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standardsw3c

W3C document states

Within the standards that W3C create, do they have a set of states they go through before they are a standard and what are those states?

For example HTML 5.1 currently is in Working Draft.

Solution

  • The process is typically linked in the section "Status of This Document".

    For HTML 5.1, it says:

    This document is governed by the 1 August 2014 W3C Process Document.

    This links to the World Wide Web Consortium Process Document from 2014-08-01 (the latest version is always accessible from http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/).

    For technical reports that should become Recommendations, this is the process:

    1. Publication of the First Public Working Draft,
    2. Publication of zero or more revised Public Working Drafts.
    3. Publication of a Candidate Recommendation.
    4. Publication of a Proposed Recommendation.
    5. Publication as a W3C Recommendation.
    6. Possibly, Publication as an Edited Recommendation

    However, it’s also possible to go steps back:

    The Director […] may require the specification to return to a lower maturity level.