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Accessibility Dependencies of the Successor to HTML 4.01

This document accurately reflects the acknowledged Accessibility Dependencies of HTMLx.

Quick Links: Why Accessibility Matters | Why Does the WAI Exist? | WAI Technical Recommendations | W3C Notes on Accessibility & HTML | Lessons Learned from HTML4x | W3C Technical Recommendations Which Enhance Accessibility | Related Issues & Resources | Email

Why Is Accessibility So Important?

In 2004, Microsoft commissioned Forrester Research, Inc. to conduct a study of adult computer users in the United States. The study found:

• 1 in 4 users has a vision difficulty
• 1 in 4 users has a dexterity difficulty
• 1 in 5 users has a hearing difficulty
• 16% of users have a cognitive difficulty or impairment; and
• 3% of users have a speech difficulty or impairment

Why Does the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Exist?

Tim Berners-Lee has repeatedly stated that the World Wide Web Consortium's commitment to "lead the Web to its full potential" includes promoting a high degree of usability for people with disabilities. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops its work through W3C's consensus-based process, involving different stakeholders in Web accessibility. These include industry, disability organizations, government, accessibility research organizations, and more. The WAI also produces W3C Technical Recommendations, which all other W3C activities are supposed to consider and treat as dependencies.

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Technical Recommendations

• The W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Activity

• Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG), 1.0 (Note: ATAG addresses the accessibility of the output of the tool, as well as ensuring that tools themselves are accessible)

  • Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines - "WOMBAT"

  • Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines, 2.0 (Public Working Draft)

  • ATAG 2.0 (Internal Editor's Draft)

    • owner: Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group

• Evaluation and Repair Language (EARL) 1.0 Schema

  • Latest Editors' Draft of EARL 1.0 Schema

  • EARL 1.0 Guide (Latest Editors' Draft)

  • HTTP Vocabulary in RDF

    • owner: Evaluation & Repair Tools Working Group (ERTWG)

• Education & Outreach Working Group - Current Work

  • References on Web Accessibility

  • Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Resources

  • owner: Education & Outreach Working Group (EOWG)

• User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG), 1.0

  • Draft Test Suites for UAAG 1,0

    • Draft UAAG Test Suites for HTML 4.01

  • Notes on Discretionary Behavior in User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0

  • UAAG 1.0 - ARIA Roadmap Worksheet

  • UAAG 1.0 - WCAG Alignment

  • User Agent Accessibility Guidelines, 2.0 Requirements (Working Draft)

    • owner: User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group

• Web Authoring Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), 1.0

  • WCAG 2.0 (latest Public Working Draft)

  • Understanding WCAG 2.0 (latest Public Working Draft)

  • Techniques for WCAG 2.0 (latest Public Working Draft)

  • WCAG 2.0 Quick Reference

    • owner: Web Authoring Accessibility Guidelines Working Group

• Roadmap for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA)

  • Roles for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA-ROLES) (public Working Draft)

  • States and Properties Module for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA States and Properties) (public Working Draft)

    • Embedding Role and State Properties in HTML (Note: A similar issue is addressed in the RDFa Primer)

• XML Accessibility Guidelines (XAG)

  • owner: Protocols & Formats Working Group Public Page

• Research and Development Interest Group (RDIG) ("The goal of the RDIG is to facilitate discussion and discovery of the accessibility aspects of research and development of future Web technologies.")

  • RDIG Charter

W3C Notes on Accessibility as Pertains to HTML

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, the materials below have been developed by, and maintained by, the Education & Outreach Working Group (EOWG)

• HTML 4 Accessibility Improvements

• Components of Web Accessibility

• Alternative Web Browsing

• How People With Disabilities Use the Web

• Making Collaboration Technologies Accessible

• Why Standards Harmonization is Essential to Web Accessibility

• International Policies on Web Accessibility

• Implementation Plan for Web Accessibility

• Using Combined Expertise to Evaluate Web Accessibility

Lessons Learned from HTML 4x

• HTML 4.01 Technical Recommendation

• Strict HTML 4.01 DTD

• Changes to HTML 4.01

• Errata for HTML 4.01

• Future Projects

• HTML Activity's Vision Document

• HTML Compatibility Guidelines

Other W3C Technical Recommendations Capable of Enhancing Accessibility

• XForms, 1.1 (Working Draft)

  • XForms 1.0

• Extensible Style Language Transformations (XSLT), 2.0: (a path to backwards compatibility)

• XML Syntax for XQuery 1.0

• XPath 2.0

• Web API Working Group

  • Web API Working Group Charter

• OWL Web Ontology Language: Overview (OWL)

  • OWL Web Ontology Language Guide

  • OWL Web Ontology Language Resource

  • OWL Web Ontology Language Semantics & Abstract Syntax

  • OWL Web Ontology Language Test Cases

  • OWL Web Ontology Language Use Cases & Requirements

  • OWL Web Ontology Language XML Presentation Syntax

  • OWL Web Ontology Language: Parsing OWL in RDF/XML

• Resource Description Framework (RDF): Schema

  • Resource Description Framework (RDF): Concepts & Abstract Syntax

  • RDFa (W3C Wiki page)

  • Embedding RDF in HTML (ESW Wiki Page)

  • RDF Primer

  • RDF Semantics

  • RDF/XML Syntax Specification (Revised)

  • Custom RDF Dialects (ESW Wiki page)

  • GRDDL Data Views

  • RDF Test Cases

• Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), 1.1

  • W3C Note on SVG Accessibility (Charles McCathieNevile & Marja-Riita Koivunen)

• Semantic Web Case Studies and Use Cases

Related Issues & Resources

• Web Accessibility Initiative's (Printable) Glossary

• WAI ARIA Integration into HTML5

• User Agent Support page

Email

May 2007

• Agenda Request Listing Possible Dependencies - Gregory J. Rosmaita (April 25, 2007)

• Reply to Agenda Request Listing Possible Dependencies - Dan Connolly (April 25, 2007)

• Accessibility Applies to All of Us - Sander Tekelenburg (May 18, 2007)

• Re: Author incentives for accessibility - Gregory J. Rosmaita (May 18, 2007)

July 2007

Thread: WAI-ARIA and HTML5

• Opening thoughts on WAI-ARIA and HTML5 - Al Gilman, chair of the Protocols and Formats WG (18 July 2007)

  • Henri Sivonen (19 July 2007)

Quick Links for this document: Why Accessibility Matters | Why Does the WAI Exist? | WAI Technical Recommendations | W3C Notes on Accessibility & HTML | Lessons Learned from HTML4x | W3C Technical Recommendations Which Enhance Accessibility | Related Issues & Resources | Email

Note: While this list has not been officially generated by, nor officially reviewed by any of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Activity's working groups, it accurately reflects the acknowledged Accessibility Dependencies of HTMLx.