Re: WCAG Extensions and Rationale (was Legal Settlement Agreements that Reference WCAG)

Hi Laura--

This is very helpful list and it would be great to have it available, even on a site other than the W3C. 

Are you (or anyone else on the list) aware of lawsuits or settlements related to accessibility of corporate intranets or internal software? I have found a couple of cases for failure under ADA's reasonable accommodation (when people sued for wrongful termination based on inability to use inaccessible software), but nothing citing WCAG 2.0. I am not including University lawsuits, like Penn State, since that is a different issue (Title II). 

Thanks!

Mike



> On Aug 1, 2015, at 8:55 AM, Laura Carlson <laura.lee.carlson@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Judy and all,
> 
>> On 7/30/15, Judy Brewer <jbrewer@w3.org> wrote:
>> As for legal settlement agreements referencing WCAG, that's not in the
>> scope of the WCAG WG either. There is a policy references page
>> (currently being updated) that EOWG maintains in support of harmonized
>> standards uptake; a listing of agreements might perhaps be peripherally
>> related to that, but we would need to confirm with EOWG before moving it
>> there and they may also feel that it is out of scope.
>> 
>> Please let me know if you have questions.
> 
> It is great to hear from you. I do have some questions.
> 
> But first let me say that I am very sorry that you feel the Legal
> Settlement Agreements that Reference WCAG 2.0 Wiki page [1] is
> irrelevant to the WCAG WG. I originally created it to help inform WCAG
> WG discourse and had thought that the document may have not only fit
> into the draft charter's [2] statement, "Develop support materials as
> needed to explain the application of WCAG 2.0 to particular
> situations" but moreover be useful for the discussion on the topic of
> WCAG extensions. The legal situation seems to be an underlying
> rationale for the WCAG WG taking the extension route.
> 
> Although the legal situation is not explicitly called out in the draft
> charter, it seems to be a reality.  In the "WCAG extension" thread
> Sailesh [3] talked about how "WCAG 2 is a guideline or standard if you
> will, and is "often incorporated  / referenced into law and that
> changing WCAG2 by an extension may require changes to such laws too.
> Wayne mentioned how using extensions would give time for legal changes
> [4]. WCAG 2.0 is being or has been incorporated into law in various
> places around the world (for example [5]). The wiki page in fact was
> an attempt to inform this discussion by documenting how legal
> settlements are indeed referencing WCAG 2.0. The page includes:
> 
> * 16 City, County, Village Settlements
> * 10 Commercial Settlements
> * 12 Educational Settlements
> * 2 Other Organization Settlements
> 
> 22 of those were in the past 6 months. WCAG 2.0 sure seems to have
> increasing legal implications. The page presents 40 US legal
> agreements that I am currently aware of. An attorney who has a
> practice specializing in accessibility contacted me after reading the
> document to say she knows of more settlements than what is currently
> listed.
> 
> Anyway, a repercussion of this legal situation and because of WCAG
> 2.0's stability and consensus, it appears that the working group can't
> tweak core WCAG 2.0 without risk. It also seems that this is
> underlying rationale leading to the proposed approach of WCAG 2.0 +
> extensions as opposed to a WCAG 2.1 or a WCAG 3.0 approach. Judy, is
> this correct? If this is off base, what is the main rationale for WCAG
> taking the extensions route? Modularity? Speed? Something else? Can
> you please address the questions of "Why not update WCAG?" and "Why
> extensions?" Intelligent people have been asking. I am in good faith
> trying to understand and piece things together. Your insight would be
> most appreciated.
> 
> With all of that said, if you still deem the WCAG 2.0 legal settlement
> documentation irrelevant and not useful to the WCAG WG, please accept
> my sincere apologies and have it removed from the WCAG Wiki (I don't
> think I have the permissions to do it myself). If the EO Working Group
> or anyone else finds it useful, they are more than welcome to it. For
> anyone wanting a stable version of the document, the original is
> available [6].
> 
> Does EO have documentation for which laws around the world reference
> WCAG 2.0? That may also help inform our discussion on extensions.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Kindest Regards,
> Laura
> [1] https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/wiki/Legal_Settlement_Agreements_that_Reference_WCAG
> [2] http://www.w3.org/2015/04/draft-wcag-charter
> [3] https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2015JulSep/0108.html
> [4] https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2015JulSep/0104.html
> [5] "KHS: Makoto Ueki wants to rejoin the working group, and he felt
> there would be great interest and attendance for a meeting in Japan
> because of the new laws going into effect in Japan based on WCAG2...I
> would like to see most items fall at levels A and AA, since most laws
> only take those levels."
> http://www.w3.org/2015/04/07-wai-wcag-minutes.html
> [6] http://www.d.umn.edu/~lcarlson/wcagwg/settlements/
> 
>> On 7/30/15, Judy Brewer <jbrewer@w3.org> wrote:
>> As for legal settlement agreements referencing WCAG, that's not in the
>> scope of the WCAG WG either. There is a policy references page
>> (currently being updated) that EOWG maintains in support of harmonized
>> standards uptake; a listing of agreements might perhaps be peripherally
>> related to that, but we would need to confirm with EOWG before moving it
>> there and they may also feel that it is out of scope.
>> 
>> Please let me know if you have questions.
>> 
>> Thank you,
>> 
>> - Judy
> 
>>> 
>>>>> On 7/30/15, Laura Carlson <laura.lee.carlson@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Hi Jon,
>>>>> 
>>>>> My pleasure.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I don't have the dates at hand but  I'll put it on my to do list. Most
>>>>> are fairly recent.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Kindest Regards,
>>>>> Laura
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On 7/30/15, Gunderson, Jon R <jongund@illinois.edu> wrote:
>>>>>> Laura,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thank you for setting up this resource.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Could you possibly add the dates of the settlements?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thank you again,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Jon
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: Laura Carlson [mailto:laura.lee.carlson@gmail.com]
>>>>>> Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2015 1:38 PM
>>>>>> To: GLWAI Guidelines WG org <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
>>>>>> Subject: New Wiki Page: Legal Settlement Agreements that Reference
>>>>>> WCAG
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Hi All,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I put up a new Wiki page: Legal Settlement Agreements that Reference
>>>>>> WCAG.
>>>>>> It is at:
>>>>>> https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/wiki/Legal_Settlement_Agreements_that_Reference_WCAG
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> If you have additions, please let me know or edit at will.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thanks.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Kindest Regards,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Laura
>> --
>> Judy Brewer
>> Director, Web Accessibility Initiative
>> at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
>> 32 Vassar St. Room G-526, MIT/CSAIL
>> Cambridge MA 02149 USA
>> www.w3.org/WAI/
> -- 
> Laura L. Carlson
>

Received on Saturday, 1 August 2015 16:16:21 UTC