Square-bracket output of Definition in specs is bogus

The output chosen for definitions in W3C specs is easily the worst 
example
of spec language abuse that I have ever seen.  Definitions are supposed 
to
highlighted to the reader, not placed in obscurity through the addition 
of
[Definition: ...].  Mark-up should never obscure CONTENT.

Under normal English, anything inside square brackets can be removed.
In technical specifications, anything inside parentheses or square 
brackets
is non-normative or indicative of an editorial addition in order to
clarify a quote taken from some other source.  Obviously, neither is
the case for definitions.

I suggest that the W3C ask a literature department (like Harvard or 
Chicago)
what they think such a style document says to a typical reader, and 
perhaps
suggest a more useful signage for definitions that actually calls them 
out
in a normative way that doesn't cause experienced technical writers to 
go
into fits of perplexity.  For example, here is the style for IEEE specs:

   http://standards.ieee.org/guides/style/section4.html#527


Cheers,

Roy T. Fielding                            <http://roy.gbiv.com/>
Chief Scientist, Day Software              <http://www.day.com/>

Received on Monday, 6 December 2004 21:24:36 UTC