This document discusses standardization in accessibility and the role of standards bodies and standards. It notes that standards can promote interoperability, sharing of information, and accessibility. Open standards that anyone can read and implement are important for ongoing accessibility improvements. Developing accessibility standards requires understanding needs, experience, and active implementations. Some key ICT accessibility standards discussed include WCAG, UAAG, ATAG, and ISO 13066. The document outlines how ÆGIS will define, implement, and identify gaps in accessibility standards.

1. Standardisation in Accessibility
Peter Korn, Accessibility Principal
& ÆGIS Technical Manager

2. What is a Standard?
• De-facto standards:
– Width of a road
• Decreed standards:
– Imperial measure: inch, foot, yard
• Standards from a standards process:
– Metric measure: meter, liter, gram

3. What is a Standards Body?
• Entity whose primary activities are
developing, coordinating, promulgating,
revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting,
or otherwise maintaining one or more
standards

4. Role of Standards in ICT Generally
• For software interoperability
– Networking standards allow different
computers, platforms, to communicate
• For sharing of information
– Document standards allow different
applications to read & write the same files
• For anything heterogeneous

5. Role of Standards in ICT Accessibility
(Role of Accessibility in ICT Standards)
• For accessibility interoperability:
– How does AT work with ICT (and vice-versa)?
– How do apps follow platform themes?
• For needed accessibility information
– How to encode text for images in documents?
– How to encode tables for AT use?

6. Importance of Open Standards
• Open standards can be read, implemented
by anyone, at any time, on any platform
• Open standards bodies provide ways for
experts to join, contribute
– Enables ongoing improvement to standards
– Therefore enables accessibility improvements

7. Developing ICT Accessibility Standards
• Ingredients for success
– Deep understanding of accessibility needs
– Plethora of real-world experience
– Active implementation(s) proving proposals
• Applies to all accessibility standards
– Dedicated accessibility standards
– Standards supporting accessibility

8. Some Key ICT Accessibility Standards
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
– WCAG, UAAG, ATAG
• AT-ICT interoperability (Accessibility APIs)
– IAccessible2, AT-SPI/ATK, Java Accessibility
– ISO 13066
• Document standards & accessibility
– ODF, PDF/A, DAISY

9. Accessibility Standards & ÆGIS
• “Definition of Accessibility” commonly
done as a standard
• ÆGIS will do some combination of:
– Define accessibility standards
– Implement accessibility standards
– Identify gaps in accessibility standards
• Contribute improvements addressing those gaps

10. Successful Accessibility Standards
• Don't exist in a vacuum
– Tools to help create, validate implementations
• Multiple (and interoperable)
implementations
– May have a “reference implementation”
– May have open source implementation(s)
• Not necessarily best, but often “definitive”

11. Valorisation of Accessibility
• What is “valorisation”?
– Realization of value
• In the context of ÆGIS and this session
– Realizing the value of accessibility standards
– Accessibility solutions realized from research

12. Remainder of this Parallel Session
• Accessibility standards work
– Dr. Galinski: accessibility standards in content
– Dr. Martinez: assessing accessibility
conformance to the ISO 9241-171 standard
– Mr. Strobbe: Accessibility standards research
– Dr. Bund: pluggable accessible user
interfaces

13. Remainder of this Parallel Session, cont.
• Accessibility valorisation
– Dr. Usero: open source & cloud accessibility
– Mr. Lundälv: language support for authors
– Mr. Kalogirou: mobile device accessibility