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WAI: Strategies, guidelines, resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities

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Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Home

1. Introducing Accessibility
2. Guidelines & Techniques
3. Managing Accessibility
4. Evaluating Accessibility
5. WAI Groups
6. About WAI
   1. »Mission and Organization
   2. WAI Overview
   3. Participating
   4. Sponsoring
   5. Translating
   6. Contacting
   7. Projects
   8. Press & Document Releases
   9. Events
   10. Highlights
   11. More About WAI pages...

WAI Mission and Organization

WAI develops...

• guidelines which are widely regarded as the international standard for Web accessibility
• support materials to help understand and implement Web accessibility
• resources, through international collaboration

WAI welcomes...

• participation from around the world
• volunteers to review, implement, and promote guidelines
• dedicated participants in Working Groups

The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) 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.

WAI, in partnership with organizations around the world, pursues accessibility of the Web through five primary activities:

• ensuring that core technologies of the Web support accessibility
• developing guidelines for Web content, user agents, and authoring tools
• facilitating development of evaluation and repair tools for accessibility
• conducting education and outreach
• coordinating with research and development that can affect future accessibility of the Web

How WAI is Organized

WAI is one of four Domains within the W3C, with two Activities and the following Working Groups and Interest Groups:

1. WAI Technical Activity
   • Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG)
   • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG)
   • Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AUWG)
   • User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (UAWG)
   • Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group (ERT WG)
2. WAI International Program Office
   • WAI Interest Group (WAI IG)
   • Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG)
   • Research and Development Interest Group (RDIG)
   • WAI Coordination Group (member only)

Document Information

Version: 1.0
Editors: Shawn Lawton Henry and Judy Brewer. Developed with the Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG).

[Contacting WAI] Feedback welcome to wai-eo-editors@w3.org (a publicly archived list).

File (not content) last updated on $Date: 2008/12/18 19:33:38 $ by $Author shawn $