My proposal for making WCAG non-western-centric

Dear I18N WG colleagues,

I sent this to Shawn Lawton Henry (WAI).  I received positive feedback
from Kevin and Shawn.

Regards,
Makoto
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Before TPAC Kobe, I would like to share a constructive proposal
regarding the next evolution of WCAG.

Many success criteria in WCAG 2.x implicitly assume Western writing
systems—for example, line-width conventions or the use of spaces
between words.

To improve transparency and inclusiveness, I propose introducing a new
concept called “Natural-Language-Dependent Requirements.”

This would make explicit where success criteria depend on specific
writing-system conventions,
and would provide a framework for adding equivalent requirements for
other languages when appropriate.
Importantly, the overall conformance model of WCAG would remain unchanged.

Concretely, I would like to suggest:

Adding a new subsection in “Layers of Guidance” (currently §1.3 in
WCAG 2.2) entitled Natural-Language-Dependent Requirements,
explaining that some success criteria or techniques may include
language- or writing-system-specific provisions (e.g.,
Western-language-specific, Japanese-language-specific).
This section would clarify that such distinctions are editorial, not
structural, and can be expanded in future updates for other scripts.

Illustrating the concept through limited examples:

SC 1.4.12 Text Spacing — current Western-specific values would be
accompanied by equivalent Japanese-specific descriptions referring to
JLreq (W3C Japanese Layout Requirements).

SC 1.4.8 Visual Presentation — “width of lines” would be expressed as
a natural-language-dependent property rather than a fixed numeric
value.

These examples are illustrative only; the intent is to establish a
general mechanism that can later be extended in cooperation between
the AG WG and the I18N WG.

I believe this approach would strengthen WCAG’s cultural neutrality
and better align it with W3C’s global mission.

Received on Tuesday, 4 November 2025 23:15:57 UTC