[DRAFT] Why Standards Harmonization is Essential to Web Accessibility see also general comments in the survey (WBS)

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Editors' Draft updated: $Date: 2011-06-23$
Status: This document is an in-progress draft and should not be referenced or quoted under any circumstances. A change log is available. Please send comments to wai-eo-editors@w3.org (a publicly archived list). The previous version of this document is available at www.w3.org/WAI/Policy/harmon.html.

Executive Summary

In developing policies for Web accessibility, many regional, national, and local governments have taken advantage of the broadly accepted worldwide standards[prefer to use our standard wording, e.g., “widely-recognized international standard” – odd to use “worldwide” here], the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. In doing so, these governments have established a consistent business environment[not quite makes sense, or overstating “business environment” is so broad, need to narrow down to related to web accessibility. maybe “for web standards”] and helped accelerate the overall progress of Web accessibility. At the same timeHowever, some national and local [see WBS comment] governments continue to develop their own standards. These existence of multiple divergent standards can slow progress toward the goal of Web accessibility. This paper explores the benefits of harmonizing international, national, and local approaches to Web accessibility by adopting or referencing existing international Web accessibility standards in national and local [see WBS comment] policies.

Use of international Web accessibility standards can help put the goal of an accessible Web within reach[not real strong], while “standards fragmentation”—use of divergent national and local [see WBS comment] versions of Web accessibility standards—can slow potential [don’t need can and potential (same thing later in doc, too)]progress.

Fragmentation of standards is an economic issue for government, businesses, and Web developers.[not so much an economic issues for developers (same issue later in doc, too)] Standards fragmentation means that:

Harmonization of standards can help accelerate the spread of accessibility across the Web[hum, I don’t really thinkd of accessibility spreading, I think of it improving across the web]. Standards harmonization means adopting or referencing freely available[while freely available is an important point, it dones’t seem to fit well here] international Web accessibility standards in national and local[see WBS comment]  policies, so that:

[unbold] More information follows on the benefits of standards harmonization for Web accessibility, and how to take advantage of available resources to support national and local [see WBS comment] Web accessibility progress. Links to more information are in the _ Using W3C/WAI Standards and Resources_ section.

Introduction

[see WBS comments & hopefully EOWG discussion] Worldwide, one billion people worldwide have significant disabilities. [must have references for stats. Can put as footnotes (we’ve done that a few other places on the WAI site] The last decade has witnessed a remarkable expansion in the number of people who have access to information on the World Wide Web, with 28% of the world’s population now using the Web.[so many of the target audience are operating in an environment where the percentage is 8much* higher so I think the 28% is counter productive] The United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities identifies equal access to information as an essential right. Currently, for people with disabilities, the Web may not be so easily accessed, if at all.[edit – see other wording which is nicer :] Without accessible websites, people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive abilities may encounter barriers when going abouttrying to complete essential tasks on the Web.[weave link to business case into lower section to support & expound on this]

Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web with a vision of broad access to information. This vision has evolved into one of the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) primary goals -- ensuring that the benefits of the Web are available to all people, whatever their language, abilities, or Web access devices may be. A core aspect of W3C's work has been the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), helping lead the Web to its full potential, which includes enabling people with disabilities to participate equally on the Web.

Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web. This interaction includes contributing to the Web. Web accessibility also benefits others, including older people with changing abilities due to aging.; yYet, currently most Web sites and Web software have accessibility barriers that make it difficult or impossible for many people with disabilities to use the Web.[this nicer wording for what is above]

W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 is recognized as the world’s leading international standard for accessibility of Web content [maybe websites and web applications]. WCAG 2.0 states is organized around four key principles of Web accessibility:[note that if you replace these next two sections with the WCAg at a Glance, then the subpoints explain the principles and you might not need to add descriptions]

In addition to these fundamental principles, WCAG 2.0 includes guidelines and success criteria, which address provisions such as the following:

WCAG 2.0 is further supported by a substantial library of implementation techniques, and training and educational resources. Two companion standards supplement WCAG 2.0[see WBS for overall comment.]: the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0, which help in the creation of developer and evaluation tools for accessible Web content, and the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG)1.0, which guide the development of browsers, media players, and interoperability with assistive technologies.[consider using wording from overview pages. “help in the creation of” not real smooth. And “guide the development of” could be stronger] Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) provides techniques for  addresses accessibility of dynamic web content to meet WCAG.[to show that they are complimentary :-] Together, these standards define the path to an accessible Web.

Fragmentation Concerns with Web Accessibility Standards

Fragmentation of standards is an economic and social issue for government, businesses, and Web developers [earlier comment] that arises when national or local governments or organizations develop standards that diverge from international guidelinesstandards. Fragmentation of standards can slow potential progress towards increasing accessibility of the Web for people with disabilities.

In some cases, divergent standards arise are created when a national government commissions the development of wholly new standards, though more often divergent standards result from modification of existing standards. Sometimes local standards combine two or more accessibility provisions, or omit or add provisions. However, For example, a local standards group might changinge the wording of individual provisions of WCAG can result in , in turnunintentionally changing altering the technical meaning of the provision. This In all of these cases, the divergent standards makes conformance difficult for content creators and Web developers , especially those who may also need to comply with existing international standardsother guidelines. Alternatively, local standards may combine two or more accessibility provisions, or omit or add provisions. In each case, it changes what content creators and Web developers must conform to.

Fragmentation may be driven by a number of factors. These may include Sometime it is the perspective that only locally-developed guidelines can meet the needs of the local disability or business communities, despite broad international participation in development of WAI standardsguidelines[this to avoid confusion, would be good to use standards here & everywhere like it, instead of guidelines]. Other drivers timesit is of fragmentation may include the perspective that local funding should be invested in local guidelines, misunderstandings about how to adopt or reference W3C standards, or unfamiliarity with mechanisms for producingthe availability of aAuthorized tTranslations of W3C standards.

Fragmentation affects the economy and society in multiple ways:

Policy -makers are in a position to help guide the selection of Web accessibility standards. Governments typically want to develop and implement policies that benefit all sectors of the public, as well as the economy. Policy makers may wish [too wimpy. maybe “would be wise”] to consider whether the development of divergent local accessibility guidelines may inhibit achievement of these objectives.

Why Standards Harmonization Helps Web Accessibility

Harmonization of standards can help accelerate the spread of accessibility [see earlier comment about this wording] across the Web. Standards harmonization means adopting or referencing freely [see earlier comment about this wording] available international Web accessibility standards in national and local [see WBS comment] policies. In the harmonization process, when an organizationa national or local government adopts WCAG 2.0 and it then has access to an extensive library of supporting implementation techniques. They can also add their own implementation techniques, and can, if they wish,  share their new techniques with W3C/WAI for others to use.[want to say for consideration to be included in updated… naw, probably too complex].

Using W3C/WAI Standards, and Technical and Educational Resources

To support harmonization and avoid standards fragmentation, the W3C and WAI have created a wide array range of freely available technical and educational resources that are freely available and help support harmonization and avoid standards fragmentation. Take advantage of years of development work by following these steps when adopting or referencing W3C/WAI standards within national and local [see WBS comment] policies:

1. Engage with national and local[see WBS comment]  stakeholders.

Build a strong foundation for wide adoption of accessibility standards by ensuring the involvement of all interested parties from the beginning - people from government, industry, disability organizations, research, education, others - to build a commitment to shared goals.

2. Take advantage of existing resources.

Let stakeholders know about W3C/WAI standards that you can freely reuse. Check before recreating standards and supporting, and technical and educational resources, that may already exist in forms that meet national and local needs.

3. Use W3C/WAI standards, technical and educational resources as needed, acknowledging the source.

Determine what is needed for your national, local, or organizational policy, including the conformance level and timelines for the standards that you plan to adopt or reference. Follow the W3C Document License[Using WAI material is easier! :-]  to acknowledge the source.

4. Contact or participate with W3C/WAI as needed and/or interested.

WAI welcomes, encourages, and values[too much] the active participation of individuals and organizations around the world to collaborate in activities that help improve accessibility of the web.