- From: Laura Carlson <laura.lee.carlson@gmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2015 07:50:18 -0500
- To: Mike Elledge <melledge@yahoo.com>
- Cc: Judy Brewer <jbrewer@w3.org>, Janina Sajka <janina@rednote.net>, "Gunderson, Jon R" <jongund@illinois.edu>, GLWAI Guidelines WG org <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>, Sailesh Panchang <sailesh.panchang@deque.com>, Steve Faulkner <sfaulkner@paciellogroup.com>, Wayne Dick <wayneedick@gmail.com>
Hi Mike, Thank you. I am not aware of corporate lawsuits or settlements regarding intranet or internal software that does not conform to WCAG 2.0. But those areas would also seem to be relevant and impact the overarching question of "Why Extensions?" In addition laws which reference 2.0 as well as organizations, institutions, and companies where 2.0 serves as the internal accessibility standard would seem to be applicable. I haven’t researched those areas either. But it seems as though the US will be incorporating 2.0 into the refresh. New laws are going into effect in Japan based on 2.0. It is incorporated into Ontario's law. WCAG 2.0 serves as the University of Minnesota standard. I suspect those may be the tip of the iceberg. An effort to try to discover WCAG 2.0's legal significance and in turn why that may be rationale for extensions was my focus for the documentation. Kindest Regards, Laura On 8/1/15, Mike Elledge <melledge@yahoo.com> wrote: > 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 >> > -- Laura L. Carlson
Received on Monday, 3 August 2015 12:50:46 UTC