taking HDP seriously (was Re: HTML Design Principles to WD?)

aloha, anne!

a few observations on your reply to steven faulkner:

quote
Overall, I don't think we should take these principles too strongly and  
just see them as one of the many inputs the HTML 5 specification has. As  
the HDP document says, these are rules of thumb.
unquote

1. why have a principles document if we shouldn't take them too "strongly"
and seriously?  despite your personal feelings, a statement of Design 
Principles is an essential step in getting the HTML5 draft published as a 
working group draft -- without consensus on HDP, we have no guiding 
principles, but are left in the morass of competing philosophies, 
quasi-religious fanaticism, and talking-by and around one another that 
has plagued and retarded the work of the HTML WG so far...

2. if the principles document isn't a high priority for you, anne, why 
not let someone else edit the document?

3. it has been repeatedly pointed out that the term "rules of thumb" 
carries unnecessary baggage, and should not be used in the HDP document

4. if the document fails to be issued as an updated editors draft before
the end of the week, i propose that the issue of the HDP editorship be 
revisited, as the maintainers of that document have not only shown a 
disinclination to listen to and seriously consider feedback from the WG,
but have shown no sense of urgency in updating the document and entering
into a dialog with those who take the HDP document seriously...

this isn't a personal attack on you or maciej, just a clear-eyed 
assessment of the lack of progress and lack of responsiveness concerning 
the HDP document over the course of its existence -- if the current 
editors don't believe that it is an important document, perhaps it is 
time for them to cede editorship of the HDP document to those willing to 
work on it in a truly collaborative fashion

although you have since posted that you changed the HDP draft to reflect 
the conversation on the issue at the 1 november 2007 teleconference, i 
am still troubled by the overall approach to the document as articulated 
in your response to steven faulkner

moreover, i find the mention of accessibility in the draft completely 
pro forma and essentially meaningless -- what happened to the request that
markup explicitly introduced for accessibility, internationalization and
device independence continue to be supported?

gregory.
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not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of 
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                         -- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
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UBATS - United Blind Advocates for Talking Signs: http://ubats.org/
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---------- Original Message -----------
From: "Anne van Kesteren" <annevk@opera.com>
To: "Steven Faulkner" <faulkner.steve@gmail.com>
Cc: "HTML WG" <public-html@w3.org>
Sent: Fri, 02 Nov 2007 11:00:48 +0100
Subject: Re: HTML Design Principles to WD?

> On Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:43:02 +0100, Steven Faulkner  
> <faulkner.steve@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Are you planning to modify the design principles in reference to:
> > http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html/2007Aug/0663.html
> > before it is published as a WD?
> 
> As I'm not completely up to speed I didn't want to make such a 
> big change  to the existing principles. I did remove "when 
> possible" from the  Universal Access principle hoping that would 
> reduce the amount of concern  around it.
> 
> Overall, I don't think we should take these principles too 
> strongly and  just see them as one of the many inputs the HTML 5 
> specification has. As  the HDP document says, these are rules of 
> thumb.
> 
> -- 
> Anne van Kesteren
> <http://annevankesteren.nl/>
> <http://www.opera.com/>
------- End of Original Message -------

Received on Friday, 2 November 2007 17:40:48 UTC