Organization setup and strategies
Every ecosystem begins with what lies beneath. This stage is about setting up the conditions that make the standards development process for success. Decisions made in this stage shape the health of everything that grows from them.
Outreach, recruiting and registering participants
Seeds only take root where they land. In this stage, determinations about who gets invited to the process and how they are involved, ensuring diverse users can enter the standards development process. By embedding equity into policies, engaging diverse disability and community groups, ensuring accessible systems, and providing accommodations and financial support, organizations can remove barriers and broaden participation in standards development.
Preparing for participation
Nothing above ground survives without what’s happening beneath it. This stage is about building conditions for inclusive participation to take hold. Decisions made in this stage will have a lasting impact on every stage that follows. Strong roots don’t just support individuals, they sustain everything that grows from them.
Collectively drafting the standard
A canopy only holds because of what supports it from below. The roots, seeds and conditions built in earlier stages come together in the work of collectively drafting standards through many overlapping processes. This stage has the most moving parts, and the most opportunities to either create or remove barriers. It includes making sure drafting activities are accessible, supporting different ways of contributing, sharing power and decision-making, and creating space for D/deaf and D/disabled participants to meaningfully shape the content of the standard.
Publishing, feedback and maintenance
This stage focuses on collecting feedback from the wider community in inclusive and accessible ways. It includes sharing drafts clearly, offering multiple ways to give feedback, allowing enough time to respond, and making sure D/deaf and D/disabled people can meaningfully influence changes to the standard. This stage focuses on sharing the final standard in accessible ways and keeping it up to date over time. It includes publishing in accessible formats, clearly explaining changes, supporting ongoing feedback, and making sure D/deaf and D/disabled people remain involved in updates and maintenance of the standard.