Participating in the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AGWG)

This page explains the requirements and procedures for becoming a participant in the AG WG. It also explains how non-participants may contribute to the Working Group by subscribing to the group’s mailing list, monitoring the group’s progress, and contributing on that list. See also Participating in WAI for broader participation options throughout the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Review drafts

Working Drafts are updated periodically and are available for your review. W3C Working Drafts provide opportunities for public comment during the development of a specification. Please follow the Instructions for Commenting on WCAG 2.0 Documents (preferred) or send mail to the public comments mailing list: public-comments-wcag20@w3.org. The archive for the public comments mailing list is available.

Review the mailing list

The AG WG mailing list archives are publicly available and can be read by anyone.

Become a participant

Participation enables you to influence the development of the deliverables, and you and your organization will be listed as contributors to the deliverables of the AG WG where appropriate. Participant status, however, requires a commitment on your behalf to support the work of the group. Participation in task forces counts towards overall participation expectations for the Working Group as a whole.

Participants should:

Engage actively with the Working Group via any of the communication mechansims available;
Provide input in a timely fashion.
Maintain familiarity with the progress of the Working Group via minutes of past meetings, mailing list discussion, issue comments, etc.

Participating in the Working Group requires a W3C account; you can create an account if you do not already have one. Before applying to join, please read the AG WG Charter to review the activity and commitments. When you join the group, you are automatically added to the mailing lists and provide access to the WG communication tools.

Current participants in the AG WG.

Employees of Member organizations

Employees of Member organizations automatically have the right to participate. To join, ask your W3C Advisory Committee (AC) Representative to nominate you to the Working Group. You can also use available public contribution channels, above, without joining the group if you or your employer prefer.

Individuals

If you do not work for a W3C Member organization, but you feel you have the expertise and availability to participate, you should first use public contribution channels, above, to familiarize yourself with the work and make yourself known to the group. If your contribution suggests a higher level of participation is warranted, you can be invited to join the group as an Invited Expert. Please contact the WG chairs to discuss this. If you work for an organization whose business is related to that of the W3C, we may instead ask your organization to join and nominate you as a Member representative.

If the chairs support it, you may complete the invited expert application form, indicating the Accessibility Guidelines WG as the group you wish to join. Make sure you have read and accepted the policies referenced from that form, and include details about your relevant expertise, interest in the work, and your employer. If you have not made yourself known to the chairs, or your application does not provide information about your expertise and expected contribution, it may be rejected.