Accessible interaction: empowering communities through accessible technologies

Community networking is an international movement founded on the idea that ‘all citizens’ of a local community should have access to low-cost electronic public space in which to communicate and form relevant communities that do not necessarily represent local geographic areas. Such citizens include the aged, people with disabilities, skilled workers and the general public. Technology must exist that permits all members of a community to equally share in the benefits of membership. Therefore, resource developers must face the implications of this diversity of a user base, including the fact that transfer of technical skills and knowledge is an important part of the development of such communities. In particular, this paper reviews the proposed WCAG 2.0 standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) WAI and specific problems with WCAG 1.0 that provide a possible explanation for its low public acceptance. It also explores the ways in which developer concerns have been addressed in the proposed WCAG 2.0 standards and foreshadows the possible impact that these developments will have on the expansion of the international community networking movement.200