RE: Introduction

Hi Vivienne

Great to have you aboard. I am a relative newcomer myself (about a year),
and it sounds as though you'll have a lot to contribute. It's always a
pleasure having a comrade closer to my time zone (I am located in Israel,
and will probably be one of the first to send a reply). Regarding automated
tools, I share your frustration. Perhaps you will be interested in the new
Evaluation <http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/2011/eval/eval-tf>  Methodology Task
Force we recently approved. Good luck!

 

adam

 

-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On Behalf
Of Vivienne CONWAY
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2011 12:44 PM
To: w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Subject: Introduction

 

Hi all

 

As a new member to the group, it has been suggested that I introduce myself,
so here goes.

 

I am a Ph.D student and sessional lecturer for the School of Computer and
Security Science at Edith Cowan University, here in sunny Perth, Western
Australia.  My  research topic involves website accessibility in Australia,
particularly as it relates to the new National Transition Strategy (NTS)
recently adopted by the Australian Government for all government websites.
The NTS is a staged transition plan that will see (hopefully) all government
websites transition to compliance with WCAG 2.0 Level A by December 2012 and
AA by December 2014.  While federal government websites must use the NTS,
other levels of government may choose their own strategy or use the NTS to
reach WCAG 2.0 A by the same time and are encouraged to achieve AA. All
other websites in Australia fall under the Australian Human Rights
Guidelines (Disability Discrimination Act) which says they must get to WCAG
2.0 AA by 2013.  (whew! what amouthful)

 

So, my interests at the moment are in how to accurately assess a website
against WCAG 2.0, how to determine the best tools and how to communicate
this best to the website owners.  I have been assessing various automated
tools and comparing the results, which is a really frustrating task.  Its
not just comparing apples and organges, it is throwing bananas into the mix!
I will be auditing 100 websites regularly over 2.5 years and monitoring
their progress (or lack thereof).  I use a hybrid approach to assessing
websites with a combination of automated tools, manual evaluation and user
evaluation as well as W3C html/css validation.

 

I hope that gives you a bit of an understanding both of what is happening in
Australia and what I'm up to.  I am really looking forward to my involvement
with this Working Group.  I know that at first I will be doing far more
learning than contributing, but I hope I can do some of that as well.
Thanks for having me.

 

Regards

 

Vivienne L. Conway

 

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