Re: Directives, policies, laws, and regulations that reference WCAG 2.1

The problem is that standards - and laws  - are not allowed to reference a document that does not yet exist or the can be changed.   Otherwise - you can change the law, and what the lawmakers thought they were passing,  by  changing the document. 

Laws usually handle this by stating a broader goal and assigning an agency to set the regulations.  The agency can then update the regulations over time.

One of the purposes of a standard - is to create something stable that people can build to.   Having a standard that changes all the time - is a real problem.    It is ok for voluntary standards but is much harder for standards the are mandated but changing. 

One way WCAG tries to help with this is by making sure that all updates are backwards compatible.   That is, compliance with 2.y means compliance with earlier 2.x’s as well - at any level.    

But rapidly changing standards are always a problem for those trying to design, train, enforce, etc.    For example a website with thousands of pages that were created over - say - the last 10 years.     If new a new standard comes out every 2 years.. 

Of course we need to continue to make progress - and figure out new solution to new problems (and better solutions to old problems).   Just acknowledging that it is a challenge when standards change too fast.    Slower with changes all together in one vs a continuing series of updates is the usual model.    But W3C wants things done rapidly on its technical standards and WCAG gets caught up in that time cycle - which makes it hard on the working group. 

Gregg’

———————————
Professor, University of Maryland, College Park
Director , Trace R&D Center, UMD
Co-Founder Raising the Floor. http://raisingthefloor.org
And the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) http://GPII.net




> On Jul 14, 2020, at 3:44 AM, Lars Ballieu Christensen <lbc@sensus.dk> wrote:
> 
> Hi Phill,
>  
> Referencing a specific version of the WCAG in legislation is usually a bad idea as it would require an act of parliament or similar every time the WCAG is updated.
>  
> The way the Danish legislation is implemented, the particular act (lov om webtilgængelighed) leave it to the relevant ministry (at the time, our Ministry of Public Innovation) to define the particular standards. The Ministry in turn references the EN 301 549 which – as you point out – currently references WCAG 2.1. I would imagine that this – or something similar to it – is how WCAG is implemented in other EU member states.
>  
> Prior to the EU Web Accessibility Directive, a national Danish directive merely referenced “the last version of WCAG”.
>  
> Venligst/Kind regards
>  
> Lars
> ----
> Lars Ballieu Christensen 
> Rådgiver/Adviser, Ph.D., M.Sc., Sensus ApS
> Specialister i tilgængelighed/Accessibility Consultants 
> Tel: +45 48 22 10 03 – Mobil: +45 40 32 68 23 - Skype: Ballieu
> Mail: lbc@sensus.dk <mailto:lbc@sensus.dk> – Web: https://www.sensus.dk <https://www.sensus.dk/>
>  
> Vi arbejder for et tilgængeligt og rummeligt informationssamfund
> Working for an accessible and inclusive information society
>  
>  
> From: Phill Jenkins <pjenkins@us.ibm.com <mailto:pjenkins@us.ibm.com>>
> Date: Tuesday, 14 July 2020 at 01.23
> To: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org <mailto:w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>>
> Subject: Directives, policies, laws, and regulations that reference WCAG 2.1
> Resent from: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org <mailto:w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>>
> Resent date: Mon, 13 Jul 2020 23:21:59 +0000
>  
> Do you know of any country or state directives, policies, regulations, or laws that reference WCAG 2.1?
> 
> Web Accessibility Laws & Policies
> https://www..w3.org/WAI/policies/ <https://www.w3.org/WAI/policies/> 
> 
> None of these reference list WCAG 2.1
> 
> 1. The European accessibility standard EN 301 549 references WCAG 2.1, 
> https://www.w3.org/WAI/news/2018-09-13/WCAG-21-EN301549/ <https://www.w3.org/WAI/news/2018-09-13/WCAG-21-EN301549/> 
> 
> 
> 2. California Consumer Privacy Act regulations will likely require WCAG 2.1
> https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/insight-applying-the-ccpas-new-accessibility-requirements-to-privacy-policies <https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/insight-applying-the-ccpas-new-accessibility-requirements-to-privacy-policies> 
> 
> Australia?
> 
> Canada?
> 
> Korea?
> 
> Do you know of any that reference WCAG 2.1?
> ___________
> Regards,
> Phill Jenkins
> See the new IBM Equal Access toolkit and accessibility checker at www.ibm.com/able <https://www.ibm.com/able>
> pjenkins@us.ibm.com <mailto:pjenkins@us.ibm.com>
> Accessibility Executive
> IBM Accessibility
> 
> linkedin.com/in/philljenkins/ <https://www.linkedin.com/in/philljenkins/>
> www.ibm.com/able <http://www.ibm.com/able>
> twitter.com/IBMAccess <https://twitter.com/IBMAccess>
> ageandability.com <http://ageandability.com/>