W3C
W3C (the World Wide Web Consortium) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web, which is the information system we access through the Internet.
W3C is responsible for WAI, which is itself responsible for WCAG and ARIA.
Resources:
- W3C website
- W3C article on Wikipedia
WAI
WAI (the Web Accessibility Initiative) is put forth by the W3C, and it’s comprised of strategies, standards, and supporting documents, which help us make the Web more accessible to people with disabilities.
WAI is responsible for both WCAG and ARIA.
Resources:
- WAI website
- WAI article on Wikipedia
WCAG
WCAG (the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is a set of recommendations made by WAI (which is itself part of W3C), in order to make web content more accessible. They define three levels of conformance: A, AA, and AAA (lowest to highest).
They are very important, so we made a dedicated WCAG page!
Resources:
- WCAG overview on the W3C website
- WCAG article on Wikipedia
ARIA
ARIA (the Accessible Rich Internet Applications suite) is a technical specification made by WAI (which is itself part of W3C), in order to make Rich Internet Applications more accessible. Rich Internet Applications include those with dynamic content, client-side rendering, and complex interactive UI components, such as drag-and-drop features. ARIA is also often called WAI-ARIA.
It’s very important, so we made a dedicated ARIA page!
Resources:
- ARIA overview on the W3C website
- ARIA article on Wikipedia