Re: standard vs guideline

At 6:16 PM -0600 3/5/02, Phill Jenkins wrote:
>Should W3C rename the WAI guidelines as standards?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that since W3C isn't an
official standards-making body, nothing can be legitimately called a
"standard"; it's a reserved word. However, "specification" should be
available for use.

I agree that the term "guideline" is problematic, because it
carries an implication of "suggestion" which is not really what we
are trying to accomplish nor is it in line with the way the
"guidelines" are written.  (If we are truly writing "guidelines"
then WCAG 2.0 would look more like advice and less like
requirements!)

Anyway, I suspect this won't change, even if it really should.

--Kynn

-- 
Kynn Bartlett <kynn@idyllmtn.com>                 http://kynn.com
Chief Technologist, Idyll Mountain            http://idyllmtn.com
Web Accessibility Expert-for-hire          http://kynn.com/resume
Next Book: Teach Yourself CSS in 24       http://cssin24hours.com

Received on Tuesday, 5 March 2002 19:31:19 UTC