RE: W3C Process and WCAG 2.0 Public Working Draft 17/05/07

Dear All,

The comment on coverage of cognitive disability issues that the WCAG 
Working Group received last year
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-comments-wcag20/2006Jun/0118.html
helped focus attention on some issues needing improvement in WCAG 2.0, and 
the Working Group made a number of changes to the WCAG 2.0 draft as a 
result. These changes were described and feedback was requested by the WCAG 
Working Group
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-comments-wcag20/2007May/0075.html .

We have already heard from some people that they feel that their concerns 
have been addressed, and others that the changes do not fully address their 
concerns. If you feel that there are improvements, let us know; and if you 
note additional areas where changes might be needed, what would be most 
helpful for Working Group participants would be to get specific concerns 
and suggestions. For instance, hearing a specific concern about the UNESCO 
reading levels is helpful in pinpointing a potential issue. It is even more 
helpful when the WG receives specific suggestions of possible alternative 
solutions. Comments can be sent to public-comments-WCAG20@w3.org.

Comments about possible changes to the overall scope of WCAG 2.0 -- for 
instance changing the scope to address general issues of low-literacy 
beyond those already associated with various disabilities -- are less 
likely to be usable by the working group in completing their work on WCAG 2.0.

We welcome your feedback on changes that are described in the follow-up 
request for feedback
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-comments-wcag20/2007Jun/0104.html ,
and on the current draft in general. I've also re-pasted the description of 
changes from the Working Group below for convenience.

Thank you,

- Judy

>----------------------------
>Response from Working Group:
>----------------------------
>
>We have added language to the Introduction, the Conformance section,
>and the Quick Reference to highlight the fact that WCAG 2.0 only
>addresses some of the needs of people with cognitive, learning, and
>language disabilities, and to call out the need for more research in
>this area. WAI is exploring ways in which to support and encourage
>work in this important area.
>
>See WCAG 2.0:
>  http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-WCAG20-20070517/#abstract
>  http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-WCAG20-20070517/#intro
>  http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-WCAG20-20070517/#overview-levels
>
>Quick Reference:
>  http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/20070517/#intro
>
>We have added some best practices for cognitive, learning, and
>language disabilities as advisory techniques, and this draft contains
>three new success criteria in this area.
>
>New success criteria:
>
>SC 2.4.9 Where content is organized into sections, the sections are
>indicated with headings.
>
>SC 3.3.4 Labels or instructions are provided when content requires user input
>
>SC 3.3.6 For forms that require the user to submit information, at
>least one of the following is true:
>
>   1. Reversible: Transactions are reversible.
>   2. Checked: Submitted data is checked for input errors before going
>on to the next step in the process.
>   3. Confirmed: A mechanism is available for reviewing, confirming,
>and correcting information before finalizing the transaction.
>
>Advisory techniques:
>http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20-20070517/#N1255F



-- 
Judy Brewer    +1.617.258.9741    http://www.w3.org/WAI
Director, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
MIT/CSAIL Building 32-G526
32 Vassar Street
Cambridge, MA,  02139,  USA

Received on Saturday, 16 June 2007 16:07:52 UTC