Accessible Platform Architectures Working Group Charter
The
mission
of
the
Accessible
Platform
Architectures
Working
Group
is
to
ensure
W3C
specifications
provide
support
for
accessibility
to
people
with
disabilities.
The
group
advances
this
mission
through
review
of
W3C
specifications,
development
of
new
specifications
and
technical
support
materials,
collaboration
with
other
Working
Groups,
and
coordination
of
harmonized
accessibility
strategies
within
W3C.
Start date |
|
---|---|
End date |
31
July
|
Chairs |
|
Team Contacts |
Ruoxi
Ran
|
Meeting Schedule |
Teleconferences:
The
Working
Group
and
its
Task
Forces
generally
each
hold
weekly
teleconferences,
but
this
may
vary
over
time
according
to
agenda
and
preferences.
Face-to-face: The Working Group generally meets during the W3C's annual Technical Plenary week; additional face-to-face meetings may be scheduled by consent of the participants, usually no more than 3 per year. |
Scope
-
Support
W3C
Working
Groups,
and
external
organizations
collaborating
on
web
technologies
as
time
allows,
to
create
technical
specifications
that
provide
features
needed
for
accessibility
to
people
with
disabilities
via
review
of
documents
as
part
of
the
horizontal
review
process,
including review of specifications and related materials, comments and suggestions to those groups,participation in architecture decisions, and directengagement as neededwithspecification developers to identify solutions to issues discovered. - Develop and publish information about accessibility of web technology, including guidance for technology developers, accessibility user requirements for technologies, and information about accessibility principles in general.
- Research accessibility risks and solutions for emerging web-enabled devices and web technologies, such as (but not limited to) artificial intelligence, authentication, automotive interfaces, digital publications, graphics and media, mobile communications devices, payments, tablets, virtual and augmented and mixed reality, Web-enabled television, Web of Things, etc.;
-
Develop
technological
accessibility
solutions
as
stand-alone
technologies
or
as
components
of
other
web
technologies
that
could
become
W3C
Recommendations,
including
but
not
limited
to
personalizationfeatures and automated pronunciation guidance.
Out of Scope
The following features are out of scope, and will not be addressed by this Working group.
- Engineering accessibility solutions for technologies in scope of other W3C groups.
- Addressing accessibility of technologies that do not interact with web content.
Deliverables
More detailed milestones and updated publication schedules are available on the group publication status page .
Draft state indicates the state of the deliverable at the time of the charter approval. Expected completion indicates when the deliverable is projected to become a Recommendation, or otherwise reach a stable state.
Horizontal Reviews
This
Working
Group
performs
horizontal
review
to
help
ensure
web
technologies
meet
the
needs
of
users
with
disabilities.
In
support
of
this,
it
produces
the
following
Technical
Report:
Framework
for
Accessible
Specification
of
Technologies
(FAST)
This
specification
will
provide
personalization
semantics
and
vocabularies
that
can
be
used
to
annotate
web
content
enabling
user
agents
to
augment
or
adapt
content
to
various
user
scenarios
based
on
the
user’s
personalization
settings
or
preferences.
Draft
state:
Editors’
Draft
Expected
completion:
Q4
2023
The
Working
Group
also
produces
the
following
materials
as
part
of
horizontal
review:
- FAST checklist ;
- Reviews of web technology specifications sent to maintaining entities; and
- Comments to other groups about accessibility needs for their deliverables, in the form of overall reviews of specifications, input on specific issues, joint meetings, etc.
Engagement in horizontal review activity is tracked in:
- a11y-request repository to request overall specification review from APA,
- a11y-review repository and associated dashboard to track APA interactions on specific issues raised by groups,
- list of specifications reviewed by APA with links to history, and
- charters for new and renewing groups .
Normative Specifications
The Working Group will deliver the following W3C normative specifications:
-
Personalization Semantics ContentModule -
This specification
will provide personalization semantics and vocabularies that can be used to annotateweb content enabling user agents to augment or adapt content to various user scenarios based on theuser’s personalization settings orpreferences.Expected completion:
Q4 2023Adopted Working Draft:
Personalization SemanticsContentModule 1.0, https://www.w3.org/TR/2020/WD-personalization-semantics-content-1.0-20200127/,27 January 2020ReferenceDraft: Personalization Semantics Content Module 1.0, https://www.w3.org/TR/2018/WD-personalization-semantics-content-1.0-20180316/ , 16 March 2018. Exclusion period began 13 February 2018; Exclusion period ended13July 2018.Produced under Working Group Charter: https://www.w3.org/2015/10/aria-charter.html . This deliverable was initially published by the Accessible Rich Internet Applications Working Group and is being moved to the Accessible Platform Architectures Working Group.
-
Personalization SemanticsHelp and Support Module -
This specification will provide use cases and a vocabulary of terms that can be used to enhance alternative or supportive content that may be useful for people with disabilities.
Draft state: Working Draft
Expected completion:
Q22024 (CR)Adopted Working Draft:
PersonalizationHelp and Support1.0, https://www.w3.org/TR/2019/WD-personalization-semantics-help-1.0-20190711/,11 July 2019ReferenceDraft: Personalization Help and Support 1.0, https://www.w3.org/TR/2018/WD-personalization-semantics-help-1.0-20181018/ , 18 October 2018. Exclusion period began 18 October 2018; Exclusion period ended 18 March2018.
The
Working
Group
may
publish
additional
Personalization
Semantics
modules
during
the
course
of
this
charter,
and
may
work
with
other
groups
to
incorporate
personalization
features
into
the
native
features
of
web
technologies,
instead
of
or
in
addition
to
the
above
work.
-
Pronunciation Technical Approach -
This specification will provide for proper pronunciation in HTML content when using text to speech (TTS) synthesis and define a standard mechanism to allow content authors to include spoken presentation guidance in HTML content.
Draft state:
Editor'sDraftExpected completion: Q1
2024
Other Deliverables
Other non-normative documents may be created such as:
-
Support materials for Recommendation-track work:Supporting documents forPersonalizationsuch asPersonalization SemanticsExplainer and Requirements forPersonalization Semantics,etc., -
Supporting
documents
for
Pronunciation
such
as
Explainer:
Improving
Spoken
Presentation
,
Pronunciation
Gap
analysis
and
use
cases
,
Pronunciation
User
Scenarios
,
best
practices,
etc., and -
Test suite and implementation reportsfornormative specifications; Guidance, tospecification developers aboutaccessibilityissues: -
Accessibility
User
Requirements
such
as
Media
Accessibility
User
Requirements
, RTC Accessibility User Requirements , XR Accessibility User Requirements ,andothers, -
Information
about
accessibility
needs
of
specific
user
groups,
such
as
Making
content
usable
for
people
with
cognitive
and
learning
disabilities
, and -
Research
reports
addressing,
as
needed,
gaps
identified
during
accessibility
reviews
of
draft
specifications,
and/or
technical
questions
emerging
through
other
aspects
of
accessibility
reviews.
Timeline
Detailed milestones and updated publication schedules are available on the group publication status page .
-
June 2021: CR of Personalization Semantics Content Module April2023: PR ofPersonalization Semantics ContentModule -
December 2023:Rec ofPersonalization Semantics ContentModule -
July
2024:
CR
of
Personalization SemanticsHelp and Support Module -
June 2021: FPWD of Pronunciation Technical ApproachDecember 2023: CR of Pronunciation Technical Approach
Success Criteria
In order to advance to Proposed Recommendation , each normative specification is expected to have at least two independent implementations of every feature defined in the specification.
Each specification should contain separate sections detailing all known security and privacy implications for implementers, Web authors, and end users. Each specification should contain a section on accessibility that describes the benefits and impacts, including ways specification features can be used to address them, and recommendations for maximising accessibility in implementations.
There
should
be
testing
plans
for
each
specification,
starting
from
the
earliest
drafts.
To
promote
interoperability,
all
changes
made
to
specifications
should
have
tests
.
-
Advancement
of
personalizationsupport on the web via specifications published by this group and features incorporated into other work. - Improved accessibility of web technologies as measured by the activity of accessibility proponents in coordination with APA, accepted comments on specifications, and other tracked Working Group dialog;
- Release of Framework for Accessible Specifications as Working Group Note and indications of its use by other Working Groups;
- Documentation of new accessibility issues and solutions, potentially with spin-off work begun;
- Record of active and sustained coordination between APA and other stakeholders.
Coordination
For all specifications, this Working Group will seek horizontal review for accessibility, internationalization, performance, privacy, and security with the relevant Working and Interest Groups, and with the TAG . Invitation for review must be issued during each major standards-track document transition, including FPWD . The Working Group is encouraged to engage collaboratively with the horizontal review groups throughout development of each specification. The Working Group is advised to seek a review at least 3 months before first entering CR and is encouraged to proactively notify the horizontal review groups when major changes occur in a specification following a review.
Additional technical coordination with the following Groups will be made, per the W3C Process Document :
W3C Groups
- Accessibility Guidelines (AG) Working Group
- Coordinate on development of techniques and general content accessibility issues.
- ARIA Working Group
- Coordinate on resolution of architectural issues identified by ARIA and meeting user needs identified by APA.
- CSS Working Group
- Coordinate on general CSS accessibility topics.
-
EPub 3Working Group - Coordinate on accessibility in digital publishing.
- HTML Working Group
- Coordinate on general HTML and web API accessibility topics.
- Internationalization Working Group
- Coordinate how to address accessibility and internationalization in W3C specs.
- SVG Working Group
- Coordinate on general graphics accessibility topics.
- Timed Text Working Group
- Ensure Media Accessibility User Requirements are met in TTML and WebVTT .
- WAI Interest Group
- Engage in specification review and research activity.
- Web Real-Time Communications Working Group
- Ensure Media Accessibility User Requirements are met in WebRTC.
- Web Payments Working Group
- Coordinate on accessibility of payments.
External Organizations
- IETF
- Coordinate on protocols that impact accessibility of web content.
- ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 35 User interfaces
- Coordinate user interface requirements and applicability to web content.
- ITU (International Telecommunications Union)
- Coordinate accessibility of real-time communications.
- WHATWG
- Coordinate on accessibility of web technologies.
Participation
To be successful, this Working Group is expected to have 6 or more active participants for its duration, including representatives from the key implementors of this specification, and active Editors and Test Leads for each specification. The Chairs, specification Editors, and Test Leads are expected to contribute half of a working day per week towards the Working Group. There is no minimum requirement for other Participants.
The group encourages questions, comments and issues on its public mailing lists and document repositories, as described in Communication .
The group also welcomes non-Members to contribute technical submissions for consideration upon their agreement to the terms of the W3C Patent Policy .
Participants in the group are required (by the W3C Process ) to follow the W3C Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct .
Communication
Technical discussions for this Working Group are conducted in public : the meeting minutes from teleconference and face-to-face meetings will be archived for public review, and technical discussions and issue tracking will be conducted in a manner that can be both read and written to by the general public. Working Drafts and Editor's Drafts of specifications will be developed in public repositories and may permit direct public contribution requests. The meetings themselves are not open to public participation, however, except by explicit one-time invitation from the chair(s).
Information about the group (including details about deliverables, issues, actions, status, participants, and meetings) will be available from the Accessible Platform Architectures Working Group home page.
This group primarily conducts its technical work public-apa@w3.org ( archive ) and GitHub . Additional communication channels are also used. The public is invited to review, discuss and contribute to this work.
The group may use a Member-confidential mailing list for administrative purposes and, at the discretion of the Chairs and members of the group, for member-only discussions in special cases when a participant requests such a discussion.
Decision Policy
This
group
will
seek
to
make
decisions
through
consensus
and
due
process,
per
the
W3C
Process
Document
(section
3.3
).
.
The Working Group maintains specific procedures to establish and measure consensus and address objections in the Accessible Platform Architectures Working Group Decision Policy . All decisions made by the group should be considered resolved unless and until new information becomes available or unless reopened at the discretion of the Chairs or the Director.
This charter is written in accordance with the W3C Process Document (Section 3.4, Votes) and includes no voting procedures beyond what the Process Document requires.
Patent Policy
This Working Group operates under the W3C Patent Policy (Version of 15 September 2020). To promote the widest adoption of Web standards, W3C seeks to issue Web specifications that can be implemented, according to this policy, on a Royalty-Free basis. For more information about disclosure obligations for this group, please see the W3C Patent Policy Implementation .
Licensing
This Working Group will use the W3C Document license for Recommendation-track deliverables and the W3C Software and Document license for Note-track deliverables and licensed non-TR publications.
About this Charter
This
charter
has
been
created
according
to
section
5.2
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.
Charter History
The
following
table
lists
details
of
all
changes
from
the
initial
charter,
per
the
W3C
Process
Document
(section
5.2.3)
:
Charter Period | Start Date | End Date | Changes |
---|---|---|---|
Initial Charter | 22 October 2015 | 31 July 2018 | none |
Rechartered | 08 August 2018 | 31 July 2021 |
Changes from the previous charter ( diff from previous charter ):
|
Staff change | 19 April 2019 | Joshue O Connor replaced Shadi Abou-Zahra with .05 FTE staff support. | |
New Co-Chair | 25 June 2020 | Becky Gibson joined Janina Sajka as co-chair of the Working Group. | |
Rechartered | 11 August 2021 | 31 July 2023 |
Changes
from
the
previous
charter
(
diff
from
previous
charter
):
|
Chairs change | 4 January 2022 | Matthew Atkinson is appointed as new co-Chair of the Working Group; Becky Gibson stepped down as co-Chair. | |
Staff change | 11 March 2022 | Ruoxi Ran take the primary Team Contact of the Working Group. | |
Work in the scope of this group was, before the previous charter, carried out by the Protocols and Formats Working Group .