Mobile Accessibility

Page Contents
* W3C WAI Covers Mobile Accessibility
* Mobile and Accessible Overlap
* More Guidance Coming
* Get Updates and Get Involved
* About W3C and WAI

W3C WAI Covers Mobile Accessibility

"Mobile accessibility" generally refers to making websites and applications more accessible to people with disabilities when they are using mobile phones. Our work in this area includes people using a broad range of devices: phones, tablets, TVs, and much more.

WAI's existing and developing accessibility guidelines cover mobile accessibility:

WCAG 2.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) covers web pages and web applications, including content used on mobile devices. For an introduction to the WCAG documents, see the WCAG Overview.
UAAG 2.0 (User Agent Accessibility Guidelines) covers web browsers and other 'user agents', including mobile browsers. For information on UAAG, see the UAAG Overview.

WAI is working to enhance technologies for mobile accessibility, including:

IndieUI (Independent User Interface) is a way for user actions to be communicated to web applications, including mobile applications. This will make it easier for applications to work with a wide range of devices, including assistive technologies. See the IndieUI Overview.
WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) defines a way to make web content more accessible, especially dynamic content and advanced user interface controls. It applies to web applications and to accessing website with mobile devices. See the WAI-ARIA Overview.

W3C's work on mobile includes accessibility. All W3C work is reviewed for accessibility by WAI's Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG). W3C work on mobile includes:

Mobile Web Best Practices,
Mobile Web Application Best Practices,
mobileOK Checker
Standards for Web Applications on Mobile summarizes technologies developed in W3C that increase the capabilities of Web applications, and how they apply more specifically to the mobile context.

Mobile and Accessible Overlap

Most of this page addresses people with disabilities using mobile devices. We also have related resources that address situations such as: a web development project wants to make their websites and web applications work better for all mobile users (including those without disabilities) and also work better for users with disabilities using "traditional" computers.

For that we have some other resources that are still relevant today:

Web Content Accessibility and Mobile Web: Making a Web Site Accessible Both for People with Disabilities and for Mobile Devices introduces the significant overlap between making a website accessible for a mobile device and for people with disabilities. It links to:
- Experiences Shared by People with Disabilities and by People Using Mobile Devices
- Relationship between Mobile Web Best Practices (MWBP) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

More Guidance Coming

WAI is currently working on:

A Mobile Accessibility Research Report based on the Mobile Accessibility Symposium.
Accessibility Support Database that will provide information on accessibility support in web technologies, including mobile devices and mobile platforms. {@@saz: OK? or suggestions for edit?}

What else?

What else can we provide to help you with mobile accessibility? We are considering providing guidance such as WCAG Techniques for Mobile Application, or Guide on Applying WCAG and UAAG in the Mobile Environment.

Let us know what you would find helpful, by sending e-mail with Subject: mobile accessibility suggestion to either:

wai-eo-editors@w3.org - a publicly-archived list
wai@w3.org - a WAI-staff-only list

Get Updates and Get Involved

If you would like to get notification of future work on mobile accessibility at W3C WAI, see Getting WAI Announcements.

If you would like to be more involved in WAI's work on mobile accessibility, please send an e-mail with a little about your interests and time availability to wai@w3.org with Subject: mobile accessibility volunteer

About W3C and WAI

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. W3C primarily pursues its mission through the creation of Web standards and guidelines designed to ensure long-term growth for the Web. To learn more, see About W3C.

W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) brings together individuals and organizations from around the world to develop strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities. To learn more, see the WAI website.

EOWG high-level comments

misc:

here is a template for comment formatting:

...comment {name}

URI

URI ideas:

www.w3.org/WAI/mobile/accessibility =www.w3.org/WAI/mobile/accessibility.html
www.w3.org/WAI/mobile-accessibility/ =www.w3.org/WAI/mobile-accessibility/Overview.html

(note: http://www.w3.org/WAI/mobile/ is already used and we would add a link from that page to this page)