CAOS Governance

The Center for Accessibility and Open Source (CAOS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making technology more accessible and open to everyone. This document describes how CAOS governs its policies, decisions, and organizational documents.

Values

CAOS and its leadership embrace the following values:

  • Transparency: Governance decisions and their reasoning are public by default and discoverable for future reference.
  • Accessibility First: Every governance artifact is usable by people with disabilities. Accessibility is a requirement, not an afterthought.
  • Participation: Stakeholders have meaningful opportunities to propose, discuss, and influence policy — not merely observe it.
  • Institutional Memory: Reasoning is documented alongside outcomes so that future leaders can understand how decisions were made.
  • Accountability: Every governance role carries defined responsibilities, authority, and succession process.

Governance Roles

Contributors

Anyone who participates in governance discussions or submits proposals. No formal appointment is required. Contributions are made via GitHub issues and pull requests in the center4aos governance repository.

Editors

Editors maintain the quality of governance documents. They are responsible for:

  • Formatting and consistency
  • Clarity and plain-language review
  • Accessibility compliance

Editors do not determine policy. They ensure documents meet CAOS standards before publication.

Policy Maintainers

Policy Maintainers manage the governance repository and coordinate the policy lifecycle. Responsibilities include:

  • Managing the GitHub repository
  • Coordinating review periods
  • Tracking policy status and version history
  • Publishing approved documents

The current Policy Maintainer is Josh Miele, Board President.

If the Policy Maintainer steps down or is unable to continue, the Board of Directors appoints a successor.

Subject Matter Reviewers

Appointed by the Board as needed. Depending on document type, review may include:

  • Legal review
  • Accessibility review
  • Financial review
  • Technical review

Working Groups

Working Groups develop proposals and conduct stakeholder consultation on specific topics. They are established by Board resolution and report to the Board.

Advisory Board

Members of the Advisory Board are knowledgeable and active stakeholders in one or more areas relevant to the CAOS mission. They often serve in working groups, participate in discussions, and are regularly invited to advise the Board of Directors in their areas of expertise. The Advisory Board is our most engaged group of contributors, and a staging ground for membership on the Board of Directors.

Board

The CAOS Board of Directors is responsible for:

  • Strategic direction
  • Formal approval of major policies
  • Oversight of the governance system

Policy Lifecycle

All policy changes originating from the general CAOS community use the following workflow. Policy changes originating from the Board of Directors may follow a more streamlined trajectory, but will always maintain transparency.

Proposal → Discussion → Revision → Review → Decision → Publication → Reassessment
  1. Proposal — Any contributor may open a GitHub issue or pull request proposing a new policy or change.
  2. Discussion — Open comment period of 14 days. If no clear progress is made within 14 days, the issue is closed and must be re-opened. The re-opening of the issue triggers a new 14-day discussion period.
  3. Revision — The proposer incorporates feedback.
  4. Review — Subject Matter Reviewers and Editors assess the proposal.
  5. Decision — Approved by the appropriate authority (see Voting).
  6. Publication — Policy Maintainer merges and tags a new version.
  7. Reassessment — Policies are reviewed every three years at minimum, or sooner if a material change in law, practice, or organizational circumstances warrants earlier review.

Discussion occurs before approval. Approval occurs before publication. Publication triggers versioning.

Document Structure

Every policy document follows this structure:

  • Title
  • Purpose
  • Scope
  • Policy Statement
  • Responsibilities
  • Procedures
  • Related Documents
  • Revision History (in chronological order)

Versioning

Policies are versioned using a major/minor scheme:

  • Minor revision (x.Y): Clarifications, examples, editorial improvements
  • Major revision (X.0): New obligations, structural changes, material policy changes

All published versions are retained in the repository archive indefinitely.

Decision Records

Every significant governance decision receives a permanent identifier (e.g., DEC-0001) and is documented in the /decisions/ directory. Each record includes:

  • Title
  • Status
  • Date
  • Context
  • Options Considered
  • Decision
  • Expected Impact

This prevents repeated debates and preserves organizational memory.

Meetings

Per the CAOS Bylaws (Section 4.07), the Board of Directors holds a minimum of four (4) regular meetings each calendar year at times and places fixed by the Board. Directors may participate in person, by video, or by telephone conference.

Board meetings require four (4) days notice by mail or email, or forty-eight (48) hours notice if delivered personally or by telephone.

Special meetings may be called by the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, or any two directors, with at least two days notice.

Governance decisions and policy approvals are made at regular or special Board meetings. Meeting minutes are kept by the Secretary per Bylaws Section 6.06.

Closed sessions may be convened to address Code of Conduct violations or sensitive personnel or legal matters. Records of such sessions are retained but may be restricted from public access.

Code of Conduct

CAOS is committed to a harassment-free experience for all community members. All participants in CAOS community spaces are expected to follow the CAOS Code of Conduct, which is adapted from the Contributor Covenant 2.1.

Violations or concerns may be reported to:

  • Email: conduct@caos.org
  • Board President: Josh Miele (jam@caos.org)

All reports will be reviewed and investigated promptly, fairly, and with respect for the privacy of the reporter.

Voting

Most governance business proceeds by consensus among contributors and editors, with Policy Maintainer oversight.

Formal votes are required for:

  • Major policy revisions (X.0)
  • Adoption of new policies
  • Changes to this governance document

Voting is conducted by Board members. Per the CAOS Bylaws (Section 4.08):

  • Quorum is a majority of directors currently in office.
  • Standard votes require a majority of directors present at a meeting where quorum is established.
  • Governance document changes require a two-thirds (⅔) majority of directors present at a meeting where quorum is established (see Modifying This Document).

Actions may also be taken without a meeting by written or email consent of a quorum of Board members, per Bylaws Section 5.03.

Modifying This Document

Changes to this governance document require a two-thirds (⅔) vote of Board members present at a meeting where quorum is established, and follow the standard policy lifecycle above.

Revision History

Version Date Summary
0.1 2026-06-29 Initial draft
0.2 2026-06-29 All governance decisions resolved; bylaws references added

This document is maintained by the CAOS Policy Maintainer. See the full revision history in this file’s git log.