- From: Judy Brewer <jbrewer@w3.org>
- Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 20:54:40 -0400
- To: w3c-wai-eo@w3.org, w3c-wai-gl@w3.org, w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Several points on the Checkpoint 3.3 discussion. First, a potentially simple solution to much of the recent discussion, centering on the extent to which it is practical to rely on style sheets right now, would be to clarify that there is a dependency between checkpoint 3.3 and checkpoint 11.1, which reads "Use W3C technologies when they are available and appropriate for a task and use the latest versions when supported." Checkpoint 11.1 was, I believe, intended to apply as an umbrella statement to the guidelines, but that is not clear from the current text. The Web Content Guidelines Working Group has several options for when and how to address that kind of unclarity, ranging possibly from immediate errata to incorporating it in a revised WCAG when that happens, assuming my interpretation is shared by others in the working group and that people feel that this would be a constructive clarification. Next, I am concerned by a few statements that have been made on these lists claiming that WAI has "moved into policy-making"; that W3C is going "legal"; that maybe WAI really meant to title the guidelines "standards" or "rules" etc. I believe these statements promote a number of misunderstandings. These guidelines were deliberately and precisely named "guidelines." They are a W3C specification and have completed exactly the process specified for W3C specifications. They have not gone through, nor do they presume to have gone through, a legislative process -- nor has W3C or WAI ever implied this. They can, as can any voluntary industry consensus standard or specification, and as frequently happens, be referenced by any organization that chooses to do so. Any organization referencing such a document is responsible for doing so in a responsible manner. In the case of the U.S. federal advisory committee, EITAAC, which Robert Neff, Jim Thatcher, and Dave Poehlman have referred to, any references to WAI guidelines in the EITAAC report (which provides recommendations for a U.S. federal rule on electronic & information technology accessibility) would be covered by the provision for "equivalent facilitation" which provides (roughly, I'm not a lawyer) that if there's a reasonable or better way of providing the same level of access intended by a referenced specification, then the covered entity has met their obligation. Without such an ability to reference voluntary industry consensus standards or specifications, policy-makers would often be at a loss to develop essential policy for areas concerning technology. Regarding responsibility for training, there appears to be an undercurrent in some of the comments earlier on this thread that if W3C publishes a guideline explaining how to make Web sites accessible, as a reference for those who would chose to make them accessible or to be referenced by organizations setting requirements on particular entities to make their sites accessible, then somehow W3C/WAI must assume responsibility to train any entities that have obligations to make accessible sites. While I think WAI has some useful support materials available and many more on the way, and many people involved in WAI do many presentations and trainings, I hope I'm misreading the intent of those earlier comments. WAI can help -- hopefully greatly -- with creation of re-usable training resources, but training activities can and should be shared among many organizations, including, in the case of US federal agencies, by (US) FedWeb which has already been conducting trainings for federal agencies on this topic for the past two years to prepare them for their obligations under US Section 508. And yes, WAI must be prepared to deal with potential backlash from individuals or organizations that react in any of many possible ways to these guidelines; however, the responsibility for responding in a clarifying and constructive way is also, I hope, something to be shared by the many organizations involved in trying to make the Web more accessible for people with disabilities. Regards, Judy _________________________________________________________________________ Judy Brewer jbrewer@w3.org +1.617.258.9741 http://www.w3.org/WAI Director,Web Accessibility Initiative(WAI), World Wide Web Consortium(W3C) WAI Interest Group home page: http://www.w3.org/WAI/IG Previous WAI IG Updates: http://www.w3.org/WAI/IG/Overview.html#Updates Unsubscribe? Send "unsubscribe" subject line: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org Questions? http://www.w3.org/WAI/IG/Overview.html#Uselist or wai@w3.org
Received on Tuesday, 20 July 1999 20:55:36 UTC