WAI-Core Project

About WAI-Core

The WAI-Core Project, funded by NIDILRR at the US HHS, provides support for accessibility work at W3C WAI to:

Task 1:

• Provide staff support and technical expertise within a Working Group of Web accessibility experts representing different stakeholder groups, including via recruitment of public comments on draft technical reports from other W3C Working Groups, W3C Interest Groups and W3C Community Groups, and as needed to develop technical specifications that support accessibility, such as WAI-ARIA and Accessibility Application Programming Interface (API) mappings;
• Update documentation as needed of accessibility experts’ guidance on accessibility requirements, specification design considerations, and known gaps, drawing on experience gained from reviewing resolutions to accessibility barriers in a wide range of Web technologies, to serve as a general introduction to accessibility self-review by other W3C working groups and to facilitate the scaling of accessibility expertise to a larger number of W3C specification reviews (currently Web Technology Accessibility Guidelines (WTAG)).

Task 2:

• Maintain one or more multi-stakeholder Working Groups of Web accessibility experts to develop updated guidance and technical support materials on Web content and applications, authoring tools, browsers, mobile applications, and other Web-enabled applications, devices and services; This may be in stand-alone, combined or modular format, including extensions of previous guidelines, or as updated combinations of previous guidelines. It may include accessibility guidance and technical support materials for technologies relating to industries newly converging with the Web, for example mobile, digital publishing, Web of things, TV and Web, education, health care, or other areas; and may include extensive guidance and/or techniques for areas such as cognitive and learning disability, low-vision accessibility, and/or voice input accessibility.

Task 3:

• Review, provide analysis of, and comment on understandability, readability of and usability of accessibility standards and implementation reference materials; develop non-technical introductions to accessibility guidelines and standards, and overviews of accessibility user requirements for people with disabilities; provide education and outreach activities to support acceptance of Web accessibility guidance; comment on draft standards, regulations, and/or policies where necessary to promote acceptance of Web accessibility solutions.

How to Participate

WAI-Core work is developed through W3C/WAI Working Groups. Working Groups that are currently relevant to WAI-Core work, and links to information on participation, include:

• Accessible Platform Architectures (APA) Working Group (participation in APA WG), for review of accessibility in W3C specifications;
• Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) Working Group (participation in ARIA WG), for development of accessibility specifications as needed, such as ARIA, and Accessibility Application Programming Interface Mappings;
• Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Working Group (participation in AG WG), for development of accessibility guidelines;
• Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) (participation in EOWG) for improving understanding and usability of accessibility standards and implementation reference materials, developing non-technical introductions to accessibility guidelines and standards, and providing education and outreach to support implementation of Web accessibility guidance.

In addition to participation opportunities, everyone is welcome to review drafts. Draft in progress are highlighted on the WAI home page. To get notifications of drafts for review, see Getting WAI Announcements for links to WAI tweets, RSS feed, and WAI Interest Group (WAI IG) emails.

For more information on the WAI-Core Project and other WAI work, see Getting Involved with WAI and Participating in WAI. If you have any questions, contact Shawn Lawton Henry.

Project Staff

The following W3C staff are supported in part by WAI-Core funds:

• Shawn Lawton Henry
• Ken Franqueiro
• Judy Brewer (through December 2022)
• Michael Cooper (through July 2023)