- From: Tim Boland <frederick.boland@nist.gov>
- Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 10:00:32 -0400
- To: www-qa-wg@w3.org
In the proposed answer to the question "What is a Web technology?", "technology" is defined in terms of "technological" (seems somewhat circular to me?). I think we need a definition of "technology" (or "technological"). Following are some definitions I've found: Definition 1 - A definition from the WCAG2.0 Glossary [1] "a markup or programming language, application programming interface (API), or communication protocol". Definition 2 - A definition from dictionary.com [2] "the application of science, especially to industrial or commercial objectives", or "the scientific method and material used to achieve a commercial or industrial objective" Definition 3 - Another definition from dictionary.com [2] "the practical application of science to commerce or industry", or [2] the "discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems" Definition 4 - From [3] "the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area" Would any of these suit our purposes re: answer to question "What is a Web technology?" Also, what is "objectively" meant by "coherent" in the proposed answer to the question "What is a Web technology?" Finally, in answer to the question "Why does a WG choose to define a Web technology by having multiple specifications?" , in the case of CSS, some communities of interest approached the CSSWG about specific needs for their platforms (for example, cell phone, PDA, television, printer, speech synthesizer, etc). Results of these approaches may be various CSS profiles. More information on the various CSS levels and profiles (and their respective "applicabilities") may be found under the "CSS Specifications" part of [4]. Thanks and best wishes Tim Boland NIST [1]: http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20/#glossary [2]: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=technology [3]: http://63.240.197.92/cgi-bin/mwdictaj?technology [4]: http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/
Received on Tuesday, 21 June 2005 14:01:21 UTC