At-Large workspace: Draft Guidelines for Advancing UA Adoption

Public Comment Close	Statement Name (Please click on hyperlink below for authoritative source)	Status	Assigned Working Group	Assignee(s)	Call for Comments Open	Call for Comments Close	Vote Open	Vote Close	Date of Submission	Staff Contact and Email	Statement Number

Public Comment Close

Statement
Name (Please click on hyperlink below for authoritative source)

Status

Assigned Working Group

Assignee(s)

Call for
Comments Open

Call for
Comments
Close

Vote Open

Vote Close

Date of Submission

Staff Contact and Email

Statement Number

Apr 13, 2026

Draft Guidelines for Advancing UA Adoption

RATIFIED

CPWG

David Inem

@edmon.chung

@Hadia Elminiawi

Murray McKercher

@Nkoro Essang Nkoro

Om Prakash Sharma

@raymondselorm.mamattah

@satish.babu

Feb 23, 2026

Apr 13, 2026

Apr 9, 2026

Apr 13, 2026

sarmad.hussain@icann.org

AL-ALAC-ST-0226-03-00-EN

Where Community Input is Needed

The following text is from the public comment page and provides context around what is being commented on.

The Universal Acceptance (UA) Expert Working Group (EWG) has developed guidelines for identifying strategic and practical mechanisms for encouraging UA adoption across a diverse set of stakeholders. The stakeholders include big tech organizations, open-source communities, standards organizations, software development professionals, system administrators, the Domain Name System industry, hosting and Internet service providers, public sector and intergovernmental organizations, and academia. The UA EWG has also suggested developing a framework to measure effort and outcome in the areas of awareness, policy support, implementation and capacity development towards UA adoption.

ICANN asks the community to review the report for input on any gaps in the proposed guidelines, or any challenges in implementing them. ICANN also seeks feedback from the community on how these guidelines should be prioritized for implementation.

The Universal Acceptance (UA) Expert Working Group (EWG) has developed guidelines for identifying strategic and practical mechanisms for encouraging UA adoption across a diverse set of stakeholders. The stakeholders include big tech organizations, open-source communities, standards organizations, software development professionals, system administrators, the Domain Name System industry, hosting and Internet service providers, public sector and intergovernmental organizations, and academia. The UA EWG has also suggested developing a framework to measure effort and outcome in the areas of awareness, policy support, implementation and capacity development towards UA adoption.

ICANN asks the community to review the report for input on any gaps in the proposed guidelines, or any challenges in implementing them. ICANN also seeks feedback from the community on how these guidelines should be prioritized for implementation.

Executive Summary

A short executive summary, if the draft is ratified, will be placed here after the finalized document has been submitted.

FINAL VERSION SUBMITTED (IF RATIFIED)

The final version to be submitted, if the draft is ratified, will be placed here by upon completion of the vote.

FINAL DRAFT VERSION TO BE VOTED UPON BY THE ALAC

The final draft version to be voted upon by the ALAC will be placed here before the vote is to begin.

DRAFT SUBMITTED FOR DISCUSSION

The first draft submitted will be placed here before the call for comments begins.