Last call to apply for the TPAC 2021 Inclusion Fund

To those in the world who are from a group that is under-represented in the web community, who can and want to join us in making Web standards, but would otherwise be unable to without financial help, please apply to become a beneficiary of the TPAC 2021 Inclusion Fund, by August 15. (Note: being designed for people who would like to participate in our standards work or who already do, the form requires applicants to have a W3C account. Request one here.)

We wish to make it easier for underrepresented communities to contribute to our important work: making the Web work, for everyone. The Web standards that we create need to reflect the diversity of the whole world. More background, more use cases, more edge cases, do eventually bring higher quality results, and lead to a more inclusive design and a better Web.

For a few years now, we have developed methods to improve diversity at the World Wide Web Consortium. One such means is to be in a position to welcome more contributors at our annual conference: TPAC ("Technical Plenary / Advisory Committee"). Because during that event, the W3C work groups gather, network, and work to resolve challenging technical or social issues, it is one of the most important rendez-vous for the Web community. We recently released a short video introducing TPAC.

This year's fund is sponsored by W3C, Adobe, Samsung Electronics, Coil, Charles Nevile, Microsoft, TetraLogical, Siteimprove, and an anonymous donor. We recognize and thank donors for this important gesture.

You may be interested in reading on the topic of diversity and inclusion at W3C. Our CEO Jeff Jaffe published a 2021 update last month.