Aloha, y'all!
As i mentioned during the course of last Tuesday's General Membership
meeting of the Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group of New York City,
the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) is fielding public commentary on the final working draft of its Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines until March 19, 1999. This is your
chance to have a say on what will shortly be _the_ document of record
detailing how to construct an accessible web page/site. This document is
not only intended to serve as a blueprint for ensuring the accessibility
of web pages, but is the lynch-pin of the W3C's Web Accessibility
Initiative, as the Authoring Tools Guidelines and User Agent (read:
Browser) Guidelines, which are currently being drafted, refer
extensively to the practices and techniques detailed in the Web Content
Guidelines and it's accompanying "Techniques" document, even though the
target audience for the other 2 set of guidelines is software developers.
What follows is a Lynx-derived text image of:
http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/wcgl_last_call.html
part of VICUG NYC's newly revised "Moving Targets" section. If you have
access to the web, you are strongly encouraged to read this in its
hypertextualized format, so as to take advantage of the many embedded
hyperlinks. Please note that i have left Lynx set to number links, so as
to provide you with a list of hyperlink references, which appears at the
bottom of this message.
Gregory J. Rosmaita, President and WebMonster VICUG NYC
The Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group of NYC
--- begin text image of
http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/wcgl_last_call.html
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
Final Working Draft Open to
Public Review Until March 19, 1999
Table of Contents
Part 1: What Are the Web Content Guidelines?
Part 2: What Is Last Call?
Part 3: Making Sure Your Voice Is Heard
Part 4: Lynx-Generated List of Hyperlink References
_________________________________________________________________
Part 1: What Are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines?
The [1]Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is part of a series of
accessibility guidelines published by the W3C's [2]Web Accessibility
Initiative. The series also includes the [3]User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines and the [4]Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, formerly entitled "WAI Page
Author Guidelines", explain to web content developers (a.k.a. web page
authors) how to make their pages more accessible to people with
disabilities. Following these guidelines will also make pages more
useful to people using a broad range of devices, such as desktop
browsers, voice browsers, mobile phones, automobile-based PC's, etc.,
and to search engines. Tools that create Web content (such as HTML
editors, document conversion tools, tools that generate Web content
from databases, etc.) should generate content that is consistent with
these guidelines.
The Guidelines have been organized as follows:
1. There are sixteen "guidelines" (principles of accessible design,
not prioritized).
2. Each guideline specifies one or more prioritized "checkpoints"
that explain how authors can satisfy the guideline.
3. An appendix document lists [5]all the checkpoints in the
Guidelines, organized by subject and priority level.
The Guidelines document includes a [6]conformance statement that
explains how documents or processes may claim conformance to the
Guidelines.
The Guidelines are accompanied by another document, entitled
"[7]Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines." The
Techniques document explains in detail how authors may implement the
checkpoints enumerated in the Guidelines. (Please note that the
Techniques document, which continues to evolve, is not entering "last
call", although comments about techniques are still welcome.)
The Guidelines have been produced by the W3C's [8]Page Author
Guidelines Working Group as part of the [9]Web Accessibility
Initiative.
____________________________________________________
Part 4: What is Last Call?
The [10]Web Content Accessibility Guidelines have now entered "Last
Call" status. Within the W3C, "Last Call" status signifies a final
review period before a working draft becomes a "Proposed
Recommendation", the W3C's term for an official specification. Once
the "Last Call" period ends on March 19, 1999, the Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines will then be circulated to [11]W3C Member
organizations for review--the final step in deciding whether the
Guidelines will or will not become a W3C Recommendation.
Since this is the last opportunity to comment on the Web Content
Guidelines, you are strongly urged to take the time to [12]review the
Working Draft, in order to ensure that the guidelines contained
therein accurately reflect your concerns about the accessibility of
the web.
Once the "last call" period has ended, all comments have been
evaluated, and the W3C Director, [13]Tim Berners-Lee, has reviewed the
document, the Guidelines will become a [14]Proposed Recommendation.
____________________________________________________
Part 3: Making Sure Your Voice Is Heard
Once you have reviewed the [15]Web Content Guidelines you can forward
your comments to the WAI by March 19, 1999, using the following
eddress:
[log in to unmask]
All comments, and responses to them, will be [16]archived for public
reference. Comments that you wish to keep private, and which will only
be review by W3C Members may be sent to:
[log in to unmask]
Please note that the "Last Call" period ends on March 19, 1999, and
that the Working Group will not be able to incorporate "Last Call"
comments which are received after this date.
_________________________________________________________________
This page was created on February 29, 1999
Converted to [17]HTML4 & [18]CSS2 on March 10, 1999
Contents of this document last modified March 10, 1999
_________________________________________________________________
Part 4: Lynx-Generated List of Hyperlink References
1. http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-WAI-PAGEAUTH
2. http://www.w3.org/WAI/
3. http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-WAI-USERAGENT
4. http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-WAI-AUTHTOOL
5. http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-WAI-PAGEAUTH-19990226/full-checklist
6. http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-WAI-PAGEAUTH-19990226/#Conformance
7. http://www.w3.org/WAI/PA/
8. http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL
9. http://www.w3.org/WAI/
10. http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-WAI-PAGEAUTH
11. http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Member/List
12. http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-WAI-PAGEAUTH
13. http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/
14. http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/#RecsPR
15. http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-WAI-PAGEAUTH
16. http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/
17. http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/HTML4-access
18. http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/CSS2-access
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