Governance

Defines content ownership, review criteria, source freshness, deprecation, normative tagging, and versioning for all A11YSmith knowledge content.

Decision Authority

Authority levels for content decisions
Authority Level	Who	Scope
Tier 1 (TAS normative)	Target Accessibility team	Final authority for all TAS pattern and practice conflicts
Tier 2 (implementation)	Product and design-system teams	Can supply implementation detail but cannot override TAS
Tier 3 (external fallback)	A11YSmith maintainers	WCAG fills gaps — does not outrank TAS for Target-facing decisions

When sources disagree: escalate to the designated Digital Accessibility team reviewer. Do not silently pick a side. The designated reviewer is the person on the Target Digital Accessibility team who has been assigned normative review authority for A11YSmith content. If no individual has been designated, escalate to the Digital Accessibility team lead.

Content Ownership

Content types and ownership
Content Type	Owner	Review Cadence
TAS catalog entries	Target Accessibility team	On TAS source update
Knowledge modules	Domain specialist + verifier	Quarterly
Agent templates	Template author + reviewer	On enrichment or TAS update
Crosswalk mappings	A11YSmith maintainers	On catalog or rule changes
Scan config profiles	A11YSmith maintainers	On rule set changes
Hook engine logic	A11YSmith maintainers	On enforcement behavior changes

Review Requirements

Normative Content (Tier 1)

Changes to TAS-sourced normative content require:

First 10 templates: One reviewer with TAS familiarity
After 10 templates: Two reviewers for Tier 1 normative changes
Reviewer must verify the change against the approved TAS source document
Reviewer must confirm sourceTier, normativeStrength, and content tags are correct

Implementation Content (Tiers 2-4)

Changes to implementation guidance, WCAG fallback, and advisory content require:

One reviewer
Reviewer must confirm content tag accuracy
Reviewer must verify the content is not redundant with existing TAS section

Structural Changes

Changes to interfaces, schemas, or contracts require:

One reviewer
Typecheck must pass
All existing tests must pass

Source Freshness

Every knowledge module and TAS catalog entry carries governance metadata:

Governance metadata fields
Field	Purpose	Required
`owner`	Who owns this content	Yes
`lastVerified`	When it was last checked against source	Yes
`sourceDocument`	Which approved source it traces to	Yes
`sourceTitle`	Human-readable source name	Yes
`sourceVersion`	Document version if available	No
`verifiedBy`	Who verified it	Yes
`verificationDate`	When verification happened	Yes

Staleness threshold: Content not verified within 6 months should be flagged for review. Content not verified within 12 months should be flagged as potentially stale.

Normative Tagging

All knowledge content must carry explicit normative strength:

Normative strength levels
Strength	Meaning	Usage
`requirement`	Must be followed; TAS or WCAG normative	TAS patterns, WCAG SC requirements
`recommendation`	Should be followed; best practice	TAS practices, platform guidance
`example`	Illustrative; not normative	Code samples, before/after comparisons

Content tagged as requirement must trace to an approved normative source (Tier 1 or Tier 4).

Deprecation

When content becomes outdated:

Mark the content as deprecated with a date and reason
Add a pointer to the replacement content
Remove deprecated content after one release cycle
Update any knowledge modules, templates, or rules that reference it

Versioning

TAS catalog version tracks the approved source document versions
Knowledge module governance metadata includes sourceVersion when available
Template changes are tracked via git history
Breaking changes to interfaces require a version bump in the package

Content Rejection Criteria

During authoring and review, reject content that:

Is too generic to be actionable
Is redundant with an existing TAS section
Has no credible normative or experience-based source
Is overly tool-specific (tied to one testing tool version)
Is likely to become stale within 6 months
Is not useful to at least one Target audience (developers, consultants, designers)