Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group Charter

Scope

Activities within the WCAG WG scope of work include:

1. Support Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Recommendation:
   • Maintain errata for WCAG 2.0;
   • Publish Understanding WCAG 2.0;
   • Publish Techniques for WCAG 2.0;
   • Respond to public comments on WCAG 2.0 and its support materials;
   • Coordinate with other groups to support public awareness of WCAG 2.0 and how to use it;
   • Publish WCAG 2.0 Edited Recommendation to incorporate editorial errata only.
2. Develop normative WCAG 2.0 extensions and support materials to address special topic areas as needed without changing the meaning of conformance to WCAG 2.0 on its own:
   • Define criteria for specific user groups and industry verticals that have identified needs for accessibility guidance, including but not limited to:
     • mobile devices,
     • cognitive impairments and learning disabilities,
     • digital learning materials,
     • low vision;
   • Ensure that while extensions may or may not redefine aspects of WCAG 2.0 within the context of the extension, extension work does not affect the validity of any current WCAG 2.0 claim;
   • Provide guidance for how WCAG 2.0 extensions could apply to non-web content as needed;
3. Determine features needed in future WAI accessibility guidelines and publish requirements:
4. Coordinate with other groups working on WCAG related activities:
   • Participate in work on documentation of accessibility support, including other WAI work on an accessibility support database to store crowd-sourced accessibility support information, although the WCAG WG will not maintain or review the data itself;
   • Collaborate with other groups to expand the set of test samples for WCAG 2.0 techniques;
   • Collaborate with other groups to address new web content accessibility issues;

* The UAAG and ATAG Working Group charters are expected to expire in Q4 2015. The W3C plans to review options for combining content, user agents, and authoring tools under a single Working Group and expects to propose a charter to address these topics, and will at that time evaluate experience to date on development of normative extensions, and potentially propose work on new normative guidelines. If this new Working Group is formed, the WCAG Working Group could end its charter early.

Deliverables

The following deliverables will be published as W3C Technical Reports:

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Edited Recommendation to incorporate editorial errata only (Recommendation);
• Semi-annual updates of Understanding WCAG 2.0, to be published as a W3C Working Group Note or as a curated resource of the Working Group (Note);
• Semi-annual updates of Techniques for WCAG 2.0, to be published as a W3C Working Group Note or as a curated resource of the Working Group (Note);
• Requirements for extension specifications for content authoring guidelines and future versions of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (Note);
• Extension specifications to add normative content accessibility requirements to the WCAG 2.0 base for topics identified as priorities according to the Working Group scope (Recommendation);
• Understanding support materials for each of the above extension specifications (Note);
• Requirements for future versions of accessibility guidelines (Note).

About this Charter

This charter for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group has been created according to section 6.2 of the Process Document. In the event of a conflict between this document or the provisions of any charter and the W3C Process, the W3C Process shall take precedence.

Please also see the previous charter for this group. A diff version between this charter and the previous charter is available. Primary changes in this charter:

• Permits publishing a WCAG 2.0 edit to incorporate editorial errata only;
• Permits publishing requirements for potential future versions of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines;
• Includes editorial adjustments to convey more clearly other aspects of the WG's work, but does not introduce substantive changes to those aspects;
• Updates to new co-chairs.
• Permits publishing normative extensions to WCAG 2.0;