Re: Updated policy page links, check it out

Rafael,

At 11:59 AM 1/5/00 +0100, Rafael Romero wrote:
>Dear Judy,
>
>Congratulations for this page <http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/Policy>.
It gives 
>a very interesting overview of what is going on in the whole world.

Thank you. It is good to see all the activity in different countries. The
links that people have sent in have been very helpful.

>Please add to 'Discussion' in new section 'Spain' the following entry:
>
>SIDAR <http://www.sidar.org>. Seminario de Iniciativas de Discapacidad y 
>Accesibilidad a la Red (Web Disability and Accessibility Initiatives
Seminar).

I tried this link and got the message "This site is under construction and
will be available soon." If there is specific policy information I can link
to for Spain, I would like to do that.

>Regarding the section on 'legislation' I will ask a colleague from SIDAR
to provide 
>some useful references. However, as a suggestion, we should try to
concentrate on 
>that legislation that directly impact on web accessibility, because there
is the 
>danger of getting into a too wide spectrum if we just reference any
legislation 
>relating to disability.

Yes. This page links mainly to legislation that is either directly related
to Web accessibility, or that already forms the basis for an official
interpretation into regulation or policy that addresses Web accessibility.
For instance, a number of countries have anti-discrimination laws regarding
disability, but only some of those countries have developed regulations or
policies that explain how that legislation is to be interpreted in the
context of the internet and/or Web. However, in some cases it may also
valuable to know of general legislation which could provide the basis on
which to develop more specific policy interpretations if needed.

>Finally, what is the meaning of the section 'jurisdictions'? What is the
criterium for any government institution to be linked?

I realize this isn't very clear. My intention is to identify agencies which
have the authority to make or enforce policy with regard to a law or
regulation that may be relevant to accessibility of the Web. Since many
countries do not yet make their legislation available on the Web, it may be
useful to at least list the Web site of the agency or agencies that have
been designated to be responsible for particular legislation. That way,
people can more easily make inquiries into the status of government
advisory committees or task forces that might already be discussing issues
around internet and Web policies, and inquire into whether there is, for
instance, any representation from the disability community on such task
forces, and/or whether the committees or task forces are aware of the
barriers that exist on the Web for people with disabilities, and then offer
assistance as needed. I think it would be appropriate to link to such
committees or task forces, if those groups have Web pages. If people sent
me links to those groups I would include them on the policy page, in
addition to linking to the agencies themselves. In some cases perhaps the
advisory committees haven't realized yet that people would be interested in
seeing what they are working on.

I also think it is useful to link to agencies that have authority with
regard to relevant laws or regulations so that inquiries about
interpretation of existing laws can be directed to the appropriate
organization. For instance, you'll notice a variety of agencies listed
under "jurisdictions" in the US section of the policy page
<http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/Policy#USA>. It is sometimes the case
that a given agency has the authority to make regulations or policy based
on a law, but the ultimate authority for interpreting that law is the
Department of Justice (DOJ), so both links can be useful. Sometimes a query
might be sent directly to the Department of Justice, as in the query from a
Senator in 1996 <http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/foia/tal712.txt> which resulted
in the DOJ Opinion on whether the Americans with Disability Act applies to
accessibility of the Web for covered entities in the USA.

Thanks for your questions -- I hope that this helps to clarify things.

>Best regards, Rafael Romero.
>
>A 19:05 04/01/00 -0500, ha escrito:
>>Apologies if I've missed links that anyone has sent in previously. Please
>>re-send if relevant for this reference page.

Best regards,

Judy


-- 
Judy Brewer    jbrewer@w3.org    +1.617.258.9741    http://www.w3.org/WAI
Director, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) International Program Office
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
MIT/LCS Room NE43-355, 545 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA,  02139,  USA

Received on Friday, 7 January 2000 01:59:11 UTC