World Wide Web Consortium Process Document
14 October 2005
On 1 August 2014, W3C began a transition away from this document; see the current W3C Process Document.
- This version:
- http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/
- Latest operative version:
- http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/
- Previous operative version:
- http://www.w3.org/2004/02/Process-20040205/
- Editor:
- Ian Jacobs, W3C
Please refer to the errata for
this document, which may include some normative corrections.
This document is also available in these non-normative packages: single HTML file, self-contained gzipped tar archive, self-contained zip archive.
There may be translations
of this document.
Copyright ©
1996-2005 W3C® (MIT, ERCIM,
Keio), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark, document use and software licensing
rules apply. Your interactions with this site are in accordance with our
public and Member privacy
statements.
The mission of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is to
lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols
that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability. The W3C Process
Document describes the organizational structure of the W3C and the processes
related to the responsibilities and functions they exercise to enable W3C to
accomplish its mission. This document does not describe the internal workings
of the Team or W3C's public communication mechanisms.
For more information about the W3C mission and the history of W3C, please
refer to About W3C [PUB15].
This is the 14 October 2005 version of the W3C Process Document. This
document has been produced by the W3C Advisory
Board and reviewed by the W3C Members
and Team.
The list of changes to the
public Process Document is available on the Web.
W3C, including all existing chartered groups, follows the most recent
operative Process Document announced to the Membership.
Please send comments about this document to process-issues@w3.org (Member-only
archive).
Additional Member-only information about the Process Document (e.g., issues
lists, Member-only drafts, and changes to Member-only drafts) is available from
the Process Plan page. General
information about W3C is available on the Web,
including information about becoming a W3C
Member.
The terms MUST, MUST NOT, SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, REQUIRED, and MAY when
highlighted (through style sheets, and in uppercase in the source) are used in
accordance with RFC 2119
[RFC2119]. The term NOT REQUIRED (not
defined in RFC 2119) indicates exemption.
Some terms have been capitalized in this document (and in other W3C
materials) to indicate that they are entities with special relevance to the W3C
Process. These terms are defined herein, and readers should be aware that the
ordinary (English) definitions are incomplete for purposes of understanding
this document.
W3C Members' attention is called to the fact that provisions of the Process
Document are binding on Members per the Membership
Agreement [PUB6]. The Patent
Policy W3C Patent
Policy [PUB33] is incorporated by
normative reference as a part of the Process Document, and is thus equally
binding.
The Patent Policy places additional obligations on Members, Team, and other
participants in W3C. The Process Document does not restate those requirements
but includes references to them. The Process Document and Patent Policy have
been designed so that they may evolve independently.
In the Process Document, the term "participant" refers to an individual, not
an organization.