Dear Web
An open letter to W3C member representatives and Web developers
(inspired by Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax)
You probably don’t know who I am, and that is ok. But I think you should listen to what I have to say. You need to, in fact, because I won’t go away.
I speak for the developer who works in the trenches — building the Web, not stuck on the benches.
Over time, we’ve collectively watched the W3C and, more generally, standards become increasingly dysfunctional. We’ve watched as problematic or half-way solutions that don’t address real use cases arrive — slowly only to fail to get implementation or adoption. We became disillusioned. Some even began calling for throwing things out and starting over — again.
Developers like myself have been pushing W3C standards for as long as there has been a W3C. We espouse the value of open standards to every potential client, manager, co-worker, director, vice president and patent attorney — even occasionally, to random people we meet who really don’t care. We use the products and tools that W3C member orgs make too. We are your best PR. We are the necessary lifeblood that keeps the Web ticking. Without us, there is no Web.
While there are some good organizations that help represent us, we have no formal voice in the W3C. The process for incorporating developer feedback and input has historically proven itself inadequate. Given this, I am writing on behalf of (and to) the vast army of everyday developers asking for help.
One year ago, we ran a slate of different candidates for the W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG): Excellent developers from among our own ranks who offered up a plan and a rough vision to reform. Given TAG’s charter, these members are carry our collective voices across working groups which historically have lacked much direct developer participation. With the help of some member orgs voting on our behalf, these candidates won.
Then, earlier this year, partnered with a diverse group of developers involved with multiple standards bodies, these newly elected members helped to author The Extensible Web Manifesto. Further, they have helped promote these ideals in TAG itself, across working groups and in the developer community. I won’t make the case for the work here — I think it speaks for itself, but if you are unfamiliar, here is a lengthy piece from Smashing Magazine and the manifesto itself contains numerous links. In the very least, I feel safe saying that I’m speaking many signers and social media sharers when I say that we’d like to see more of this progress: More developer involvement/engagement, more layering to explain the magic of high-level APIs, more prioritization, more cooperation and collaboration among groups and across standards bodies.
So here it is in a nutshell….
If you’re a W3C member: I’d like you to ask your AC to stand with us and cast a vote to elect two more of the original co-signers of the Extensible Web Manifesto to the W3C TAG — excellent TAG nominees: Dave Herman (nominated by Mozilla) and Domenic Denicola (nominated by jQuery). We’d love to know that you’re standing with us in #tag2014- it’s good for you too. If, as an AC you don’t normally vote — what are you waiting for? Your vote carries every bit as much weight as those of the giant companies — exercise your powers on behalf of developers. If you have questions about how — Ian Jacobs at W3C is always happy to help. You can always ask for help from @w3ctag on Twitter, too.
If you’re a developer: I’d like to ask you to share your support via social media if you haven’t already (again is ok too) so that member orgs — the ones who get to cast a vote on our behalf, know that we really care and want to #extendthewebforward.
- Dr Seuss, The Lorax
When it’s all said and done, and there is no more-word — we’ll need all your help to #extendthewebforward.
