Attachment_-_Summary_of_Work.docx

Attachment – Summary of Work

Type of Contract

This will be a cost-reimbursement type contract.

Severable Services

The services acquired under this contract are severable services. Funds are only available for use for the line item to which they are obligated. Unused funds from one period (line item) may not rollover for use in other periods.

Summary of the Statement of Work

The complexity and rapid evolution of Web technologies means that people with disabilities frequently encounter barriers when trying to participate in the Information Society. Barriers can be simple yet pervasive, for instance lack of alternative text for images, captions for audio, and descriptions for video; or can include more complex barriers such as insufficient programmatic access to dynamic and interactive information generated through content management systems, and lack of interoperability between mainstream browsers or authoring tools on the one hand and assistive technologies used by people with disabilities on the other hand.

Given the role of the Web in so many life activities, the impact of these barriers on the lives of people with disabilities can be immense. There is an ongoing need for updated technical and educational support materials that program managers and Web developers can use to address existing and new barriers on the desktop Web, in a wide range of mobile devices, in digital publishing, and in other ICTs becoming available via the Web.

The Web Accessibility Initiative addresses accessibility of the foundational technical specifications for the Web and provides up-to-date recommendations, guidance and implementation materials to support accessibility of Web content, applications, and software. WAI addresses cross-disability accessibility of the Web through the following primary activities:

· Ensuring support for accessibility in development of hundreds of recommended technical specifications on which the Web is based, such as HTML5, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Document Object Model (DOM); and in areas such as application programming interfaces (APIs), media formats, graphics formats, font packaging, speech markup languages, mobile Web, semantic open data, security and privacy specifications, and more. At any given time, there may be more than a hundred technical specifications under development in W3C working groups, and over 175 W3C Community Groups exploring pre-standardization work.

· Development and updating of recommended guidance and techniques to ensure accessibility of Web content and applications; browsers, media players, mobile devices, authoring software, and assistive technologies; and accessibility support in technical specifications.

· Development of resources to support improved accessibility of evaluation and repair approaches for accessibility of the Web.

· Development of technical and educational resources to improve awareness and implementation of Web accessibility.

· Coordination with research and development into new technologies that can affect access to the Web, including areas where there are currently gaps in accessibility.

· Promotion of harmonized uptake of recommended accessibility standards and guidance for the Web.

WAI has developed guidance for accessibility of Web content, authoring tools, browsers and media players. WAI accessibility guidelines are the basis of the Web portion of US Section 508 regulations; have been used in advisory materials provided for the Americans with Disabilities Act; and referenced for guidance on Web accessibility by many other governments around the world. WAI has developed accessibility solutions such as Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA), which enables accessibility of dynamic and interactive Web content that is common on today’s Web. WAI has identified and addressed accessibility barriers in hundreds of W3C technologies before they have become completed standards, helping to ensure support for accessibility in core Web technologies. WAI has developed an extensive library of publicly available and widely used educational resources, resources to improve the quality of Web accessibility assessments, and Web symposia on development of advanced Web technologies. Accomplishments specifically through WAI-Core are summarized below.

WAI accomplishes this by bringing together a staff made up of leading international experts in their fields, including Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the Web. WAI staff associated with the work described here are based in several locations in the US and Canada, and coordinate via a virtual workspace using a variety of different strategies including teleconferencing and Web-based collaboration spaces. This virtual workspace is supplemented by face-to-face meetings several times per year with additional international WAI staff.

Title II of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, states that NIDILRR (formerly known as NIDRR) is authorized to "...provide for research, demonstration projects, training, and related activities to maximize the full inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency of individuals with disabilities of all ages..." Since WAI was first established in 1997, NIDILRR has contracted with WAI for activities, sustaining a multi-stakeholder forum that brings together perspectives and contributions from industry, the disability community, research, and government from around the world to develop consensus-based accessibility solutions for the Web.

Scope of WAI-Core Work

The duration of this contract shall be five years. Tasks shall include the following work, in order to enable ongoing improvement of accessibility in mainstream Web technologies, to develop updated accessibility guidance and technical and educational support materials, to coordinate with emerging standards that may impact on accessibility of the Web, and to report to NIDILRR monthly and annually on working group activities and accessibility issues addressed. The following tasks are uniquely feasible within the Web Accessibility Initiative at the World Wide Web Consortium.