WCAG 2.0 Quick Reference, and Reminder of Extended Deadline on WCAG 2.0 Last Call Working Draft

Dear WAI Interest Group Participants,

This is a reminder of the 22 June 2006 extension deadline for comments on 
the WCAG 2.0 Last Call Working Draft.

I'd also like to bring your attention to the draft "WCAG 2.0 Quick 
Reference" document, which might be helpful as you review and comment on 
WCAG 2.0. The WCAG 2.0 Quick Reference is a summary of WCAG 2.0
requirements (success criteria) and the techniques which are sufficient to 
meet the success criteria when using specific Web technologies.

          WCAG 2.0 Quick Reference
          http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/

The WCAG Working Group is also working on other practical resources such as 
application notes (for instance, on how to make accessible forms) based on 
WCAG 2.0, and will circulate these as they become available.

If you have already submitted comments, thank you. If you haven't yet, we 
encourage you to send us your comments. For additional information on the 
review process and documents, please see the original call for review and 
the extension notice below, or visit the following resources:

          How to Comment on WCAG 2.0
          http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/comments/

          WCAG 2.0 Overview
          http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag20

Regards,

- Judy

>Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 13:04:46 -0400
>To: WAI Interest Group <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
>From: Judy Brewer <jbrewer@w3.org>
>Subject: Extending Deadline on WCAG 2.0 Last Call Review [was: Fwd: Call 
>for Review: Last Call Working Draft of Web Content Accessibility 
>Guidelines 2.0]
>Cc: Gregg Vanderheiden <gv@trace.wisc.edu>, Wendy Chisholm <wendy@w3.org>, 
>Ben Caldwell <caldwell@trace.wisc.edu>
>
>Dear WAI Interest Group Participants:
>
>Please note that the deadline for comments on WCAG 2.0 has been extended 
>by three weeks. The new deadline is now Thursday 22 June 2006 instead of 
>31 May 2006, to allow more time due to the wider attention that this Last 
>Call Working Draft is receiving. We thank early commenters for the 
>numerous constructive comments that the Working Group has already 
>received; the Working Group is already working on your comments. Please 
>also note the following clarifications with regard to the review process.
>
>1. The deadline for comments on the Last Call Working Draft only applies 
>to the Guidelines document itself. The supporting documents 
>("Understanding WCAG 2.0" and "Techniques for WCAG 2.0") do not have a 
>deadline for comments, though you may find them helpful in understanding 
>or implementing the provisions in the guidelines. We welcome comments on 
>the supporting documents in addition to comments on the guidelines, but we 
>encourage you to focus your attention on the relatively short guidelines 
>document itself during the review period.
>
>2. While the Working Group has provided a form for comment submissions, 
>you may also email comments directly to the comments list without the 
>form. Some commenters have already done this; we've now made this more 
>obvious in the commenting instructions [1]. However, if you do use the 
>comments form, it will give the Working Group consistent and specific 
>information that can help them better understand and address the issues 
>that you raise.
>
>3. Under W3C Process, a "Last Call Working Draft" is not the last step 
>before the document is finished; neither is it the beginning of the review 
>process. This Last Call Working Draft follows a series of Public Working 
>Drafts that have been previously circulated for comment, and the Working 
>Group has already incorporated extensive contributions from those reviews. 
>Last Call Working Draft is one of the most important stages at which to 
>comment; however it is followed by another stage, Candidate 
>Recommendation, where reviewers can submit comments based on 
>implementations of WCAG 2.0; then by Proposed Recommendation, when W3C 
>Members review it for approval as a Recommendation. Please see the 
>original call for review further down in this message, and the commenting 
>instructions [1], which provide more information on these stages.
>
>Review comments are extremely valuable to W3C/WAI. One of the strengths of 
>W3C/WAI's process is that it encourages broad public review and 
>participation from many different perspectives. We have received 
>contributions throughout the course of developing WCAG 2.0 from 
>individuals and organizations around the world, including disability 
>organizations, industry, Web developers research, education, government, 
>and other areas, as well as contributions throughout the process from the 
>diverse membership of the WCAG Working Group itself.
>
>If you haven't yet, I encourage you to read the guidelines while they are 
>in Last Call Working Draft; evaluate them against your own needs and 
>expectations; then share with the Working Group your comments on what you 
>think needs to change in the document. As with any W3C group during Last 
>Call, the WCAG Working Group will review and respond to all comments 
>received on the Last Call Working Draft. Your comments help us to create 
>the best and most usable document that we can.
>
>Thank you in advance for your comments.
>
>Regards,
>
>- Judy
>
>[1] How to comment on WCAG 2.0 http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/comments/
>
>>Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 12:57:28 -0700
>>To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
>>From: Wendy Chisholm <wendy@w3.org>
>>Subject: Call for Review: Last Call Working Draft of Web Content
>>   Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
>>Cc: jbrewer@w3.org, john_slatin@forum.utexas.edu, po@trace.wisc.edu,
>>         Ben Caldwell <caldwell@trace.wisc.edu>
>>
>>Dear WAI Interest Group Participants:
>>
>>A Last Call Working Draft of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
>>(WCAG 2.0) as well as two supporting documents were published 27 April 2006.
>>W3C strongly encourages broad community review of this Last Call Working
>>Draft, and submission of comments on any issues which you feel could present
>>a significant barrier to future adoption and implementation of WCAG 2.0.
>>(Note that only the WCAG 2.0 is in Last Call and only the WCAG 2.0 will
>>become a Recommendation.  Understanding WCAG 2.0 and Techniques for WCAG 2.0
>>are being developed  to support WCAG 2.0, and will be released as Working
>>Group Notes when WCAG 2.0 becomes a Recommendation.)
>>
>>In particular, we encourage you to comment on the conformance model and
>>success criteria. Reviewers are encouraged to provide suggestions for how to
>>address issues as well as positive feedback, and commitments to implement
>>the guidelines. This message contains information on the documents and  how
>>to comment.
>>
>>Comments should be received on or before 31 May 2006.
>>Comments should be made in one of four formats:
>>    * online form,
>>    * downloadable excel form,
>>    * downloadable html form, or
>>    * downloadable text form.
>>Instructions and downloadable files for all are available at:
>><http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/comments/>
>>
>>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.
>>
>>Note:
>>Until WCAG 2.0 becomes a W3C Recommendation, WCAG 1.0 will continue to be
>>the current and stable document to use. Most Web sites that conform to WCAG
>>1.0 should not require significant changes in order to conform to WCAG 2.0,
>>and may not need any changes.
>>
>>This 27 April 2006 release of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
>>is a Last Call Working Draft by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
>>Working Group (part of the Web Accessibility Initiative). Publication as a
>>Last Call Working Draft indicates that the WCAG WG believes it has addressed
>>all substantive issues and that the document is stable (see below for more
>>information on subsequent stages). The first public Working Draft of WCAG
>>2.0 was published 25 January 2001.  Since then, the WCAG WG has published
>>nine Working Drafts, addressed more than 1,000 issues, and developed a
>>variety of supporting resources for the guidelines.
>>
>>A good place to start a review of WCAG 2.0 is with the
>>"Overview of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Documents."
>>The Overview explains the relationships  between WCAG 2.0 and the supporting
>>documents, and links to the  current version of  each document.
>>The Overview is available at:
>>        <http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag20>
>>
>>The documents published on 27 April 2006:
>>        - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
>>          <http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-WCAG20-20060427/>
>>        - Understanding WCAG 2.0
>>          <http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20-20060427/>
>>        - Techniques for WCAG 2.0
>>          <http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-WCAG20-TECHS-20060427/>
>>
>>The WCAG WG believes that after Last Call, WCAG 2.0 will be ready to move on
>>to the remaining stages of the W3C Recommendation Track Process:
>>  * Candidate Recommendation - when the WCAG WG will collect implementation
>>experience on use of WCAG 2.0 to design and evaluate Web content for
>>accessibility;
>>  * Proposed Recommendation - when W3C will seek endorsement of the
>>specification from W3C Member organizations;
>>  * Recommendation - when WCAG 2.0 will be published by   W3C as a technical
>>report appropriate for widespread deployment and the promotion of W3C's
>>mission.
>>
>>Note that the WCAG WG will start collecting implementation examples early in
>>the Last Call review period. Please visit the WAI home page for more
>>information. <http://www.w3.org/WAI/>
>>
>>Additional information about the WCAG WG is available at:
>>    <http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/>
>>A list of changes to WCAG 2.0 since the previous draft is available at:
>>    <http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20/change-history.html>
>>
>>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,
>>University of Wisconsin-Madison
>>John Slatin - Co-chair of WCAG WG, and Director of the Accessibility
>>Institute at Univerity of Texas at Austin
>>Judy Brewer - Director, Web Accessibility Initiative, W3C
>
>--
>Judy Brewer    +1.617.258.9741    http://www.w3.org/WAI
>Director, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
>MIT/CSAIL Building 32-G530
>32 Vassar Street
>Cambridge, MA,  02139,  USA

Received on Tuesday, 13 June 2006 22:21:35 UTC