weeks after an issues database manager is made available
for use by all W3C working groups]
-- open issues and liaison arrangements covered in W3C-wide resource.
1 Jan 99 -- Charter review and possible extension.
* For information: WAI-PF Open Issues as of 1 Dec 97
Tree-transformations in service of adaptation;
alternative content flow as an adaptation technique.
Suitability for use of SMIL.
Use strategies and accessibility requirements
for emerging Web technologies,
XML, XSL, RDF, ...
Braille Style Sheet Support
* WAI-PF Work Style
W3C Working Group defaults apply: Issues not explicitly discussed
here follow the baseline practices for W3C working groups. Group
members will need to be employees of member firms or experts
invited by the W3C. Internal discussions of the group will be
accessible only by such W3C members and invited experts.
This will allow free and open discussion between the personnel
working on working groups and drafts and the WAI-PF personnel.
A mailing list (w3c-wai-pf@w3.org) will be maintained. The mail
from this list will be collected in a web archive. The mailing
list will have restricted access as discussed above. A WAI-PF
home page will be maintained at <http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/> with
public and a nested member-private realm under that root.
Conference calls and occasional (target is quarterly) face-to-face
meetings will be used to speed the discovery of issues and solutions,
and to discover escape routes from impasses. Decisions, however, will
be based on drafts available from the web area and testing consensus
via email.
Working group decisions will be based on rough consensus.
Criteria for consensus shall be compatible with the general
process guidance for W3C working groups. Typically this means
that one objection does not block the declaration of rough
consensus but two will. All Issue closures including conclusions
reached in meetings will include a "last call" check for
objections circulated over the group mailing list.
Escalation: Appeals from Working Group decisions may be made first to
the WAI Coordination Group (thru its chair) and then to the W3C team
following the procedures established by the W3C Process Document
(first the domain leader and then the director).
* Working Group People
The WAI-PF group seeks to fuse a new kind of capability from
members who bring a balanced variety of expertise in web and
adaptive technology.
PF WG members must qualify for member privileges in terms of access to
W3C internal drafts. This means the group is open to representatives
of W3C member companies, and to invited experts (needed to complete
this palette of expertise) Interested individuals, particularly people
with disabilities and adaptive technology experts will be sought and
welcomed as W3C invited experts to give the working group access to
the kinds of knowledge required. We expect in the order of 25 to 30
participants.
Individual members will find this a stimulating and gratifying
work experience. Member companies who contribute their
employees' worktime will find this a cost-effective way to
sharpen their focus on emerging-media markets.
Alfred S. Gilman <asgilman@access.digex.net> is the chair.
Daniel Dardailler <danield@w3.org> (WAI Project Manager) is the
W3C staff contact. Judy Brewer <jbrewer@w3.org> (WAI IPO Director)
is the domain leader.
* Participation Level.
Members should be prepared to be responsive to action requests to
develop technology proposals which can be competitive in the markets
of the next few years. An estimate of the minimum time one should
allocated for meaningfull participation in PF is 10% of an engineer.
If you want to join the WAI-PF working group,
please fill out the following form and send it to
<wai-pf-call@w3.org>
========================================
WAI-PF working group participation form
First Name:
Last Name:
Email Address:
Telephone Number:
Employer:
Specific area(s) of interest:
(non-W3C-members identify area of expertise)
========================================
-------------------------------------------------------
Judy Brewer jbrewer@w3.org 617-258-9741
Director, Web Accessibility Initiative International Program Office
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
MIT/LCS Room NE43-355
545 Technology Square, Cambridge MA 02139 USA
http://www.w3.org/WAI
Received on Tuesday, 23 December 1997 15:15:13 UTC