Call for Review: Working Draft of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0

Dear WAI Interest Group Participants:

A new Working Draft of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG
2.0) as well as two supporting documents were published 23 November 2005.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG) invites
you to comment on these documents. W3C Working Drafts provide opportunities
for public comment during the development of a specification. This message
contains information on the document and how to comment. Please send
comments to the public comments mailing list by 21 December 2005:
      public-comments-wcag20@w3.org

WCAG 2.0 addresses accessibility of Web content for people with disabilities.
It will apply to a wider range of Web technologies than WCAG 1.0 and is
intended to be understandable to a wider audience.

Since the previous public Working Draft of WCAG 2.0, published on 30 June
2005, the WCAG WG has been addressing comments received on previous drafts.
With this Working Draft, the WCAG WG introduces a new format and a document,
"Understanding WCAG 2.0" that provides explanatory information for each
success criterion.  A good place to start a review of WCAG 2.0 is with the
"Introduction to  Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Working
Draft Documents." The Introduction explains the relationships  between
WCAG 2.0 and the supporting documents, and links to the  current version
of  each document. The Introduction is available at:
      <http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag20>

The documents published on 23 November 2005:
      - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
        <http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/WD-WCAG20-20051123/>
      - Understanding WCAG 2.0
        <http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/WD-UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20-20051123/>

Note:  The November 2005 Working Drafts do not include all of the techniques.
Only a small portion have been converted to the new format for this draft.
The rest will follow in the next release.
      - HTML Techniques for WCAG 2.0
        <http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/WD-WCAG20-HTML-TECHS-20051123/>


The Working Group is interested in discussion of the following questions.

1. This draft represents a significant reorganization of the WCAG
    document set of guidelines and support documents.  It includes
    changes to the wording of individual  success criteria.  It also
    provides a rationale and a listing of techniques deemed sufficient
    for each success criterion.
    - In general, is the new organization easier to understand?
    - Are success criteria at the right conformance level?
    - Are success criteria accurately worded?  Are they understandable?

2. This is the first publication of "Understanding WCAG 2.0." The WCAG WG
    considers this document to be essential for understanding the success
    criteria in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0).
    - In general, does this document help you understand what
    WCAG 2.0 is, and how to use it?
    - Does this document adequately clarify each success criterion?
    - If not, what additional clarification is needed?


Please send your comments by 21 December 2005 to:
      public-comments-wcag20@w3.org
The archive for that mailing list is available at:
      http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-comments-wcag20/>


If possible, please include the following information when replying:
      a. Clearly specify the guideline, success criterion, or section that
         the comment is about.
      b. State the issue as clearly and simply as possible.
      c. Provide links, examples or references.
      d. Provide a suggestion for how to address the issue.
         Suggested wording is very helpful.
      e. Remember that the Working Group welcomes volunteers
         to help with the work.

When waiting for responses to comments:
   - You can track your issue in the open issues list
    <http://trace.wisc.edu/bugzilla_wcag/condensedreports/wcag2_issues.php>
   - Follow up on the mailing list if you don't find your issue in the
      open issues list.


Please let us know if you have any questions.  Additional information on the
Working Group is available at:
      <http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/>


Note:
The feedback we receive on this draft will help us determine how close we
are to publishing a Last Call Working Draft.  Once we enter Last Call it will
take several months to progress through  the W3C Recommendation Track.
Until WCAG 2.0 becomes a W3C Recommendation, WCAG 1.0 will continue to
be the current and stable document to use. If your site currently conforms to
WCAG 1.0, be assured  that conformance to WCAG 2.0 will not require a
complete redesign of your  site but it will likely require some tweaks.


Note:
This message may be circulated to other lists, avoiding cross-postings
where possible.


Thank you in advance for your comments,

Wendy Chisholm - W3C Team Contact for WCAG WG
Gregg Vanderheiden - Co-chair of WCAG WG, and Director of Trace R&D Center
John Slatin - Co-chair of WCAG WG, and Director of the Accessibility
Institute at UT
Judy Brewer - Director, Web Accessibility Initiative, W3C

Received on Thursday, 24 November 2005 00:48:15 UTC