Re: WAI IG Netiquette

This message addresses several recent questions on WAI Interest Group
Netiquette. Netiquette for this list is available on the WAI Interest Group
home page, under "how to use this list" or
<http://www.w3.org/WAI/IG/Overview.html#Uselist>. 

We periodically update this section to capture additional guidance which
seems needed. To minimize list traffic discussion on list netiquette, if
you have comments on this message, please comment to me at jbrewer@w3.org.

There is no ban on forwarded or lengthy postings, however, please bear in
mind two things:
- for news articles, it is better to send URL's when available, due to
copyright considerations;
- the heavier & wordier the traffic on this list, the fewer people stay on
the list.

A recent question on list usage regarded whether to strip out all parts of
a preceding message that one was not directly responding to. Previous
discussions have shown that carrying forward at least a little context from
previous parts of the thread helps some people to understand a message.
This isn't a rule, but is what some people say they prefer.

A reminder also not to cross-post to this list when sending messages to a
group of addresses. It can result in unexpected replies back to the whole
list from non-list members if they use a group reply.

Finally, since the topic of list archives is mentioned below, a reminder
that this list is available both as an archive
<http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ig> and also as a digest
<http://www.w3.org/WAI/IG/Overview.html#Uselist>.

- Judy

At 06:43 PM 11/9/99 -0500, Bruce Bailey wrote:
>Cynthia's reputation is such that I don't think she will be hurt if I use 
>her as an example.
>
>What is this groups "rules" for longish re-posts of email?
>
>Personally, I would much rather get a one or two sentence description with 
>a URL.
>
>I am very skeptical of email that does not come from the original source. 
> There is no "face validity" to this kind of forwarded message.  Aside from 
>the fact that Cynthia is well established here, how does the rest of the 
>list (or someone new to the list, or someone not on the list that I would 
>like to share this information with) not know that Cynthia has been duped 
>by someone calling himself "Lainey Feingold".  Without a reply from Mr. 
>Feingold (who might be quite busy -- and does not know me from Adam) what 
>could I do to confirm this story or look into more deeply?
>
>Feel free to flame me (off the list please) if I am full of it, but I 
>respectfully request that everybody here try to include a URL with ALL 
>longish messages -- even if that means fewer posts!
>
>Granted, I understand that many press releases DON'T have URLs, and many 
>LISTSERVs are NOT publicly archived, but fortunately, those are the 
>exception.  The real problem is people who send YOU good -- but 
>non-referenced -- stuff that you feel obligated to share.  Fight this bad 
>habit as close to the source as you can!  Get THEM to send you the source 
>BEFORE passing the info on to someone else.  Remember -- this IS how email 
>hoaxes and chain letters get their start!
>
>With the example below, the Trace uaccess-l is archived at URL:
>http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/uaccess-l/listproc/ but *I* can't get in further 
>since I am not subscribed.
>
>But in less than five minutes with AltaVista I found this:
>http://www.ilusa.com/News/63099talking_atm.htm
>
>Not to sound like a REAL jerk, but is five minutes of Cynthia's time (or 
>whoever would post long -- non-original -- stuff like this) really THAT 
>much more valuable than (5 min * X number of people who are interested) of 
>everyone else's time?  (I realize that five minutes of Cynthia time *is* 
>MUCH more valuable than five minutes of my time, but that is not really my 
>point!)
>
>Thank you!
>
>-- Bruce Bailey

_________________________________________________________________________
Judy Brewer    jbrewer@w3.org    +1.617.258.9741    http://www.w3.org/WAI
Director,Web Accessibility Initiative(WAI), World Wide Web Consortium(W3C)

WAI Interest Group home page: http://www.w3.org/WAI/IG
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Received on Wednesday, 10 November 1999 12:08:41 UTC