HyperText Markup Language (HTML) Charter

This charter is the outcome of the HTML BOF of 26 July 94.

Chair: Tim Berners-Lee <timbl@w3.org>
Area Directors: Erik Huizer <Erik.Huizer@SURFnet.nl> and John C Klensin <KLENSIN@INFOODS.UNU.EDU>

Mailing list information

Discussion of this working group

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Note that general discussion about HTML is normally carried out on the www-html list, which should be used for anything which is not the working of the working group.

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Archive: Online as http://gummo.stanford.edu/html/hypermail/www-html-1994q2.index.html.

Working and Background Material

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Description of working group

The HTML working group is chartered firstly to describe, and secondly to develop, the HyperText Markup Language HTML. The group's work is to be based on existing prctice on the Internet, and will make due reference to the SGML standard.

The group will build upon a working specification originally written by Tim Berners-Lee, much work done by Dan Connolly in editing and testing, the recent editing of Karen Muldrow, and the HTMLPlus specification edited by Dave Raggett. The working group takes over the work of the informal HTML Implementors Group which met at the WWW94 conference in Geneva, the HTML workshop at that conference, and an informal meeting and an IETF BOF in Toronto in July 94.

The HTML standard will provide a format for hypertext files of wide applicability, and particularly as a mandatory common format for all World-Wide Web applications.

The standard will specify the relationships between HTML and other standards and practices such as URIs, HTTP, MIME and SGML.

Focus

The working group will have a strong focus to:

Describe before developing new features
Base spec on existing practice
Express the relationship of HTML to: URI, MIME, SGML, HyTime and HTTP.
Define conformance levels
Define transition possibilities and compatibilities between versions and levels

The working group will work in two stages.

Descriptive specification: The first priority will be to complete the specfication of existing practice on the Internet, defining it in terms which make development of new features as straightforward as possible. This specification will cover HTML up to that which has been called level 2, i.e. including basic features, highlighting, images and forms. During this period discussion of new features should not be carried out on the HTML-WG list.
Development: Once the descriptive specification is submitted to the standards process, the group will work on development of HTML, taking on the work known as HTMLPlus. This work will include formats for tables, figures, and mathematical formulae.

In the absence of other proposals, the working group will terminate having produced the milestones below and the RFCs having achieved standards status.

Milestones

December 94 before IETF: Submission of draft standards track descriptive specification.
December 94 before IETF: Submission of text/html MIME type
End IETF December 94: Outline requirements list for HTML above the features deployed today, with development priority, as Internet Draft.
January to May 1995: Individual IDs for new feature sets for HTML levels 3 and above. These IDs should each cover a specific feature set, and be based on adoption of existing conventions or standards and/or experience with demonstrable working code. Repeated reissue of IDs following refinement by net and meeting discussion.
Before IETF meeting July 1995 (hopeful target): Submission of draft standards track RFC for HTML levels 3 and above.