CG Specifications with traction that do not advance to a WG may weaken or harm the W3C mission

The W3C Process is designed both to increase the chances that a specification benefits from a set of worthy guarantees and to clearly communicate the status of those guarantees to the community. Guarantees of interest to W3C include:

• Mission alignment
• IPR properties
• Quality controls (e.g., wide review)
• Implementation experience
• Due process (see #23)
• Broad stakeholder awareness and involvement

CG specifications may benefit from some of these guarantees, but there is no easy way for the community to recognize which guarantees are attached to which CG specifications. For that reason, we want CG specifications with traction to be transferred to a Working Group.

When a CG specification gains traction but there is a delay (or reluctance) before transferring it to a Working Group, the lack of guarantees and lack of clarity about attached guarantees may weaken or harm the W3C mission. For example, such a CG specification may:

• Create accessibility issues
• Create internationalization issues
• Create privacy or security issues
• Not align with Web architecture
• Not align with the W3C mission

There are multiple parts to this issue:

• Earlier Guarantees: How can we adjust the CG program so that CG specifications with traction benefit from guarantees even before they are transferred to a Working Group, but without raising significantly the cost of their development?
• Improved Guarantees: How can we adjust the CG program to solidify the guarantees associated with CG specifications with traction?
• Communication: How can we more clearly communicate the status of those guarantees? How can we more clearly communicate the difference between a Working Group deliverable and a CG Specification?

Conversely, if there is no path to establishing these guarantees, see #22.

Start by reading the W3C Process discussion in this issue and compare the related issues #23 and #22. A complete outcome would define how guarantees apply to CG specifications with traction, how those guarantees are communicated, and how CG specifications are distinguished from Working Group deliverables.