Proposal: Improve README onboarding flow for first-time MDN contributors

Proposal

Hi MDN team 👋,

While going through the README as a first-time contributor, I noticed that although the information is comprehensive, the onboarding flow may feel a bit overwhelming for newcomers.

I’d like to propose a README improvement focused on making it easier for first-time contributors to quickly understand:

• What MDN Web Docs is
• How they can contribute (content vs engineering vs translation)
• What the minimal setup steps are
• Where to go next after setup

Potential improvement ideas (open to discussion):

• Adding a short “Quick Start for New Contributors” section near the top
• Breaking long sections into clearer subsections
• Highlighting beginner-friendly contribution paths with links
• Minor wording tweaks for clarity (no change in meaning or policy)

I’m happy to draft a PR once there’s agreement on scope and direction.
Looking forward to your feedback, and thanks for maintaining MDN!

Browser support

No response

Tasks

Dependencies

Additional information

No response

Are you willing to support this work?

yes

Start by reading the repository README and the proposed onboarding goals in this issue. Review how contributor paths, setup steps, and next steps are currently presented, then agree on the scope before drafting a change; done means an agreed README onboarding improvement with clearer beginner paths and wording.