- From: Aryeh Gregor <Simetrical+w3c@gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:10:09 -0400
- To: Philip Jägenstedt <philipj@opera.com>
- Cc: public-html@w3.org
On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 10:03 AM, Philip Jägenstedt <philipj@opera.com> wrote: > Since the two groups involved here (browser implementors and > accessibility experts) have obvious issues communicating with each other, it > would be helpful if we were all involved in the discussions as they happen, > rather than communicating via requirements lists. I agree with this general point. It seems like right now, task forces are formed, discuss things amongst themselves at length, and only at the very end present their findings to implementers and spec editors. The latter are then forced to either accept the findings on the basis of authority, or demand detailed explanation of the rationale for every finding before they accept it. The latter is usually what happens in practice except for very minor or obvious changes, and in that case, it would make much more sense if the implementers/spec editors were involved in the discussions from the beginning. Or alternatively, that task force findings be written in a persuasive rather than authoritative manner, and present the evidence and reasoning for their decisions in a form that will convince people who aren't domain experts. In the end, the implementers are the ones who have to make the judgment on what features they'll implement. When a proposed accessibility, internationalization, or other feature requires a tradeoff of some kind, it's impossible for them to make that tradeoff intelligently unless they're given the full background on why the feature is needed, as Henri says. We aren't going to get anywhere if we have the stone wall of a task force separating experts on some particular matter from everyone else, with only limited communication over the wall. It would be to everyone's benefit if all concerned parties were involved from the start. Hopefully that way implementers will learn more about accessibility, accessibility experts will learn more about implementation, and more workable proposals can be crafted from the get-go.
Received on Thursday, 28 October 2010 19:11:02 UTC