Re: [restyle] All-out Spec Template Redesign Collaboration

For the purpose of archiving the “useful links” and other notes, copying some
notes I sent along here. If there's anything important that I missed, let me
know and I'll forward the info along. :)

~fantasai

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Overview of project and requirements on the W3C wiki:
   https://www.w3.org/wiki/SpecProd/Restyle
   This includes links to content requirements, design requirements, etc.
   (If you want an account to edit this page, ask plh; I am sure he can set one up.)

Decisions:
   W3C operates by consensus: it's all of our goal to get to a better place, and
   we work on things and discuss them until we all agree on the right way forward.
   So the project decisions are not up to me and plh--we defer to the rest of the
   community, move things forward when we're all agreed, and mediate when there's
   a conflict.

Overview of one Working Group's process:
   http://fantasai.inkedblade.net/weblog/2011/inside-csswg/

Specification Examples:
   Short spec: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-namespaces/
   Long spec: https://html.spec.whatwg.org/ (different org, same concept)
   Multipage spec: http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG2/
   Average specs: http://www.w3.org/TR/css-grid-1/ http://dom.spec.whatwg.org/

Information about accessibility:
   https://webaim.org/articles/

Information about design & CSS coding:
   http://jensimmons.com/presentation/designing-grid (I'd recommend watching this video :)
   http://fantasai.inkedblade.net/style/talks/best-practices/ (for when you write code)

Information on the backend:
   * It's all static HTML files, see markup conventions in
       https://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/2016/readme.html
   * CSS is static, goes here:
       https://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/2016/
   * Spec authors use preprocessors to generate the HTML before posting, e.g.
       https://tabatkins.github.io/bikeshed/ or
       https://github.com/w3c/respec/
     You do not need to worry about these tools for the design; they will generate
     whatever we decide is the correct HTML.

Communication:
   * spec editors' mailing list at https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/spec-prod/
   * blog or other website, wherever you set it up; or you can ask us to set it up;
     we will announce the URL through various channels, and announce anything else
     you need us to

W3C works in public, on the Internet: all of our files are public, and we post
snapshots of our progress (on whatever it is we're working on) for people to
comment on. They provide us with useful ideas and critiques, which we incorporate
into the next phase of the work. You should also do this: post updates explaining
what you're working on, including your notes, wireframes, requirements docs,
whatever you create or collect for your own reference; and ask for feedback.
It's a radically open, collaborative process, with the experts (that's you! ;)
responsible for synthesizing information, and providing expert guidance and
direction; and the community responsible for reviews, pointing out errors,
providing missing background information, and suggesting improvements.

I expect it'll be a somewhat unfamiliar and initially uncomfortable mode of
working for you, but I also expect you'll learn a lot if you engage with it...

~fantasai

Received on Tuesday, 30 January 2018 07:07:12 UTC