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Monday 13 August 2007

Dear WHAT WG and HTML 5 WG

Henri Sivonen asks the following lucid question amongst the chaotic discussion on this site recently:

On #whatwg various people (including me) commented that they don’t understand your point. Could you please clarify what problem you see with HTML 5 and what would need to be done to address your concern? Right now, this post seems to add to the discord.

Here are some direct suggestions. Please do bear in mind my prior post was not about WHAT WG, nor was it intended to upset people so. Clearly, I landed on a raw nerve. But here are some very simple suggestions to begin with:

  1. UNIFY the HTML 5 lists and all IRC activities
  2. DETERMINE the true key players in HTML5 WG with a fair balance of representation from spec authors, implementors and real-world developers as well as theoreticians and visionaries
  3. DO NOT alter the integrity of what is already in use and in existence
  4. PLACE new features in another release, perhaps a point release
  5. RELEASE only those features that repair widely agreed upon problems
  6. CONTINUE the innovative work, either within the W3C or without it but NOT on a dual path
  7. LEARN to work with existing communities, as they must LEARN to work with you (for example, finding common ground with accessibility groups)

Finding the pathway to these issues is something I had hoped that WaSP, for example, would be involved in more helpfully. That’s part of my frustration. That I aside, I hope this provides a little more clarity to what apparently came across as vague concerns.

Filed under:   general
Posted by:   Molly | 11:20 | Comments (52)

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