This is an unpublished draft preview that might include content that is not yet approved. The published website is at w3.org/WAI/.

WCAG2ICT Task Force Work Statement

The WCAG2ICT Task Force is a task force of the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG). It assists this Working Group with the work identified below.

Status

This work statement was approved by the AG Chairs WG on 24 January 2025. The task force is active.

The work statement describes the WCAG2ICT Phase 1 objectives that have been completed and the updated Phase 2 objectives for the WCAG2ICT Note.

NOTE: This work is mentioned in the Other Deliverables section of the current AG WG Charter. The continuation of the work is also included in the current AG WG Charter. The WCAG2ICT Task Force plans that future AG WG charters include further maintenance of this important guidance.

Objective

The objective of the WCAG2ICT Task Force is to develop documentation describing how WCAG 2.x and its principles, guidelines, and success criteria could apply to non-Web Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).

The WCAG2ICT Phase 1 objectives have been completed by incorporating guidance for WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 guidelines, Level A and AA success criteria, and their associated glossary definitions. Phase 1 of WCAG2ICT also added new content that identifies WCAG success criteria that are problematic when applied to some non-Web ICT. The 2024 Guidance on Applying WCAG 2 to Non-Web Information and Communications Technologies (WCAG2ICT) was published as a result.

This work statement sets further objectives for Phase 2 of the WCAG2ICT Note updates as there have been concerns with determining which success criteria can (or should) apply for a particular technology as well as the possibility of suggesting normative language changes to some success criteria to make them more directly applicable in non-web contexts (See the scope of work section for further details and explanation).

In addition, the task force would like to develop content to address misunderstandings of what the WCAG2ICT Note does and does not provide which we hope will address incorrect assumptions and provide an explanation of problems that the WCAG2ICT Note does not solve. How this content will be delivered (as a separate document, web page, or within the WCAG2ICT Note) will be determined once the key content has been developed.

Scope of Work

The work of the task force includes:

NOTE: “suggested changes to success criteria” would not be suggestions to change WCAG itself, but instead to provide language more meaningful in non-web contexts. For example, in criteria where the WCAG normative language uses CSS pixels, the Task Force could provide alternative language more appropriate for non-web technologies.

Explicitly out of scope for the WCAG2ICT Task Force work are:

Approach

WCAG2ICT is a Task Force of the AG WG, which has oversight over the Task Force to ensure accurate interpretation and representation of WCAG 2.x. The AG WG decision process applies within the group. Draft content is periodically taken to the AG WG for review as it progresses.

The primary effort of this Task Force is to describe how to interpret WCAG 2.x and its principles, guidelines, success criteria and conformance requirements when applying them to non-web ICT; and evaluating what WCAG Conformance means in the context of non-Web ICT. The resulting Working Group Note will include a discussion of the application of each of the criteria in WCAG 2.x to non-Web ICT, including their interface components and platforms, and the extent to which WCAG Conformance is meaningful to non-Web ICT.

To efficiently develop the Working Group Note, work is sometimes broken down into sub-groups, under the coordination of the Task Force facilitators following established AG WG procedures for sub-groups.

The work has been focused in stages to ensure WCAG2ICT content was made available in time for use in upcoming updates to regulations and standards (like the EN 301 549) that apply WCAG to non-web technology. Phase 1 prioritized Level A and AA criteria and known issues in the existing Note and was published on 4 November 2024. The next update to WCAG2ICT plans to address the remaining in-scope items detailed in the Scope of Work section.

The work is carried out through a series of document drafts, all publicly visible, with opportunities for public comment. In particular, key stakeholders such as developers, evaluators, accessibility experts, researchers, procurement experts, and end users will be regularly involved in the development process. Key participants will be drawn from people with expertise not only in Web technologies, but also those with specific accessibility expertise, including the development of accessible frameworks, platforms, user interface components, and software covering a broad variety of computing environments.

Timeline

The following sections contain rough timelines for the WCAG2ICT work. Actual timelines and project management are handled outside of this work statement, and will not be maintained herein.

A phased delivery of the WCAG2ICT Working Group Note was necessary to provide timely guidance for upcoming regulatory and standards updates, and Phase 1 has concluded.

Phase 1 (completed)

Published update to Guidance on Applying WCAG 2 to Non-web Information and Communications Technologies (WCAG2ICT) Group Note (8 October 2024).

Goals were to incorporate new WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 Level A and AA success criteria and making other necessary updates to the other content in the WCAG2ICT document to align with WCAG 2.2. This phase also addressed known documented issues prior to publication.

Phase 2

The next phase of updates will include the remaining in-scope work listed in the Scope of Work section.

Details of the Phase 2 timeline are found outside of this document in the GitHub WCAG2ICT Wiki. See the schedule and milestones page.

Liaisons

While there are no direct dependencies at the Task Force level (please see deliverables section of the AG WG Charter for more information), the following are participating liaisons, which may change and/or be expanded over time:

The list of liaisons can be found in the WCAG2ICT participants list.

Communication

WCAG2ICT Task Force communications are publicly visible. Communication mechanisms for the WCAG2ICT Task Force include:

  1. WCAG2ICT Task Force public mailing list, mailing list archive, and GitHub issue tracker
  2. WCAG2ICT subpage off of the AG Working Group home page
  3. Weekly (and at times twice-weekly) teleconferences, with teleconference minutes sent to AG WG mailing list and linked from the WCAG2ICT TF minutes page
  4. Regular updates and feedback to AG WG and to the WAI Coordination Call, as needed
  5. Regular submission of deliverables to the AG WG for approval
  6. Management of project information and schedule in the WCAG2ICT wiki
  7. Summary of current status and progress on the WCAG2ICT Task Force home page

Participation

WCAG2ICT Task Force participants must join the Task Force through the AG WG, which includes representatives of W3C Member Organizations as well as Invited Experts (agreement for Invited Experts). Task Force participants must agree to actively contribute to the work of WCAG2ICT Task Force, including:

Current WCAG2ICT Task Force participants

Contact Daniel Montalvo to become a participant of the WCAG2ICT Task Force or with questions.

Facilitation

Staff contacts from the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group oversee attention to W3C Process with respect to the chartered requirements of the Working Group. The facilitators set agenda, lead meetings, determine consensus, and are the primary liaison to the Working Group.

Patent Policy

This Task Force is part of the AG Working Group Charter, which operates under the W3C Patent Policy (15 September 2020 Version). W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the AG Working Group.

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This is an unpublished draft preview that might include content that is not yet approved. The published website is at w3.org/WAI/.