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Announcements

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Events, Meetings, Presentations

• At AAATE conference in Florence, Italy on 2 September: "Web Accessibility and Older People" presented by Andrew Arch and Shadi Abou-Zahra
• At British Society of Gerontology 38th Conference in Bristol, United Kingdom on 4 September: "Web Accessibility Benefits Older Users" presented by Andrew Arch and Shadi Abou-Zahra
• At Techshare 2009 in London, United Kingdom on 17 September: "Improving the web experience for older people" presented by Andrew Arch and Shadi Abou-Zahra
• At ATIA 2009 Chicago (Assistive Technology Industry Association) in Chicago, IL, USA on 29-30 October: "WAI-ARIA Introduction: Making Advanced Websites and Web Applications Accessible" and "Web Accessibility Standards and Guidelines Update 2009" presented by Shawn Henry

[WAI Presentations]
[Past WAI Events]

Documents in Progress

• WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) Last Call 24 February 2009 (WAI-ARIA Call for Review)
• Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Working Draft 21 May 2009 (ATAG 2.0 Call for Review)
• User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Working Draft 23 July 2009 (UAAG 2.0 Call for Review)
• Web Accessibility for Older Users: A Literature Review 14 May 2008 (WAI-AGE Call for Review and Participation)

[More documents listed on the WAI IG page]

Highlights

For Review: UAAG 2.0 Updated Working Draft

WAI has published an updated User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) 2.0 Working Draft with changes in the "Ensure that the user interface is operable" and Glossary sections. UAAG defines how browsers, media players, and other "user agents" should support accessibility for people with disabilities and work with assistive technologies. WAI encourages you to review UAAG 2.0 and submit any comments. See:

• Call for Review: UAAG 2.0 Working Draft updated e-mail
• User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) Overview

Please send comments by 9 September 2009.    (2009-July-23)

Accessible and Mobile: WCAG-MWBP Overlap Document Published

Relationship between Mobile Web Best Practices (MWBP) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is published as a W3C Working Group Note. See also:

• Web Content Accessibility and Mobile Web: Making a Web Site Accessible Both for People with Disabilities and for Mobile Devices introductory page
• Shared Web Experiences: Barriers Common to Mobile Device Users and People with Disabilities

(2009-July-09)

WCAG 2.0 in French: Authorized Translation Published

Règles pour l'accessibilité des contenus Web (WCAG) 2.0, the French Authorized Translation of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, is now available, following completion of the W3C Authorized Translations process. WAI encourages translating WAI documents in all languages. See:

• WCAG 2.0 Translations for a list of other completed and planned translations
• WCAG 2.0 French Authorized Translation Published e-mail

(2009-June-26)

Business Case Updated: Impact of Older Web Users Expanded

Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization is updated to more thoroughly address the impact of Web accessibility on older users, as part of the WAI-AGE Project. Older users are an increasing market segment and an important target group for many organizations. This update also includes references to the new WCAG 2. Get more details on recent and upcoming updates from the WAI IG e-mail.    (2009-June-25)

How People with Disabilities Use the Web - Draft Introduced

"How People with Disabilities Use the Web" provides detailed examples of people with different disabilities using Web sites, applications, browsers, and authoring tools. It is currently a draft, and will soon be updated to reflect current best practice. Introduction to "How People with Disabilities Use the Web" provides a stable reference that will always link to the latest version of the main document.    (2009-Apr-22)

Which links to what: Referencing WCAG, ATAG, UAAG, and WAI-ARIA

Ever wonder which URI (Web address) you should use for links to WCAG or other WAI technical documents? To learn which URI to use for what, which have stable content, and which give you the latest version, see Referencing and Linking to WAI Guidelines and Technical Documents.    (2009-Mar-12)

WCAG 2.0 is Finalized: W3C Web Standard Defines Accessibility for Next Generation Web

On 11 December 2008 W3C announced a new standard that will help Web designers and developers create sites that better meet the needs of users with disabilities and older users. Drawing on extensive experience and community feedback, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 improves upon W3C's groundbreaking initial standard for accessible Web content, applies to more advanced technologies, and is more precisely testable. Please see additional information in:

• A New Era for Web Accessibility: WCAG 2.0 is Finalized blog post,
• W3C Web Standard Defines Accessibility for Next Generation Web press release,
• WCAG Overview that links to several related resources.

(2008-Dec-11)

WAI-AGE: Addressing Accessibility Needs Due to Ageing

The WAI-AGE Project (Ageing Education and Harmonisation) focuses on education and outreach regarding the requirements of people with Web accessibility needs related to ageing. One of the WAI-AGE project deliverables is Web Accessibility for Older Users: A Literature Review, which was published on 14 March as a First Public Working Draft. WAI encourages you to review this draft and submit any comments by 4 June 2008, if possible.

See Call for Review and Participation: WAI-AGE Literature Review and Task Force for an introduction to the project and an invitation to contribute to the literature review and other WAI-AGE work.   (2008-May-14)

Want to know how people with disabilities use your Web site? Ask.

Web accessibility guidelines, techniques, and tools provide the basis for Web accessibility. Including people with disabilities in the Web development process helps to understand the "why" behind accessibility. It leads to more effective accessibility solutions, developed more efficiently. See "Involving Users in Web Accessibility Evaluation".   (2005-Nov-02)

Web Accessibility: The Fellowship of the Guidelines

Many people know about WAI's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the responsibilities of Web developers in making the Web accessible to people with disabilities. But Web developers alone cannot make the Web accessible.

Web browsers, assistive technologies, and authoring tools also have a vital role in Web accessibility. Essential Components of Web Accessibility describes these roles along with the WAI guidelines.    (2005-July-22)