The Usage Board has been working and has decided to think more about  
the new element we sought.

In the meantime, we have also had some time to do re-thinking. The  
work has moved on into several other fora including as a proposal for  
an ISO standard. Please see the revised webpage at http:// 
dublincore.org/groups/access/

It seems that 'accessibility' as a term is often a problem for people  
as either it is tricky because it actually discriminates against  
people with disabilities, by single-ing them out for pro-active  
attention or because sometimes people are afraid of getting involved  
in accessibility because those of us who work here all the time are  
so committed, we often don't let people air their views in calm and  
attentive ways.

I am proposing that we form a new working group called 'adaptability'  
that includes 'accessibility' but is also more obviously relevant to  
device independence and mobility. I can imagine telephone companies,  
and others interested in Web mobility, being interested in this  
development.

I have asked a number of people about this and have so far received  
nothing but positive support. I'd like to hear from many more about  
what they think of this change. Please don't feel nervous if you  
disagree.

Some have suggested it is great because now they can talk to other  
types of people within their institutions, as adaptability is not  
only the concern of disability units but includes others from many  
other units. many people have reported frustration with their efforts  
and hope this might provide an opportunity for a fresh start.

It was proposed by me because I attended a mobile Web workshop and  
found that people at that workshop had not really thought about what  
had already been done by the accessibility community. It was what  
they needed but they did not know to look to that community.  
"Adaptability' is not an established term but the term accessibility  
was found, particularly by the usage board, to be a muddling term in  
the metadata context because so many people not involved in  
accessibility think of it as relevant to access to resources, not the  
accessibility of resources to which they have access.

Liddy