RE: Hippocratic Oath for Webmasters

> Martin Poulter

> I don't get the point in your other email that the labelling is 
> "elitist".

That "elitist" referred to the name, not the content. To clarify: I'd shy
away from giving it a grandiose sounding title (a la "The 10 super
special rules of the Art & Design of the Web") as it sets up
expectations (where really you're "just" listing common sense advice)
And may make it look, IMHO of course, like it's just a bunch of elitist
web people patting each other on the back for being part of this special
club.

I'm exagerating, of course...don't take me too seriously.

Looking at the points again, I'd throw in another suggestion for
naming: "10 common sense guidelines for a more usable web site".
Then, on individual sites, web authors could have a link along the
lines of: We fully support the "common sense guidelines" (i.e. the 
commitment, the pledge, is not implicit in the name, but in the way
the individual web sites link back to it).

> Good point. "Never" is too strong. Can you suggest an 
> alternative form 
> of words that isn't off-puttingly legalistic?

Even in this case I'd say "we'll strive"...although it sounds
non committal, it's probably more reflective of what is within
a web manager/editor's power.

> No particular attachment to 10. I think lists of ten have a cultural 
> grabbiness that 9 or 11 wouldn't have. 10 is just how many we came up 
> with in the initial meeting.

Sorry, was being purposely controversial. I think the point was: if
you only have 9 good ones, don't feel like you have to make it a round
10. Or, if you think you have 11 good ones, go for that.

Received on Wednesday, 23 November 2005 11:23:16 UTC