Application for membership of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers
Membership is open to all organisations involved in the creation and development of content and design for the web - both for profit, and not for profit organisations.
[ membership benefits | membership cost ]
Membership is not automatic; all membership applications are assessed by a current Guild administrator.
At least one of the following criteria is required for membership.
Have you (or the organisation you represent):
- demonstrated good practice on an existing site.
- written articles, research papers, or accessible web design tutorials.
- participated in, and contributed to, the accessible web design community.
- demonstrated in some other way a commitment to accessible web design, e.g., have an action plan for developing a more accessible site.
Please note: markup validity and accessibility of example sites you provide will be checked by a Guild member. If it is not clear that you have paid serious attention to these areas, please do not apply for membership (unless your accessibility expertise is in another area, e.g. campaigning).
The website you provide as a reference will be expected to meet the criteria for World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) AA and validate against your chosen DOCTYPE.
You must also be in general agreement with the following statements:
- You have a commitment to the principles and practice of accessible web design.
- You agree that accessible web design is relevant, obtainable, and not at odds with successful business practice or good visual and usable design.
- You have a commitment to learning, sharing, and assisting fellow members put accessible web design techniques into practice.
- You agree that accessible web design is both accessibility to machines (made possible by using standards),and accessibility to people (made possible by adopting flexible design principles).
- You are prepared to promote the use of web standards, and commit to using them yourself.
- You agree to follow WAI recommendations where appropriate.
