The mission of the Education and Outreach Working
Group (EOWG) is to develop strategies, and awareness and training
resources, to educate a variety of audiences regarding the need for Web
accessibility and approaches to implementing Web accessibility.
The EOWG was originally chartered in March
1998. Its charter was renewed in November
2000, and it has developed a variety of resources since then. A third EOWG charter was
reviewed by the W3C Advisory Committee but not formally announced. The EOWG
is renewing its charter in order to continue work on education and outreach
deliverables in support of Web accessibility.
consulting with other WAI groups to
identify outreach needs; to develop strategies and resources to address
those needs; and to advise on ease-of-use of other WAI groups'
deliverables, including presentation of information (structure, style,
semantics) across all areas of the WAI Web site;
developing and maintaining a variety of online and hard-copy education
and outreach resources to promote awareness of Web accessibility, and
also coordinating translations for these. These materials include items
such as Quick Tips, WAI Flyers, Web accessibility curricula, fact sheets,
pages of reference links (on policies, alternative browsers, other
projects related to Web accessibility, standards-tracking, etc.),
demonstration materials (such as galleries of accessible sites, videos,
online tutorials, etc.), introductory pages, etc.;
developing resource networks to promote increased expertise in Web
accessibility within the Web community (including for technical and
non-technical audiences) such as international outreach strategy
exchanges, trainer best-practice exchanges, expanded course offerings in
Web accessibility, review teams for Web site accessibility, etc.;
promoting harmonization of Web accessibility standards.
Consistent with W3C
Process requirements on Task Forces, the EOWG may form task forces composed of EOWG
participants or join other W3C task forces to carry out assignments when
under the chartered scope of EOWG. Any such task force must have a work
statement (including objectives, communication, participation, and
leadership) that has been announced on the EOWG mailing list, approved by the
EOWG, and is available from the EOWG home page. EOWG task forces should
produce requirements documents that outline the scope and expectations for
work. Task forces may set up separate teleconferences and hold face-to-face
meetings per the W3C process and with the approval of the EOWG.
In general, EOWG deliverables have the status of "WAI Resources" when
completed; in some cases they become Working Group
Notes. EOWG members and/or WAI staff develop most deliverables. Some are
produced under subcontract but with the guidance of this group. EOWG
deliverables must address cross-disability considerations, be
consensus-based, technically sound, and reflect the most current W3C
specifications.
The following list includes deliverables which EOWG plans to maintain,
complete, substantially revise, or start as new projects at some point during
this chartered period of EOWG's work:
EOWG Deliverables to be maintained during this period (e.g., routine
updating of reference links and information):
Coordinate on providing public information about the work of
PFWG.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG):
Assist in developing awareness and training strategies and materials,
to support promotion and implementation of Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines, and to transition between WCAG 1.0 and WCAG 2.0
when needed. Consult with WCAG WG as needed on usability of WCAG
working drafts under development.
Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AUWG):
User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (UAWG):
Assist in developing awareness and training strategies and materials,
to support promotion and implementation of User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines.
Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group (ERT WG):
Assist in developing awareness and training strategies and materials,
to support evaluation of Web sites for WCAG conformance, and/or for
conformance to UAAG, ATAG, and XAG; assist in maintaining the reference
links in existing evaluation and
repair tools.
Assist RDIG in developing materials to educate?policy makers,
researchers, students, and others about "Prioritized Research Problems"
arising from RDIG discussions, and about "Tips for Accessibility-Aware
Research."
Assist other W3C/WAI groups in identifying issues to bring into WAI
IG for discussion; also assist in tracking and capturing issues from
the WAI IG mailing list and identifying areas where awareness and/or
training resources are needed.
In the event that a "Horizontal Activities Coordination Group" (HACG)
is chartered to address areas of common interest including education and
outreach work among other W3C groups, EOWG would coordinate with the HACG
on education and outreach related work.
The EOWG home page, and charter are public. The majority of EOWG
communications and deliverables are public, except deliverables where there
is a specific confidentiality requirement during development, such as in
preparation of a fact sheet for use as part of press package to accompany an
as-yet unreleased W3C Recommendation; or deliverables where there is a
privacy concern continuing after development, such as in the case of a
compilation of addresses of product managers willing to be contacted
regarding accessibility resources but not wanting their contact information
available to the general public; or results of accessibility reviews for
sites nominated for the Gallery.
8. Meetings
EOWG teleconferences weekly
EOWG face-to-face meetings approximately four times per year
The EOWG provides an opportunity to share perspectives on Web accessibility.
W3C reminds EOWG participants of their obligation to comply with patent
disclosure obligations as set out in Section
6 of the 5
February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. While the EOWG does not produce
Recommendation-track documents, when EOWG participants review
Recommendation-track specifications from Working Groups, the patent
disclosure obligations do apply.
Please note that the proceedings of EOWG (mailing list archives, minutes,
etc.) are publicly visible.
The EOWG welcomes participation from W3C Member Organizations,
and also invites experts from disability organizations, accessibility
researchers, assistive technology developers, government organizations, and
other interested in promoting accessibility of Web content, subject to the W3C
Invited Expert policy.
Participants are expected to observe general
participation requirements and to maintain good
standing in the group as defined in the W3C Process Document. For the
EOWG, the following commitment is expected:
Minimum 4 hours per week, including meeting time and reading/responding
to mailing list
Remain current on w3c-wai-eo mailing list and respond in timely manner
to postings on mailing list
Contribute to development of EOWG deliverables
Participate in most weekly teleconferences with regrets sent when one
has to be missed
Participate in face-to-face meetings or send regrets to the list
Remain aware of related work in other WAI Working Groups