Ideas

Some ideas on which we can work

"Web technologies have always lagged behind practice, and politics have had as much to play in their development as science. Sometimes it's impossible to effect the change that we'd like to bring about. But I think we should at least be documenting as we go, providing good data and good arguments to people who might be interested. Perhaps we can start by identifying some areas in which a colloquial viewpoint will be most illuminating."

There is a huge mismatch between the tools everyday users have available and the data formats asked for by the web. I have Word. The web wants XML or XHTML or HTML5.

The common toolset

• Microsoft Word
• ODF Writer
• Microsoft Write
• Microsoft Notepad

The issues

• Knowing the target, in terms of format
• Understanding text encodings
• Awareness of ASCII shortcomings
• I18N, and its importance

Bridges needed

What can we offer? First hand experience of the new to the web user? Tools that help? Tools that hinder?

The cost of getting on line? What should we expect?