Stages and Processes
Organization setup and strategies
Outreach, recruiting and registering participants
Preparing for participation
Collectively drafting the standard
Publishing, feedback and maintenance
Barriers
- Closed-door technical committees
- Communication styles default to Western norms
- Consultation fatigue in D/deaf and D/disabled communities
- Default meeting language is English
- Difficulty receiving and communicating information
- Dominant “expert” culture
- Inaccessible digital collaboration tools
- Inaccessible digital documents
- Inaccessible feedback mechanisms
- Inaccessible hybrid meetings
- Inaccessible in-person meetings
- Inaccessible online meetings
- Inaccessible registration systems
- Lack of clear and accessible onboarding process
- Lack of financial support or payment
- Lack of organizational support
- Lack of public awareness of the standards feedback process
- Lack of recruitment for diversity
- Lack of training and support for chairpersons and facilitators
- Lack of training and support for committee members
- Lack of transparency in how feedback is processed
- Limited meeting times and time zone exclusion
- No clear or inclusive process for retiring standards
- No clear way to report problems or get help
- No funding for accessibility accommodations
- No support when a standard is removed
- No way to track the real-world impact of a standard
- People don’t start at the same place
- Publishing standards does not guarantee awareness or access
- Too much background information for new members
- Travel barriers for D/deaf and D/disabled people
- Unclear participation information
- Underestimated workloads
Actions
- Agree together how the committee will work
- Allocate a dedicated accessibility budget
- Allow anonymous feedback opportunities
- Be fair and transparent when making decisions
- Be flexible with meeting time and timelines
- Be transparent in the application process
- Build in travel funding
- Check and improve accessibility
- Choose accessible meeting spaces
- Co-develop criteria for withdrawal
- Create a shared support system
- Create an opportunity for public feedback before withdrawal
- Empower chairpersons and facilitators to manage conflict
- Ensure all documents are accessible
- Ensure websites are accessible
- Establish continuous feedback loops
- Help with information management
- Help with travel planning
- Host onboarding meetings before committee work begins
- Make communications multi-modal and consistent
- Make online meetings accessible
- Make published standards free and easy to access
- Manage access conflicts
- Measure the developed standard's impact with affected communities
- Offer opportunities to request revisions rather than removal
- Open up committee meetings and allow outside participation
- Organizational and operational commitment
- Plan for regular check-ins with new members
- Plan meetings so people worldwide can join
- Plan what to do if goals aren’t met
- Promote standards in the communities they affect
- Provide a welcome package for new members
- Provide chairpersons with practical support and tools for accessibility
- Provide diverse, accessible knowledge-building opportunities
- Provide guidance and ongoing support to new members
- Provide monetary compensation and financial support
- Provide more than one way to give feedback
- Provide ongoing accessibility and inclusion training
- Provide transition guidance when withdrawing a standard
- Provide translation and interpretation for everyone
- Recruit across disability and intersectional identity
- Set clear and realistic timelines for reviews, drafts, or revisions
- Set meeting language captions correctly
- Show accountability and build trust with D/deaf and D/disabled people
- Use accessible hybrid meeting practices
- Use clear, accessible, and open language in withdrawal notices
- Use inclusive approaches when making decisions