News Release from the W3C - WAI program director to speak at White House sponsored event

Passing this along as an item of interest to our members:


World Wide Web Consortium Works to Bridge "Digital Divide"

Web Accessibility Initiative Director Presenting at White
House "Digital Divide" Event

For Immediate Release --

Contact --
Janet Daly <janet(at)w3.org> +1 617 253 5884

http://www.w3.org/ -- 21 September 2000 -- The White House
has invited Judy Brewer, Director of the Web Accessibility
Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), to
speak at its Digital Divide Event on Accessible Technologies
on 21 September 2000 in Flint, Michigan.

Ms. Brewer is presenting on issues regarding accessibility
of the Web for people with disabilities, highlighting
solutions developed by WAI to produce a Web that is more
usable by all. "WAI works by bringing together industry,
disability organizations, accessibility researchers, and
government," explained Brewer. "We can show that accessible
design is not only possible; but is also good design, and
well within reach of all Web content publishers."

WAI's recent achievements include the development of
guidelines for the creation of Web content that can be
accessed by any user, regardless of disability, as well as
guidelines for the production of software that makes it
easier to produce accessible Web content automatically. The
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines serve as a definitive
resource for Web designers to produce sites that work for
the widest possible audience, and have received
international endorsement.

About the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) commitment to lead the
Web to its full potential includes promoting a high degree
of usability for people with disabilities. WAI, in
coordination with organizations around the world, pursues
accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work:
technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and
research and development.

About the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential
by developing common protocols that promote its evolution
and  ensure its interoperability. It is an international
industry consortium jointly run by the MIT Laboratory for
Computer Science (MIT LCS) in the USA, the National
Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control
(INRIA) in France and Keio University in Japan. Services
provided by the Consortium include: a repository of
information about the World Wide Web for developers and
users, and various prototype and sample applications to
demonstrate use of new technology. To date, over 440
organizations are Members of the Consortium.

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