13. Standards, Guidelines, and Trends

The World Wide Web, the Web, is technically a family of open standards that defines the protocols and formats needed for the Web to function. These technical standards are the backbone of Web accessibility. They define critical accessibility features of Web technologies, as well as interoperability with assistive technologies. At the same time, these technical standards are rapidly evolving as the Web continues to expand in volume and in functionality, as different industry and technology sectors continue to converge onto the Web, and as our expectations for the Web continue to expand. Recent advances in Web technologies include enhanced support for mobile content and applications, real-time communication, immersive environments, multimedia, and automotive systems. Concurrently, Web-based applications are increasingly making use of advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Open Data. While such technological advances provide immense opportunities for the inclusion of people with disabilities, they require dedicated efforts to understand the diverse accessibility needs and to develop clear accessibility requirements for designers and developers of digital content, tools, and technologies for desktop and mobile devices. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the leading standards body for the Web and has a long history of commitment to accessibility. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) utilizes a multi-stakeholder consensus approach to pursue the goal of ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities on the Web. This includes designing and implementing particular accessibility features in core Web standards such as HTML and CSS, as well as developing and maintaining a set of Web accessibility guidelines, which are recognized internationally by business and government. This participatory effort involving representation of people with disabilities, industry, research, public bodies, and other experts promises to address evolving trends on the Web to help ensure accessibility for people with disabilities.