W3C - the World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility InitiativeAuthoring Tools Working Group

Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AUWG) Charter

This charter is written in accordance with section 6.2.6 of the W3C Process Document.

  1. Mission
  2. Scope
  3. Duration
  4. Deliverables
  5. Milestones
  6. Dependencies
  7. Confidentiality
  8. Meetings
  9. Communication
  10. Voting
  11. Patent Policy
  12. Participation

Information about how to participate in the AUWG is available.

1. Mission

The Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AUWG) was originally chartered in December, 1997 as a Working Group of the WAI Technical Activity. It was rechartered in February 1999, January 2000, June 2001, and December 2004, and is being extended in January 2007. The group has produced a number of working drafts leading to the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, a W3C Recommendation; three versions of Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility, a W3C Note; and Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, a W3C Working Draft. It is being rechartered to perform the following tasks:

  1. Continue to support and track implementation of the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.
  2. Further development of a second version of the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG 2.0).
  3. Revise the W3C Note Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility for compatibility with ATAG 2.0 (Implementation Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0).
  4. Develop test suites for ATAG 1.0 and ATAG 2.0.

2. Scope

2.1 Scope of work

The scope of the AUWG's work under this charter is to support implementation of the W3C Recommendation Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (ATAG 1.0), and to complete development of a second version of ATAG (ATAG 2.0).

This work is expected to include :

3. Duration

This Working Group is now extended to last for 36 months, from 1 January 2005, through 31 December 2007.

4. Deliverables

  1. Minutes of AUWG meetings.
  2. Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, as a W3C Recommendation. (Important dependency)
  3. Implementation Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, as a W3C Note.
  4. ATAG 2.0 Test Suite.

5. Milestones

1st quarter 2007
Publish Last Call of ATAG 2.0 (Important dependency).
Publish revised version of "Implementation Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0" Working Draft.
2nd quarter 2007
Publish Candidate Recommendation of ATAG 2.0
Publish revised Techniques Working Draft.
3rd quarter 2007
Publish Test Suite for ATAG 2.0.
Publish revised Techniques Working Draft.
4th quarter 2007
Publish revised FAQ Working Draft.
Publish revised Techniques Working Draft.
Publish implementation report.

6. Dependencies

6.1 Communication about dependencies within WAI

6.2 Groups with which AUWG has dependencies

Additionally, the Working Group will coordinate with the IMS Global Learning Consortium to track its work on accessible authoring practices in "e-learning" applications.

7. Confidentiality

The AUWG is a public Working Group as defined by Section 4.1 of the W3C Process Document. The Working Group maintains a public mailing list at w3c-wai-au@w3.org.

8. Meetings

The AUWG will hold regular face-to-face meetings, which are likely to be quarterly. Where practicable these will be held in conjunction with other WAI face-to-face meetings or with an event where WAI IG members gather. Working Group meetings are announced to W3C Member organizations through the Member Events Calendar and the Member Newswire; to Working Group participants through the w3c-wai-au@w3.org mailing list; to WAI IG participants via the WAI IG mailing list; and to the general public via the WAI home page.

The AUWG will hold regular remote meetings every two weeks via teleconference.

9. Communication

9.1 Communication within the group

The primary fora for Working Group discussion are the w3c-wai-au@w3.org mailing list (archives are publicly available), and regular teleconferences supplemented by an IRC notetaking channel. The primary record of the group's activity is the AUWG home page.

  1. w3c-wai-au@w3.org mailing list archives
  2. Publication of minutes or log files for all meetings
  3. Working Group home page
  4. Face-to-face and teleconference meetings

9.2 Communication with W3C

  1. The AUWG coordinates with W3C through the WAI Domain Leader;
  2. The WAI Domain Leader communicates about W3C and WAI activities through postings to WAI IG;
  3. The AUWG coordinates with other WAI Working Groups through the WAI Coordination Group and the wai-xtech@w3.org list;

9.3 Communication with tool developers

The AUWG encourages developers to become part of the group or to maintain close contact with its work. In addition, the group will specifically seek contacts from developers who can provide additional feedback for conformance evaluations, and act as contact points for their development teams.

9.4 Communication with the public

The AUWG communicates with the public through the AUWG home page and general W3C communication mechanisms.

10. Voting

The primary means of decision-making in the AUWG is consensus. This charter is written in accordance with Section 3.4, Votes of the 5 February 2004 W3C Process Document and includes no voting procedures beyond what the Process Document requires.

11. Patent Policy

This Working Group operates under the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. To promote the widest adoption of Web standards, W3C seeks to issue Recommendations that can be implemented, according to this policy, on a Royalty-Free basis.

12. Participation

12.1 Who should participate

As the Web Accessibility Initiative is a multi-stakeholder/partnership project, it is critical that different stakeholders in Web accessibility are represented on the AUWG. These include:

12.2 Required commitment

Participants are expected to observe the good standing requirements of the W3C Process for Working Groups.

For this Working Group, the following commitment is expected:

Information about how to participate in the AUWG is available on the Web.


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Last updated $Date: 2005/01/04 18:52:56 $ by Jan Richards (jan.richards@utoronto.ca)

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