W3C

[Revision: 2003-07-31]

A chronological view of the guidelines

"Earlier is better" is a general truism for QA planning and execution. This table presents an example of an ideal chronological correlation, between the individual guidelines and the stages of a WG's life and work. It is also true that later (than ideal timing) is better than nothing. Accordingly, and in recognition of the diverse realities of W3C's many existing working groups, the Operational Guidelines specifically avoided binding the guidelines to any ideal timeline.

The ideal example assumes test materials (TM) development within the WG, starting at early working drafts, proceeding in parallel with specification development, and culminating with TM publication at the start of CR.

[@@Ed note. KD has offered to look at turning this into a diagram.@@]

Correlation of Guidelines with phases in Working Group (WG) life
GL
nbr
Topic Stage(s) of WG life Comments
Applies at: Address at:
1 QA-level commitment whole WG life CH Charter inclusion ideally; else address as soon as possible (ASAP) thereafter.
2 QA resource commitment whole WG life CH Charter ideally, else ASAP thereafter.
3 QA & specifications synchronization WD, CR, PR, Rec ASAP post-CH synchronization is most important when first TM exist
4 QA Process definition all post-CH stages ASAP post-CH QA moderator first; start QA Process Document (QAPD)
5 TM development plans at or soon after TM started:
WD
[, LC, CR, PR, Rec]
early-WD plan early, apply plans throughout
6 TM publication plans at/soon after TM published:
[WD, LC,] CR [, PR, Rec] (ideally before CR)
LC plans needed well before anticipated TM publication (which is ideally at/before CR)
7 TM transfer (external source) [WD, LC,] CR [, PR, Rec] (ideally before CR) WD-LC having some TM available benefits spec development
8 TM maintenance plans at/soon after TM published, continuing post-Rec (even post-WG) CR maintenance requirements start at publication and continue indefinitely

Notes:

[@@Ed note. Perhaps the table should be a graphic such as: horizontal shaded bands representing Charter, 1st WD, 1st PWD, LC, CR, PR, Rec, post-Rec; and each GL would be a vertical column, which would actually be a spanning vertical line, from where it's addressing must happen, to where it applies (maybe w/ a gap). Kind of like a Gantt chart. Thoughts? Volunteers?]