- From: Marie-Claire Forgue <mcf@w3.org>
- Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:10:00 +0100
- To: w3c-news@w3.org
W3C Web Standard Defines Accessibility for Next Generation Web
Collaborative Effort Results in More Flexible and Testable Standard;
Advances Accessibility of the Web
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Additional Materials
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The press release is available in these languages:
English:
http://www.w3.org/2008/12/wcag20-pressrelease.html.en
French:
http://www.w3.org/2008/12/wcag20-pressrelease.html.fr
More languages:
http://www.w3.org/Press/#x2008-wcag20
These materials accompany the release:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-WCAG20-20081211/
WCAG 2.0 at a Glance
http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/glance/
How to Meet WCAG 2.0: A Customizable Quick Reference
http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/
Additional materials in support of WCAG 2.0 are linked from
the press release online.
These organizations expressed support of WCAG 2.0 through
testimonials:
Access Board; Adobe; American Association of People with
Disabilities; ANEC; Boeing; CTIC Foundation; Deque; Disability
Rights Fund; European Commission for Employment, Social Affairs
and Equal Opportunities; European Commission for Information
Society and Media; European Disability Forum; UN Global Initiative
for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict); Hitachi; HP; IBM; Information
Technology Research and Standardization Center (INSTAC);
Innovimax; International Webmasters' Association / HTML Writers'
Guild; Internet Society (ISOC); Microsoft; Mitsue-Links; National
Center for Accessible Media (NCAM); SAP; Trace Research &
Development Center; UNESCO; and Vision Australia.
For the full text of these testimonials, see:
http://www.w3.org/2008/12/wcag20-testimonial
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Contact Americas, Australia --
Ian Jacobs, <ij@w3.org>, +1.718.260.9447
Contact Europe, Africa and the Middle East --
Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94
Contact Asia --
Fumihiro Kato <fumi@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170
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Press Release
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W3C Web Standard Defines Accessibility for Next Generation Web
Collaborative Effort Results in More Flexible and Testable Standard;
Advances Accessibility of the Web
http://www.w3.org/ -- 11 December 2008 -- Today W3C announces a
new standard that will help Web designers and developers create
sites that better meet the needs of users with disabilities and
older users. Drawing on extensive experience and community
feedback, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
improve upon W3C's groundbreaking initial standard for
accessible Web content.
This new standard from the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative
(WAI) will advance accessibility across the full range of Web
content (such as text, images, audio, and video) and Web
applications. WCAG 2.0 can be more precisely tested, yet it
allows Web developers more flexibility and potential for
innovation. Together with supporting technical and educational
materials, WCAG 2.0 is easier to understand and use.
WCAG 2.0 addresses barriers to accessing the Web experienced by
people with visual, auditory, physical, cognitive and
neurological disabilities, and by older Web users with
accessibility needs. WCAG 2.0 explains how to make content:
* Perceivable (for instance by addressing text alternatives for
images, captions for audio, adaptability of presentation, and
color contrast);
* Operable (by addressing keyboard access, color contrast,
timing of input, seizure avoidance, and navigability);
* Understandable (by addressing readability, predictability, and
input assistance); and
* Robust (for instance by addressing compatibility with
assistive technologies).
Wide Support for WCAG 2.0
"Because WCAG 2.0 applies to all Web technologies, it can help
ensure that the Web stays open to people with disabilities even
as we continually introduce new technologies. We incorporated
feedback from thousands of comments received during the
development of WCAG 2.0 regarding user needs, and technical
feasibility," said Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden, Co-Chair of WCAG
Working Group, and Director of the Trace R&D Center at the
University of Wisconsin. "WCAG 2.0 represents the outcome of a
major collaborative effort, and its final form is widely
supported by industry, disability organizations, research and
government. This balance is important in order for WCAG 2.0 to
serve as a unifying international standard for Web
accessibility."
Extensive supporting materials to help developers and policy-makers
include WCAG 2.0 at a Glance; WCAG 2.0 Documents; How to Meet WCAG
2.0: A Customizable Quick Reference; Understanding WCAG 2.0; and
Techniques for WCAG 2.0. Techniques are already available for HTML,
CSS, SMIL, Scripting, and Accessible Rich Internet Applications
(WAI-ARIA), and are under development for additional Web
technologies. Resources to support transition include How to Update
Your Web Site to WCAG 2.0. Essential Components of Web Accessibility
describes the relationship between WCAG 2.0 and other Web
Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines that also have 2.0 versions
under development.
Far-Reaching Impact
"Web accessibility helps us reach a broader audience by
supporting access to the Web for people with disabilities, as
well as increasing usability across a variety of mobile
devices," explained Loretta Guarino Reid, Co-Chair of WCAG WG,
and Google Accessibility Engineer. "The Web community helped us
demonstrate successful use of WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.0 test
procedures in diverse types of Web technologies, Web content,
interactive applications, and natural languages. These trial
implementations also show the continuity between WCAG 1.0 and
2.0, as most Web sites that conformed to WCAG 1.0 did not need
significant changes to meet WCAG 2.0."
While WCAG 1.0 was adopted widely, there is even broader
interest in adoption of WCAG 2.0 by organizations and
governments worldwide. The Policy for Authorized W3C
Translations is expected to facilitate direct adoption in local
languages. http://www.w3.org/2005/02/TranslationPolicy
"In the recently passed United Nations Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities, access to information and
communications technologies is for the first time recognized
internationally as a human right," according to George Kerscher,
Secretary General of the DAISY Consortium. "WCAG 2.0 will help
to make access to information a reality around the world."
Current and recent participants in the WCAG Working Group
include Adobe, AOL, Google, IBM, International Webmasters
Association/HTML Writers' Guild, Microsoft, NIST, SAP, and
Vision Australia, and individual Invited Experts from research,
disability, government and standards organizations in Australia,
Canada, Europe, Japan, and the United States. In addition, the
extensive public review process resulted in comments from
hundreds of organizations and individuals around the world.
About the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international
consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and
the public work together to develop Web standards and guidelines
designed to ensure long-term growth for the Web. Over 400
organizations are Members of the Consortium. W3C is jointly run
by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) in the USA, the European Research
Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) headquartered
in France and Keio University in Japan, and has seventeen
outreach offices worldwide. For more information see
http://www.w3.org/.
About the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) works with
organizations around the world to make the Web more accessible
for people with disabilities and older users. WAI pursues Web
accessibility by ensuring that Web technologies support
accessibility; developing guidelines for Web content, browsers
and media players, and authoring tools; developing resources to
support improved evaluation tools; developing resources for
education and outreach; and coordinating with research and
development efforts that can affect future accessibility of the
Web. WAI is supported in part by the U.S. Department of
Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation
Research (NIDRR), the European Commission's Information Society
Technologies Programme, HP, IBM, Microsoft Corporation, SAP, and
Wells Fargo. For more information see http://www.w3.org/WAI/.
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Received on Thursday, 11 December 2008 15:10:36 UTC