On 1 August 2014, W3C began a transition away from this document; see the current W3C Process Document.
W3C Process Document
The W3C Process Document describes the organizational structure of the W3C
and the processes related to the responsibilities and functions they exercise
to enable W3C to accomplish its mission. Much W3C work involves the
standardization of Web technology. Working
Groups carry out this work by building consensus around technical reports
that become W3C Recommendations. This document
describes processes for creating Recommendations, coordinating groups within
W3C, and coordinating W3C work with that of other organizations.
The Process Document formalizes the most important aspects of how W3C works
to achieve such goals as: quality results, consensus about the results,
responses to comments, fairness, and progress. Here is a general overview of
what goes into developing a W3C Recommendation.
- People generate interest in a particular topic (e.g., Web services). For
instance, Members express interest in the form of Member Submissions, and the Team monitors work inside and outside of W3C
for signs of interest. Also, W3C is likely to organize a workshop to bring people together to discuss
topics that interest the W3C community. This was the case, for example, with
Web services.
- When there is enough interest in a topic (e.g., after a successful workshop
and/or discussion on an Advisory
Committee mailing list), the Director announces the development of a proposal for a new
Activity or Working Group
charter, depending on the breadth of the topic of interest. An Activity Proposal describes the
scope, duration, and other characteristics of the intended work, and includes
the charters of one or more Working Groups,
Interest Groups, and possibly Coordination Groups to carry out the work.
W3C Members review each Activity
Proposal and the associated Working Group charters. When there is support
within W3C for investing resources in the topic of interest, the Director
approves the new Activity and groups get down to work. For the Web Services
Activity, the initial Activity Proposal called for one Working Group to work on
Web Services Architecture and one to work on a language for Web Services
Description. The Activity Proposal also incorporated an existing Working Group
(from another Activity) working on XML Protocols.
- There are four types of Working Group participants: the Chair, Member representatives, invited experts, and Team representatives. Team representatives
both contribute to the technical work and help ensure the group's proper
integration with the rest of W3C. The Working
Group charter sets expectations about each group's deliverables (e.g., technical reports, test suites, and tutorials).
- Working Groups generally create specifications and guidelines that undergo
cycles of revision and review as they advance to
W3C Recommendation status. The W3C process for producing these technical
reports includes significant review by the Members and public, and requirements
that the Working Group be able to show implementation and interoperability
experience. At the end of the process, the Advisory Committee reviews the
mature technical report, and if there is support, W3C publishes it as a Recommendation.
The Process Document promotes the goals of quality and fairness in technical
decisions by encouraging consensus,
requiring reviews (by both Members and public) as part of the Recommendation Track, and through an appeal process for the Advisory
Committee.
The other sections of the Process Document:
- set forth policies for participation
in W3C groups,
- establish two permanent groups within W3C: the Technical Architecture Group (TAG), to help
resolve Consortium-wide technical issues; and the Advisory Board (AB), to help resolve
Consortium-wide non-technical issues, and to manage the evolution of the W3C process, and
- describe other interactions between the Members (as represented by the W3C Advisory Committee), the Team, and the
general public.