ISOC Accessibility Standing Group

Standing Group/Special Interest Groups (SG/SIGs) are an opportunity for Internet Society members to collaborate on and find solutions for topics of interest that are not necessarily addressed directly by the projects under the Internet Society Action Plan.

Formation

The Internet Society Accessibility Standing Group was formed on November 1 2021, subsequent to ISOC's plan to de-charter existing Special Interest Groups. While the new SIGs are temporary and project-based, both Accessibility and Youth, as Standing Groups, are permanent.

The Accessibility SIG (A11ySIG) will continue, but revert to its origin as an Internet Society New York Chapter (ISOC-NY) project.

• March 31 2022 Formal welcome from Internet Society BoT Chair Ted Hardie (pdf)

Communication

The SG communicates via the Accessibility Standing Group Connect Community

Leaders

An election was held in January 2022, with the results (pdf | xls) , announced on February 14 2022. Terms expire on Dec. 31 2024.

• Chair: Gunela Astbrink
• Vice-Chair: Vashkar Bhattacharjee
• Secretary: Kindy Vereus Montreuil (from March 2022)
• Treasurer: Judith Hellerstein
• Planning and Reporting Officer: (Tie) Zakari Yama and Swaran Sanadhika Ravindra
• ChAC Representative: Shamsuddeen Mohammed Lawal
• AMS Admin: Joly Macfie

On April 12 2022, Klaus Hoeckner was appointed as an an associate member of the leadership team, to act as back up for Shamsuddeen Mohammed Lawal.

• Proxy ChAC Representative: Klaus Hoeckner

Former officers

• Peter Crosbie (Secretary Jan-Mar 2022)

Calls

• Mar 9 2022: Meeting with Andre Copelin and James Wood to discuss ISOC accessibility (Gunela Astbrink, Vashkar Bhattacharjee) (audio, video)
  • ISOC has formed an informal accessibility working group comprising staff from across a number of areas such as policy, engagement and content.
  • This group wishes to collaborate with our Standing Group to develop a framework of accessibility for ISOC.
  • The first step is an accessible content strategy for 2022.
  • James Wood explained that a Content Foundations training program for staff is being developed and one module is on accessibility. He will forward the draft module to us for feedback.
  • Our input:
    • content training needs to include demonstrations by persons with disability in using content
    • need to ensure that content is manually checked for accessibility through contractors
    • need to employ persons with disability at ISOC
    • need to ensure current and new online tools are accessible
    • importance of ongoing collaboration to ensure policy and programs incorporate accessibility

• Mar 14 2022: Call with Kyle Shulman on SG admin matters (Gunela Astbrink, Vashkar Bhattacharjee, Zakari Yama, Swaran Sanadhika Ravindra, Joly MacFie, Judith Hellerstein, Kindy Vereus Montreuil) (odt, pdf, mp3)

• Mar 22 2022: SG Leaders meeting (Gunela Astbrink, Vashkar Bhattacharjee, Zakari Yama, Swaran Sanadhika Ravindra, Joly MacFie, Judith Hellerstein, Zakary Yama) (odt, pdf, mp4, mp3)
  • Draft agenda:

1. Welcome
2. Introduction of each team member
3. SG processes
4. Internet Governance training project
5. Statement of aims
6. Action plan and budget
7. AOB

Activity Plan

For 2022, the Internet Society has allocated a maximum of 30’000 USD per SG/SIG to pursue significant activities that support the mission of the Internet Society through the SG/SIGs work. The Accessibility SG Activity Plan (AP) will be inclusive of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and an activity budget. The activity framework will conceptualize, measure, and evaluate the work the SG/SIG will carry out throughout 2022

• Mar 15 2022 ISOC has supplied a template for the Activity Plan. (docx, pdf)