- From: Waddell, Cynthia <cynthia.waddell@ci.sj.ca.us>
- Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000 17:32:50 -0800
- To: "'webmaster@dors.sailorsite.net'" <webmaster@dors.sailorsite.net>, w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Yes, it was a banner year and I would add the following events: May 25, 1999- First US conference on the impact of the digital economy convened by President Clinton; first commissioned paper addressing US policy recognizing that US research agenda must include accessible web design; see "The Growing Digital Divide in Access for People with Disabilities: Overcoming Barriers to Participation" See http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/access/waddell.htm July 8, 1999- In the Virtual Debate "Boosting the UK Digital Economy- a virtual think-tank", recommendations are reported out for action by government and business on accessible web design; see http://www.iib.com/reports/iib-vtt.htm (Recommendations 31-33) July 29, 1999- The Portuguese Government passes a law mandating that government web sites incorporate accessible web design features for people with disabilities; result of online Petition for the Accessibility of the Portuguese Internet; see http://www.acessibilidade.net/index_eng.html September 1999- World Economic Development Congress publication "World Markets in 2000" selects web accessibility article "The Growing Digital Divide in Access for People with Disabilities: Overcoming Barriers to Participation" for distribution for their World Bank/IMF Summit and to government cabinets around the world See http://www.wmrc.com/BusBriefing/BusBriefing/publicationpages/wedc2000/wedc20 00bk.htm September 13, 1999- Attorney General for Australia directs the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to investigate the impact of electronic commerce on older Australians and Australians with a disability See http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/current_inquiries/ecom/ecom.html There are probably many other international events that can be added to the list. Cynthia D. Waddell --------------------------------------------------- Cynthia D. Waddell ADA Coordinator City Manager Department City of San Jose, CA USA 801 North First Street, Room 460 San Jose, CA 95110-1704 (408)277-4034 (408)971-0134 TTY (408)277-3885 FAX http://www.rit.edu/~easi/webcast/cynthia.htm http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/access/waddell.htm -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Bailey [mailto:bbailey@clark.net] Sent: Monday, January 03, 2000 4:00 PM To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org Subject: 1999 a Banner Year for Accessiblity Dear Group, I would like to put forth the observation that 1999 was an amazing year in terms of accessibility of the Internet. Was this year really great -- or this progress part of the status quo? Please add landmarks that I have omitted from this list. I am sure that a finalized version will get posted someplace appropriate! Allow me to start with the following: 02 Apr 1999 The Attorney General issued a memorandum to the heads of all Federal agencies advising them of the requirements of Section 508 and providing instructions for conducting self-evaluations of their electronic and information technology. http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/ 15 Apr 1999 HTML Writers Guild (HWG) launches AWARE (Accessible Web Authoring Resources and Education) site. http://aware.hwg.org/ 05 May 1999 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG) released as W3C Recommendation. The WCAG had an earlier titled of "WAI Accessibility Guidelines: Page Authoring" and was first a W3C Working Draft 03 Feb 1998. Before that, the document was know as the "Unified Web Site Accessibility Guidelines" and was hosted by the Trace Research and Development Center. The WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) officially began life 07 Apr 1997. http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ 28 May 1999 The Access plug-in for Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 for Windows released. Utility aids with access to Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Other conversion options are available. http://access.adobe.com 09 Jun 1999 CAST releases new version of Bobby (3.1.1), a web-based tool that analyzes web pages for their accessibility. Bobby was first made available in September of 1996. http://www.cast.org/bobby/ 04 Aug 1999 W3C publishes "Accessibility Features of CSS". http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS-access 17 Sep 1999 W3C introduces the WCAG Conformance Logos. http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG1-Conformance 21 Sep 1999 W3C publishes "Accessibility Features of SMIL". http://www.w3.org/TR/SMIL-access 26 Oct 1999 WAI "Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" released as W3C Proposed Recommendation (review period ended 23 Nov 1999. First a Working Draft titled "WAI Authoring Tool Guidelines" 12 Nov 1998. http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-AUTOOLS/ 01 Dec 1999 W3C WAI "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" last call review period ends. First public Working Draft announcement, 18 June 1998. http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-USERAGENT/ 24 Dec 1999 HTML 4.01 Specification released as W3C Recommendation. W3C released the HTML 4.0 Recommendation in 18 Dec 1997 which included many accessibility improvements. http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/HTML4-access Please correct any of my dates. Bruce Bailey
Received on Monday, 3 January 2000 20:37:02 UTC