Re: [Conformance] Definition of Compliance vs. conformance

Hello,

::chair hat off::

I agree that it is useful for us to distinguish between the two terms, for use in our discussions and within our documentation. While on first pass it may feel a bit like a tangent, I believe taking the time now to clarify what we mean and adding introductory text such as Raph used will reduce long term confusion and will aid conversations later.

Kind regards,

Rachael

From: Raph de Rooij <post@raph.nl>
Date: Friday, December 10, 2021 at 4:10 AM
To: Jeanne Spellman <jspellman@spellmanconsulting.com>
Cc: "public-silver@w3.org" <public-silver@w3.org>
Subject: Re: [Conformance] Definition of Compliance vs. conformance
Resent-From: <public-silver@w3.org>
Resent-Date: Friday, December 10, 2021 at 4:08 AM

Hi all,

In my thesis from February 2016, I wrote the following paragraph about the subject:

The meaning of the words conformance and compliance
Although the words conformance and compliance are often used as synonyms, they each have a
distinctive meaning:

Conformance - action in accordance with some specified standard
Compliance  - the act or process of doing what you have been asked or ordered to do

In this document, the words are not interchangeable: conformance describes meeting the
requirements that are defined in the WCAG 2.0 specification, whereas compliance describes
meeting the requirements that are defined in a web accessibility policy. The two words match only
in a scenario where a policy prescribes that websites must conform to WCAG 2.0.

source: https://30x.eu/thesis, page 10 (bottom)

So I'm with Gregg Vanderheiden: "You comply with laws and conform to standards." My only addition: "...laws and policies..."

Nowadays I work as a policy maker on web accessibility. In my opinion it is important that the distinction between the two terms is well documented to avoid confusion.


Kind regards,

Raph de Rooij
E: post@raph.nl<mailto:post@raph.nl>
M: +31 6 45025236


Op vr 10 dec. 2021 om 00:50 schreef Jeanne Spellman <jspellman@spellmanconsulting.com<mailto:jspellman@spellmanconsulting.com>>:

Another solution would be to define the terms for our own use, but not try to put them in a normative glossary.


On 12/9/2021 6:24 PM, Susana Pallero wrote:
Hi all,

I agree with Peter. I think it is very important to differentiate both terms.

But I understand the confusion when reading the ISO standards.

Maybe a clarification including that may work?
Adding something like "even though in several situations these terms are used interchangeably, for the W3C standards purpose they are well differentiated".

On another note, I propose we change "cf conformance" for the entire word that shows the meaning. As a person that don't speak native English I use the browser's translator motor several times to read the W3C content and when used the "cf" is not translated and meaning is lost.

Sorry I couldn't add this during our meeting but it was my first and didn't know I had to add the "Q+" on IRC chat to talk.

Thanks so much for welcoming me today, it is a pleasure to be part of the team.

Regards,

On Thu, Dec 9, 2021, 7:01 PM Korn, Peter <pkorn@lab126.com<mailto:pkorn@lab126.com>> wrote:
Mary Jo, Katie,

We may well be trying to hold back the tide, but I DO believe the distinct is very important in our work, and I think it is valuable to make a distinction, even if only for WCAG 3.  It may be that when WCAG 3 gets “transposed” into other standards (e.g. EN 301 549) they will change or drop those glossary entries.  But then again, what WCAG 2.x has done has driven an awful lot of other things; maybe it will here as well.

Peter

P.S. I also know that one gets between Gregg and his arguments at one’s peril!
--
Peter Korn (he/him/his) | Director, Accessibility | Amazon Lab126
pkorn@amazon.com<mailto:pkorn@amazon.com>

From: Katie Haritos-Shea <ryladog@gmail.com<mailto:ryladog@gmail.com>>
Date: Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 1:59 PM
To: Mary Jo Mueller <maryjom@us.ibm.com<mailto:maryjom@us.ibm.com>>
Cc: Silver Community Group <public-silver@w3.org<mailto:public-silver@w3.org>>
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] [Conformance] Definition of Compliance vs. conformance
Resent-From: <public-silver@w3.org<mailto:public-silver@w3.org>>
Resent-Date: Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 1:57 PM


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I hear Gregg Vanderheiden in my ear saying "You comply with laws and conform to standards" from years ago. Not sure he trumps standards bodies....

On Thu, Dec 9, 2021, 4:45 PM Mary Jo Mueller <maryjom@us.ibm.com<mailto:maryjom@us.ibm.com>> wrote:
Hi all,

After the meeting I was addressing some input from a colleague on definitions and what is already defined and available in ISO and IEC standards.  Since standards harmonization is a definite concern, it seems there's a variety of usage and definition of "Compliance", "Comply", "Conformance", Conform" and in ISO and IEC standards there are multiple instances where the definition of one of these terms includes the other term. So I'm not sure how successful we will be trying to tease apart terms that have been clearly used interchangeably for a while.

Here's a link to the ISO standards page where you can perform a search on terms to see how they are defined and in what standards they are defined.
• ISO Online Browsing Platform (OBP) https://www.iso.org/obp/uiand select the Terms & Definitions radio button
• IEC maintains its own platform, similar to ISO https://www.electropedia.org/and check the Search also in definitions checkbox.  For example:

For example from an IEC Internet of Things standard:

compliance


characteristic<https://www.electropedia.org/iev/iev.nsf/display?openform&ievref=741-01-06> of conformance to rules, such as those defined by a law, a regulation<https://www.electropedia.org/iev/iev.nsf/display?openform&ievref=901-02-10>, a standard<https://www.electropedia.org/iev/iev.nsf/display?openform&ievref=901-02-02>, or a policy



So maybe we should just concede that these are used interchangeably and use this definition.

Best regards,

Mary Jo
_____________________________________________
Mary Jo Mueller
Accessibility Standards Program Manager
IBM Accessibility


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