ISO/IEC JTC 1 Special Working Group on Accessibility (SWG-A)

JTC 1 SWG-A N 349

2008-09-25

JTC 1 SWG on Accessibility Secretariat
ITI/INCITS
1250 Eye Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005
jgarner@itic.org

Introduction
Summary of Activities
Resolutions for JTC 1 Consideration
Annex A:  SWG-A Document Register
Annex B:  Approved Task Group Terms of Reference
Annex C:  Resolutions from the July 2008 SWG-A Meeting - Tokyo, Japan

Introduction

The JTC 1 Special Working Group on Accessibility (SWG-A) was established at the October 2004 JTC 1 Plenary meeting in Berlin, Germany:

Resolution 24 – Establishment of a Special Working Group on Accessibility

JTC 1 believes that the work in the area of information communication and technology
standardization for accessibility is a major undertaking, encompassing many international, regional
and local interests. Additionally, there are significant standards efforts taking place in ISO, IEC,
ITU and the national and regional standards bodies as well as various consortia/fora and user
groups.

As identified in its long term business plan and to be responsive to international, regional, national,
and end user requirements in the area of accessibility, JTC 1 establishes a Special Working Group
on Accessibility with the following Terms of Reference:

The SWG will:

1. determine an approach, and implement, the gathering of user requirements, being mindful of the varied and unique opportunities (direct participation of user organizations, workshops, liaisons)
2. identify a mechanism to work proactively between meetings to make forward progress
3. gather and publish an inventory of all known accessibility standards efforts
4. identify areas/technologies where voluntary standards are not being addressed and suggest an appropriate body to consider the new work
5. track public laws, policies/measures and guidelines to ensure the necessary standards are available
6. through wide dissemination of the SWG materials, encourage the use of globally relevant voluntary standards
7. assist consortia/fora, if desired, in submitting their specifications to the formal standards process
   

Membership in the SWG will be open to:

• ISO/IEC JTC 1 National Bodies and Category A Liaisons
• ISO/IEC JTC 1 SCs with accessibility efforts or concerns (such as SC 35, SC 36, SC 37)
• ISO or IEC TCs with accessibility efforts or concerns (such as ISO TC 159)
• ITU-T SGs with interests/efforts in accessibility
• Regional standard development and support organizations with accessibility efforts/concerns (such as ICT SB DATSCG, ETSI HF, ITI, ANEC, CEN TC 224)
• Representatives of consortia/fora (for example, but not limited to) W3C’s WAI, FSG Accessibility Workgroup, the International Ergonomics Association
• Consumer Organizations and User Representatives (the SWG will be responsible for determining the most appropriate method to identify and engage such recognized activities)

The SWG on Accessibility will meet twice a year. To demonstrate the achievements of the group,
a status report will be submitted to JTC 1 after each SWG meeting as well as at each JTC 1
Plenary. The US will serve as Secretariat and Karen Higginbottom is appointed as Convener.

JTC 1 invites the SWG to review, modify and confirm these Terms of Reference during its initial
meeting.

• National Bodies: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom, United States
• JTC 1 Subcommittees: SC 7, SC 28, SC 29, SC 35, SC 36, SC 37
• ISO and IEC TCs: ISO/TC 159
• ITU-T SGs: ITU-T SG 16
• Regional standard development and support organizations: CEN/ISSS, CEN TC 224 WG 6, DATSCG, ETSI/HF, ETSI HF STF 333, EUAIN, ITI
• Consortia/fora: Linux Foundation, W3C/Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
• Consumer Organizations, User Representatives and other interested parties:  AFB Tech, Altarum Institute/Accessibility Forum, ANEC, Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (via the Japanese National Body), JIS Committee on Web Accessibility, Royal National Institute of the Blind (via the UK National Body), US Access Board, US Department of Education, University of Wisconsin (Trace R&D Center), Visual Impairment Knowledge Centre, WGBH National Center for Accessible Media
  

Summary of Activities

The eight meeting of the SWG-A was held 16-19 June 2008 in Tokyo, Japan.  The following entities sent delegations:

• National Bodies: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, Norway, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom, United States
• JTC 1 Subcommittees: SC 29, SC 35, SC 36
• ITU-T SGs: ITU-T SG 16
• Regional standard development and support organizations: ETSI HF STF 333, ITI
• Consortia/fora: Linux Foundation, W3C/Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
• Consumer Organizations, User Representatives and other interested parties:  Visual Impairment Knowledge Centre
  

SWG-A 2008 Tokyo Resolution 17:  Request for JTC 1 Subcommittee Chairmen to Report on Responses to the New Work Item Question Regarding Accessibility  (see JTC 1 N 9259)

Considering that the JTC 1 Special Working Group on Accessibility had requested that a specific question regarding accessibility be included on the JTC 1 Directives Annex G3 New Work Item Proposal form, the SWG respectfully requests that the JTC 1 Subcommittee Chairmen include information on the responses to this accessibility question in their reports to the November 2008 JTC 1 Plenary.  The SWG on Accessibility will evaluate the results of this information at their next meeting to determine its effectiveness in promoting the incorporation of accessibility considerations into JTC 1 standards and to address areas that could further benefit from accessibility considerations.

Unanimous


SWG-A 2008 Tokyo Resolution 20:  SWG on Accessibility Request for JTC 1 National Body and SC Secretariat Feedback on SWG-A N 343 

The JTC 1 Special Working Group on Accessibility requests JTC 1 National Bodies and SC Secretariats to consider document SWG-A N 343 which SWG-A has sent to ISO and IEC Central Secretariats.  The SWG-A further requests the National Bodies and SC Secretariats to provide feedback on the relevance of this document to their own web site procedures to help the SWG-A fulfill its role on promoting the uptake of strategies to improve accessibility throughout standardization development.

Unanimous


SWG-A 2008 Tokyo Resolution 22:  Endorsement of JTC 1 Special Working Group on Accessibility Convener  (see JTC 1 N 9193)

The JTC 1 Special Working Group on Accessibility endorses Mr. Alex Li (USA) for a  three-year term of office as Convener of the JTC 1 SWG on Accessibility.  The SWG-A instructs its Secretariat to forward this endorsement to JTC 1 for consideration and approval.

Unanimous

• The task group will seek participation from application area users (user organizations as well as end users) and will involve and reference existing efforts rather than duplicating their work.  National Bodies, as well as other SWG members, will be asked to encourage, and if possible, facilitate end user participation on this task group activity.
  
  
• The task group will also seek participation and input from regional research initiatives/programs as an additional source of information for this activity.
  
  
• The task group will develop a detailed plan for this activity taking into consideration the following:
• management of the plan
• measurable outcome (including metrics as to when the User Needs Summary is mature enough to be used in the gap analysis)
• how the information gathered will be structured and coded and where the information will be stored
• mapping of the domain
• 2-3 year plan for the activity
• resourcing the activity:  who and how
• no prioritization of user requirements
• synchronize timeline of activity with the Task Group on Accessibility Standards Inventory 

• The task group will seek input directly from product users, standards users, government agencies, standards development organizations, industry, academic institutions, consortia/fora, and others to develop the inventory of accessibility standards efforts.
  
  
• The task group will develop a detailed inventory and gap analysis of accessibility standards efforts taking into consideration the following:
• management of the inventory and gap analysis
• measurable outcome (including metrics as to when the Accessibility Standards Inventory is mature enough to be used in the gap analysis)
• how the information gathered will be structured and coded and where the inventory and gap analysis will be stored
• mapping of the domain
• plan for resources to support the ongoing activity
• synchronize timeline of activity with the Task Group on User Requirements 

SWG-A 2008 Tokyo Resolution 7A:  Invitation to Provide Feedback or Questions Concerning the ETSI HF STF 333 (EC Mandate 376) Report

The JTC 1 Special Working Group on Accessibility participants are invited to contact Mr. Richard Hodgkinson with feedback or questions related to the ETSI HF STF 333 report and activities.

Unanimous

• While some of the points made in ISO/IEC TR 29138-1 may appear redundant, this redundancy was done with specific intent to improve readability of the document for people with special needs.

• The SWG-A will hold a teleconference (hosted by the Secretariat) on 15 January 2009 from 13:00 (UTC) to 16:00 (UTC), to conduct a BRM for DTR ballots (if necessary), to determine a timeline for the revision of the TR and to conduct other business as necessary.
  
  
• The SWG-A accepts the offer of the National Body of Canada to host a physical meeting scheduled for 22-26 June 2009 in western Canada.  In the event that a physical meeting is not necessary, a teleconference could be held during this week.