WAI Call for Participation [3 of 3]: WAI/IPO Authoring Tools Guidelines Working Group

Hello WAI Interest Group Members,

This is the Call for Participation for the WAI/IPO Authoring Tools
Guidelines Working Group.

- Judy

-------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 22:14:56 -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 [3 of 3]: WAI/IPO Authoring Tools
Guidelines 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/IPO Authoring Tools Guidelines Working Group (AU)
 
The Call for Participation is attached, and is available online at
http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/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/IPO Authoring Tools Guidelines Working Group

Purpose:

Compose W3C guidelines, related to Web content authoring tools, which
address the following two goals:
1. to make authoring tools accessible to authors with disabilities
2. to provide author support for creating accessible Web documents.


Code Name: WAI-AU 


* WAI-AU Working group tasks

1. Create guidelines for making authoring tools accessible to users with
   disabilities. Guidelines can be divided into two areas:

- general accessible interface guidelines and
- guidelines specific to HTML or structured document authoring (XML,
  style sheet)

We intend to concentrate on developing the latter.

2. Create guidelines, documents and prototype utilities for authoring tools
which provide author support for creating accessible documents.
a) Recommendations and guidelines produced by the PF (Protocols &
Formats), GL (Markup Guidelins) and HC (HTML & CSS review) will be
reviewed to determine which guidelines can be supported within the
authoring tool and recommended mechanisms for doing so.
b) Guidelines for developing authoring tools which support the creation of
accessible documents will be created. These will include priority levels
and example implementations.
c) Example help files will be authored which can be included in authoring
tool help files to instruct authors on the need and mechanisms for creating
accessible Web documents
d) Tools for partially automating such processes as linking d-links,
reusing alt-text, creating accessible style sheets, etc. will be prototyped
or specified.

3. Provide information and guidance to the WAI Education group related to
educating, negotiating with and lobbying authoring tool developers to adopt
recommendations.

* WAI-AU Timeline:

Duration: 9 months.

Which should put us around Fall 98 for first deliverable.

* WAI-AU Communication

A mailing list (w3c-wai-au@w3.org), a web area
(www.w3.org/WAI/AU), and conference calls, will be the normal way
of communicating within the group.

Meeting mechanisms and Schedules:
- ongoing discussion via email
- live chat meetings over the web on a weekly basis
- strategically scheduled conference calls
- quarterly face to face meetings appropriately distributed geographically
and exploiting events participants may be attending

* Working Group People

We encourage people whose area of competence are HTML, CSS, authoring
tools and accessibility to join this group.

For the work group to accomplish the stated objectives the membership must
include representatives from disability groups, as well as browser,
authoring tool and assistive
technology developers.  The group must represent the needs of a wide range
of disabilities and computer skill levels of persons with disabilities.

Jutta Treviranus, from the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre
University of Toronto
<jutta.treviranus@utoronto.ca will be the chair of this group.

* Participation Level.

Employees of W3C members and other invited technical experts are
welcome and encouraged to participate in our listserv discussions
(auto-subscription is not available, please contact the chair for
subscription).

If you want to join the WAI-AU working group and participate actively,
please fill out the following form and send it to <wai-au-call@w3.org>

========================================
WAI-AU working group participation form

First Name:

Last Name:

Email Address:

Telephone Number:

Employer:

Specific area of interest:

========================================

-------------------------------------------------------
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