ISO/IEC JTC 1 Special Working Group on Accessibility (SWG-A ) JTC 1 SWG-A N 214 2006-09-22

1. ISO/IEC JTC 1 Special Working Group on Accessibility (SWG-A) • JTC 1 SWG-A N 214 • 2006-09-22 • Title: Disability Organizations Outreach Presentation • Source: Ad Hoc 8 Breakout • RequestedAction: • PerSWG-A Brussels Resolution 20:  Acceptance of SDO and Disability Organization Outreach PresentationsThe JTC 1 Special Working Group on Accessibility accepts the SDO Outreach (currently SWG-A N 213) and Disability Organization Outreach (currently SWG-A N 214) for immediate use.  Unanimous

2. JTC-1 SWG-A Special Working Group on Accessibility Wide membership open to all Standards Development Organisations, consortia, consumer organisations and user representatives

3. Introduction to the SWG-A • Formed to track all global, regional and national standards related to ICT accessibility by: • gathering user requirements • publishing an inventory of all known accessibility standards efforts • identifying areas/technologies where accessibility issues are not being addressed • providing wide dissemination of SWG materials to all interested parties

4. What sort of standards is the SWG-A interested in? • Anything in the Information and Communications Technology sector • computer hardware • software • telecommunications • consumer electronics • public access terminals • potentially other areas in the future

5. Why Work on Technical Standards? • Technical standards are the “rules of the road” that technology companies use when designing and manufacturing their products • Standards help make sure that products work, and work together • If accessibility is built into the standards, it’s more likely to be built into the products

6. Background on JTC1 • ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee One (JTC1) was created by: • International Standardization Organisation (ISO) • International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) • JTC1 provides a single, comprehensive standardisation committee in which to address international Information and Communication Technology standardisation. • JTC 1 standards are globally recognized, provide global interoperability, and provide sustained development and retention of investment.

7. Establishment of SWG-A • At its annual plenary meeting in October 2004, JTC 1 unanimously passed Resolution 24 on the "Establishment of a Special Working Group on Accessibility." • First meeting in April 2005

8. Meeting and Method of Work • The SWG-A meets twice a year and submits a status report after each meeting and at each JTC 1 Plenary session • Much of the work of the SWG-A is accomplished through ad hoc committees and performed electronically

9. Time schedule • Gathering data for the initial inventory of accessibility standards efforts completed in the following domains • PC hardware, software in general, communications, consumer electronics, public access terminals • Preliminary mapping of user needs to some exemplar standards completed Dec 2006 • SWG-A activities reported to JTC1 plenary in Nov 2006

10. Membership in SWG-A • Membership in JTC1 SWG-A is open to: • all ISO/IEC JTC 1 National Bodies and Category A Liaisons • relevant JTC 1 committees • ISO or IEC committees with accessibility efforts or concerns. • other regional standards development and support organizations with accessibility efforts • representatives of consortia and fora • consumer organizations and user representatives

11. Why Participate? • Participation in international ICT accessibility standards and policies can: • help reduce barriers to use of technology • create an international resource that can be used to encourage the use of globally relevant voluntary standards • help ensure the availability of increasingly accessible ICT for all people • help increase awareness and practice of accessibility in standardisation.

12. What If I’m Not a Technical Expert? • We need you: • people who understand disability and accessibility of technology are harder to find than people who just understand technology • We’re working on explaining user needs in clear language, and examining standards documents for places where they do or should refer to those user needs

13. Time and Travel Are Tight, But... • Much of SWG-A’s work is performed in ad hoc groups, exchanging and reviewing documents electronically • You can focus on what you care about

14. How You Can Participate • The SWG-A is looking for interested parties to review its summary of user needs and contribute to the standards inventory related to accessible ICT. • For more information on how to participate in the SWG-A or to review the user requirements inventory, please contact Ms. Jennifer Garner (jgarner@itic.org).

15. Contributing Organisations • National Bodies: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, 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, DATSCG, ETSI/HF, EUAIN, ITI • Consortia/fora: Free Standards Group, W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) • Consumer Organizations, User Representatives and other interested parties: ANEC, Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (via the Japanese National Body), Royal National Institute of the Blind (via the UK National Body), Visual Impairment Knowledge Center, WGBH National Center for Accessible Media

16. Where to find other resources • SWG-A web site • http://www.jtc1access.org • Web sites regional • http://europa.eu.int/information_society/policy/accessibility/index_en.htm • http://www.dok.no • http://www.section508.gov/ • http://www.at-links.gc.ca • Web sites re terminology • Task Group contacts

17. Documents www.jtc1access.org • Introduction • Outreach flyer • User needs summary • Standards inventory • Exemplar mappings • Update inventory form • Feedback form • (@@update with numbers after meeting)