aware.hwg.org: accessible web authoring resources and education center

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Accessible Web Design Community

If you're creating -- or plan to create -- accessible web sites, you're not alone! Many resources exist for you to talk with other web authors and users, discuss accessible designs, get your sites critiqued, or stay informed! Presented here are a number of such forums, along with groups and organizations that promote web accessibility.

Organizations

• The HTML Writers Guild
  With over 95,000 members in more than 130 countries, the HTML Writers Guild is the world's largest organization of web authors. With the mission of educating our members in quality web authoring, the HWG is very supportive of web accessibility efforts. Membership is free for Trial members and only $40 for Full members, with 50% discounts available to students, teachers, and members with disabilities. Help support the AWARE Center's activities -- join the Guild!
• The W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative
  The World Wide Web Consortium's WAI project leads the charge for web accessibility, producing a number of excellent resources for web authors, tool and browser programmers, and others. Joining the W3C itself is beyond the means of most web authors, but you can participate on the WAI's Interest Group mailing list (see below under forums).

Forums

• WAI Interest Group Mailing List
  The WAI's Interest Group (W3C-WAI-IG) mailing list is for discussing web accessibility, reviewing the WAI "deliverables" (such as various guidelines), and updates on WAI activities. The traffic is moderate-to-high.
• HWG Mailing Lists, Including:
  · HWG-Techniques
  · HWG-Standards
  · HWG-Theory
  · HWG-Critique
  The HTML Writers Guild's discussion lists are open to all HWG members, including Trial (free) members, and cover a variety of topics. -Techniques is a general list and discussion of accessibility issues are common there. -Standards deals with the use and application of standards such as HTML, while -Theory is a "when should I use this and how?" list. -Critique is used for getting feedback on your site, including asking if a site is accessible to a wide audience.
• WebAble's Web Accessibility Design Forum
  A web-based forum for discussing issues related to accessible web authoring practices; it's relatively new so gets light traffic currently. Other WebAble forums may be of interest as well, including one on accessibility in XML.

Conferences and Events

• Cal State Northridge Center on Disabilities Conference
  The annual CSUN conference in Los Angeles (next year's: March 21-25, 2000) features a heavy emphasis on the accessibility of the web as well as demonstrations of assistive technology for web access.
• WAI List of Upcoming Technology Conferences
  A list maintained by the Web Accessibility Initiative's Education & Outreach working group that lists future conferences that may be of interest to web authors.

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This page is maintained by aware@hwg.org. Last updated on 12 April 1999.
Copyright © 1999 by the HTML Writers Guild, Inc.