Re: Comments on Working Draft of "Improving Access to Government..."

Hi again Judy,

This is just to confirm that the Group agreed on its latest call to  
take the text below as Group consensus, i.e. eGov IG agrees on all  
points and is ready to close ISSUE-34.

In the meantime, Sharron Rush has also joined as Editor. More edits  
related to your other comment, that was attached mainly to our  
ISSUE-24 on rewriting will happen in the coming 3-4 days.

As we are on a very tight schedule, we understand you don't have any  
objections if we don't hear from you any additional comments by May 5th.

Thanks once again for helping us improving the document.
-- Jose



El 29/04/2009, a las 13:56, Jose M. Alonso escribió:
> Hi Judy,
>
> Most of said in response to EOWG comments [0] apply here, too.
>
> I very much appreciate the time and effort you've spent on reviewing  
> the document and noting the issues about how accessibility is  
> reflected in the document. No doubt the document will benefit from  
> your expertise on the topic. Thank you.
>
> Information on plans for the doc, deadlines and subsequent changes  
> in [0] also apply here.
>
> I'm dividing the rest of the response into two messages based on  
> your 1) and 2) sections. Please see inline.
>
>
> El 27/04/2009, a las 6:40, Judy Brewer escribió:
>> Dear eGov IG Editors and Authors,
>>
>> The following comments on the 10 March 2009 Working Draft on  
>> "Improving Access to Government through Better Use of the Web"[1]  
>> supplement comments already sent by WAI EOWG participants [2],  
>> which I support.
>>
>> 1) Given the stated goals of the eGov IG to inform the usage of Web  
>> standards for more effective use of the Web by governments, the  
>> importance of ensuring openness and transparency of government  
>> data, the fact that accessibility barriers often hinder access for  
>> hundreds of millions of people worldwide who have disabilities, and  
>> the already widespread use of W3C/WAI guidelines in many countries  
>> to help ensure accessibility of government Web sites, it seems  
>> appropriate to include a more explicit reference to accessibility  
>> at the TOC level of this document.
>>
>> My suggestion would be to include this reference under "The W3C  
>> eGovernment Interest Group (eGov IG) seeks and aspires to become a  
>> critical link in assisting governments with the promise of  
>> electronic government" in place of, or in addition to, the current  
>> "Inclusive Access to Information" which appears to refer to a more  
>> diverse set of issues, including as people not yet online. This  
>> refocused or additional section could be titled "Accessibility for  
>> People with Disabilities."
>>
>> The contents of the new section could include some of the material  
>> suggested under 3.1 of the EOWG comments, but to maintain  
>> consistency with the rest of the document, I suggest that it also  
>> make reference to the broader policy context driving adoption of  
>> accessibility guidelines in many countries, and that it also  
>> reference one of the most pressing issues in adoption of  
>> accessibility standards, which is the important of standards  
>> harmonization. These two issues could be addressed with language  
>> along the following lines:
>>
>> "Given that people with disabilities represent between ten and  
>> twenty percent of the population of most countries, ensuring  
>> accessibility of government Web sites is an important aspect of  
>> openness and transparency of government data. This need has been  
>> made more explicit by the 2008 passage of the United Nations  
>> Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which among  
>> other fundamental human rights includes the right of access to  
>> information."
>>
>> It would need a parallel subsection under "How Can Open Government  
>> Data Be Achieved?" which could be entitled "Ensuring Accessibility"  
>> and which could state:
>>
>> "The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, from W3C's  
>> Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) provide an effective solution  
>> for ensuring accessibility of government Web content and  
>> applications. Harmonization with W3C's international standards for  
>> Web accessibility has emerged as an important issue, since  
>> fragmentation into divergent standards slows the development of  
>> supporting authoring and evaluation tools."
>>
> [deleted]
>
> I've reviewed the comments and taken the following actions so far:
> 1) Opened ISSUE-34 [1]
> 2) All replacement text provided has been already integrated into  
> the Note
> (marked with @@, ending in "ISSUE-34", and with a blue background -- 
> CSS style="issue-eo")
>
> I hope the actions taken initially satisfy your comments above. The  
> Group will meet later today and review all issues and I'll get back  
> to you if more information about your comments arises.
>
> As a reminder, the editor's draft is evolving at [2].
>
> Thanks once again for the time you are putting on helping us to  
> improve the document.
>
> Best,
> Jose.
>
> ps: more in a separate message
>
>
> [0] http://www.w3.org/mid/D4D98EF6-FD70-480C-A471-0A02B06F075E@w3.org
> [1] http://www.w3.org/2007/eGov/IG/track/issues/34
> [2] http://www.w3.org/2007/eGov/IG/Group/docs/note
>
>
> --
> Jose M. Alonso <josema@w3.org>    W3C/CTIC
> eGovernment Lead                  http://www.w3.org/2007/eGov/
>
>
>
>

Received on Friday, 1 May 2009 11:35:40 UTC