W3C

Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group Teleconference

13 Mar 2008

Agenda

See also: IRC log

Attendees

Present
MartinJ, jo, miguel, Dom, Sean_Owen, abel, Kai, Phil_Archer, Ed_Mitukiewicz, drooks, yeliz, SeanP, Bryan_Sullivan, achuter, DKA
Regrets
AlanT, Shah, Heiko, kemp, Magnus, Nacho, Jeff, Tony, Jason, Robert, Adam, Francois, Chaals, Murari
Chair
Jo
Scribe
srowen

Contents


jo: first is feedback from Seoul

Seoul F2F Briefing

<jo> Seoul Briefing

jo: francois assembled a summary, above, and we got a lot of work done

mostly focused on transformation guidelines

put out a new draft just before the call -- still many editor's notes

made substantial progress of BP2

<dom> Updated editors draft of CT guidelines

jo: anyone have specific questions about seoul briefing?

we also had a successful Wednesday workshop with Korean community, very productive

have not communicated message about mobileOK and DDC

it seems to have been misunderstood

the place to do it may be mobileOK Scheme, which chaals has volunteered to drive

June / October F2F Updates

jo: zaragoza venue is off, due to difficulties coordinating a venue

will move to a different location, but keep the date

Dom's offered to host at Sophia-Antipolis at W3C offices

dom: won't have definite answer before tomorrow

if anyone else has a proposed location, please do

needs to be in Europe this time

jo: anyone on call have comments, offers related to the June F2F?

Kai: as a backup, we could do it in Darmstadt, could probably arrange a few rooms

no visits to the european space agency this time :)

jo: thanks Kai

dom: need to make up our mind on date of meeting

early in the week or late in the week, joint meeting with other groups?

jo: no strong preferences; DDWG will be out of charter by then

<dom> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Member/member-bpwg/2008Mar/0002.html

jo: will return to OMA advertising guidelines later

BP2

<dom> Latest BP2 editors draft

Bryan: latest version is ...
... the March 5 revision, yes

captures revisions from Seoul, and other items I picked up on in the meeting

general editorial cleanup, etc.

need to review changes to external references

expect to have a new draft before the next call

jo: anything to notice here?

<dom> Diff Since Feb 13 version

Bryan: easier to use now. Added text about convergence, multiple views, multiple devices

can anyone define the top-left navigation problem for me?

difference between transport and application compression techniques... something I picked up on...

there are implications to best practice techniques

jo: Kai, the top-left nav problem was your issue from BP1?

Kai: yes, the issue is just that you don't want to be confronted with navigation immediately, but rather content you want

how to get around this? not sure there is an answer. It is a paradigm

jo: why is this different from BP1?

Kai: covered in the sense that we said, put in a nav bar, but not sure that was a sophisticated solution

jo: does that answer your issue Bryan?

first screen needs to be more than just navigation?

Bryan: sites should present a balance of navigation and content -- I get the general idea

is this a problem where we can recommend "how to do it"

we should avoid naming problems without prescribing solutions

<srowen:> +1 to that

Bryan: I can draft "stay away from" suggestions, if that's a good start

Kai: don't we risk running up against a paradigm that is hard to 'break'?

simply hard to get around

until we have content adaptation, not much we can do

jo: first step is for bryan to be able to write a clearer placeholder, then we action someone to write a more complete BP

Bryan: I have enough understanding to write a placeholder

jo: I note contributions from yeliz et al. on AJAX...

<srowen:> years of practice

yeliz: ... and contributions on ARIA (sp?)
... this came up in education/outreach meeting, because now WCAG recommends it

maybe useful to BP2, just soliciting opinions

jo: can we action someone to look through and recommend what is relevant?

yeliz: I can do it

<dom> ACTION: yeliz to review ARIA to see what could be relevant to BP2 [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2008/03/13-bpwg-minutes.html#action01]

<trackbot-ng> Created ACTION-712 - Review ARIA to see what could be relevant to BP2 [on Yeliz Yesilada - due 2008-03-20].

jo: jonathan's contribution is fairly big

who's an AJAX expert that can review?

<srowen:> I am inclined to volunteer Adam

Bryan: haven't had a chance to review this, but have reviewed AJAX resources in general

<dom> ACTION: Owen to review the AJAX contribution or ask Adam to do so [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2008/03/13-bpwg-minutes.html#action02]

<trackbot-ng> Created ACTION-713 - Review the AJAX contribution or ask Adam to do so [on Sean Owen - due 2008-03-20].

srowen: I'll take an action to ask Adam about the AJAX doc, or else review myself

Bryan: would like people to look at current draft, particularly highlighted sections

jo: anything else on BP2?

MMA Advertizing guidelines

jo: next, MMA mobile ad guidelines

dom: MMA has contacted us for feedback on guidelines

Sean and Jo noted some issues/questions

jo: anyone else have feedback?
... sean you were amenable?

srowen: yes no major conflicts, or even modest ones

<dom> Sean's comments on MMA guidelines

jo: just the PNG issue, right

<Kai> I glanced at it and didn't see anything bad, but couldn't go much in depth on it.

<dom> Jo's comments on MMA guidelines

Bryan: looks valuable. the reference to WAP1/2, while historical, is still somewhat necessary

maybe we can find a different way to refer to XHTML-on-a-small-screen

but in principle people know what WAP means

wouldn't propose to remove it

jo: maybe note that WAP2 is "a" term for the web, not a primary term

in the european draft, there were references to BPs and mobileOK

they don't appear in the good practices section

we could ask them to be restored

the reference is still at the end of the doc, but missing from the middle of the document

jo: dom how much more do we need to do on this?

dom: happy to "push the button"

would like someone to draft the response

jo: I will draft it

<dom> ACTION: Jo to draft review of MMA Advertising [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2008/03/13-bpwg-minutes.html#action03]

<trackbot-ng> Created ACTION-714 - Draft review of MMA Advertising [on Jo Rabin - due 2008-03-20].

srowen: I suggested a few new practices for the MMA doc:

The clickthrough should result in at most one redirect before the user

reaches the landing page.

"Crush" PNG and GIF images to reduce size as much as possible.

Make the ads *non* cacheable on the assumption that they are generally

viewed once and rotated, so it would waste cache space.

anyone interested in it?

dom: they may or may not be interested, but sure, can send those over

jo: will weave this in along with a suggestion to reference mobileOK, BP

we should welcome *global* guidelines from the MMA

jo: time for reports from task forces

Content transformation Task force report

jo: Content Transformation TF made lots of progress at the F2F

many sections are awaiting contribution

otherwise document continues to evolve

any questions?

mobileOK basic checker Task Force

srowen: a steady stream of enhancements and fixes

<dom> Dom's analysis on HTML validity

now is the time to review the code, output

jo: how about that DTD issue?

yes, unable to validate some docs according to stated doctype, per mobielOK, like HTML 4

jo: this entails a change to mobileOK if we can't implement it

srowen: could treat it as a known issue

dom: HTML 4 docs will be invalid as HTML 4, or XHTML MP, so it doesn't really change the scope of mobileOK to add/remove test

jo: we do have other doc changes anyway

dom: as an aside, have these changes been integrated into a new draft?

srowen: no

jo: let's raise as an issue to bookmark it

dom: will raise the issue

<inserted> <dom> ISSUE-240 created

srowen: note, we'll always encounter docs that can't be validated -- unknown DTD

so to what extent do we need an exception for HTML 4?

jo: let's discuss in an ISSUE

Kai: we're not dealing with HTML 4 docs in the first place...?

jo: let's discuss in an ISSUE

may wish to liaise with Korea, to communicate that now is the time to review the mobileOK implementation

mobileOK Pro Task Force

jo: time for mobileOK Pro TF

Kai: in waiting mode

<jo> ACTION: jo to point out to Korean members the time frames remaining on checker [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2008/03/13-bpwg-minutes.html#action04]

<trackbot-ng> Created ACTION-715 - Point out to Korean members the time frames remaining on checker [on Jo Rabin - due 2008-03-20].

will need to discuss subjective nature of tests, as we have before

may need to change tests to be more objective, testable

but won't be able to get around this entirely

can't expect a "checker"

because this is specifically the tests that can't be machine "checked"

jo: lots of "trains in the station" right now but yes we need to get on with this

my concern is that accessibility folks have been through this, with changes between WCAG1 and WCAG2

should this be turned over to WCAG to comment on problems of subjectivity?

achuter: WCAG is probably too busy right now

jo: alan, are you happy with the level of subjectivity?

achuter: no, people will take advantage of subjectivity

srowen: WCAG / accessibility is required by law in some cases, not mobileOK Pro

so incentive to engage the standard, but low-ball it, is not as big an issue

jo: true, but may become a contractual requirement in some cases, and that's desirable

Kai: we're interested in making testers come up with the same answer as much as possible

yes, no legal requirement, so this may not be as vital an issue for mobileOK Pro

is it not enough to just say that if a reputable tester certifies mobileOK Pro compliance, isn't that enough?

<Zakim> dom, you wanted to say that if mobileOK Pro is going to be useful, it needs to be credible and consistent

dom: two independent testers with mobileOK Pro doc and a website need to come up with the same answer, otherwise mobileOK Pro means little

W3C Advisory Board warned about subjectivity problem from the outset

we need to have a good story on this point

PhilA: this is where POWDER helps

<dom> Advisory Board comments on subjectivity

what this overlooks is that an individual (content provider, etc.) claims conformance

the question reduces to whether you trust the tester's judgment

I think it's OK that two people may come up with different answers

POWDER helps you sort out which answer you believe

<Zakim> dom, you wanted to say that mobileOK Pro will then heavily reduce the value of the mobileOK brand

jo: I follow the logic, but your average Joe doesn't know the difference between reputable and bad testers, does this not punt the problem?

dom: contracts might specify "tester X says you are mobileOK Pro"

this might restrict the usability of mobileOK Pro

and reduces value, brand

we have a pretty good story on mobileOK Basic, pretty clear idea

means passing the checker

afraid this extra complexity in mobileOK Pro may harm the brand

<Zakim> Kai, you wanted to ask how the brand would be devalued if somebody claims mobileOK Pro, but may, in some testers view, fail on a point or two? Is that then less or more valuable

Kai: understand the point about devaluing the brand, but this isn't black-and-white

someone's gone to the trouble of submitting content to testing,

two tester may disagree, usually on a small point

<Zakim> PhilA, you wanted to draw an analogy

PhilA: don't think Dom and I will agree on this

some subjective assessments have value -- Academy Awards, etc.

<dom> (subjectivity through a central authority is ok, indeed)

guidelines and examples can lead people to roughly the same conclusion, even if it's not deterministic

dom: yes, if a central authority exists, this is not a problem

but Dom's Academy Awards, for example, wouldn't be of much use

if we have multiple assessments from multiple authorities, it confuses the mark

jo: let's take this to the list

Kai: if we decide this must be a very steadfast result, what effect does that have on BPs?

then that implies they have no value

we can say all we want about what it takes to be mobileOK Pro, but you're saying that if it's untestable, it's useless

then why are we writing the BPs?

dom: didn't mean "worthless", but referring to problems with the brand

Kai: need to look at potential effects on BPs as a whole

PhilA: if we don't define mobileOK Pro, somebody else will, so should be the W3C

<dom> (I think I could buy the idea of having a set of "BP reference tests", if we don't call it mobileOK Pro)

<jo> ACTION: Archer to summarise discussion on Pro subjectivity and to get ball rolling for a PROPOSED RESOLUTION on the subject [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2008/03/13-bpwg-minutes.html#action05]

<trackbot-ng> Created ACTION-716 - Summarise discussion on Pro subjectivity and to get ball rolling for a PROPOSED RESOLUTION on the subject [on Phil Archer - due 2008-03-20].

<PhilA> OK

jo: latest draft of accessibilitiy document is next

Accessibility document

<dom> Updated editors draft of BP-WCAG doc

achuter: last week, new draft was published

<dom> Changelog

an incremental update

no major changes to point out or discuss -- work is progressing

jo: yeliz made some contributions

yeliz: version 1 document is almost complete and sent to Alan last week, for incorporation

already incorporated

jo: any other comments on these drafts?
... we have only reviewed one doc so far, in short

any other business to discuss?

mobileOK basic stats, mobileOK basic test suite

dom: we collected some stats on mobileOK checker

<dom> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-bpwg/2008Mar/0009.html

shows why pages fail

that is worth having a look at

<dom> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-bpwg/2008Mar/0003.html

also, mobileOK Basic checker test suite, which shows which test cases are currently passing and why

it is evidence that the checker is implementing mobileOK Basic

jo: Those statistics were pretty interesting

wondering what level of conclusion we can draw from it

dom: surprised in number of valid pages with XHTML Basic DTD

in XHTML 1.0 you can use lang attribute, but need to use xml:lang in XHTML Basic

source of many failures

maybe DTD validation isn't the best way to ensure quality markup

maybe an issue for mobileOK Basic 2.0

jo: maybe water under the bridge -- difficult to "undo" that decision

will this be an obstacle to adoption, if people are failing for trivial reasons?

dom: 4-5% of sites are mobileOK Basic

some more fail with only one error

jo: some selection bias -- people using the checker are already interested in conformance

<srowen:> will point out that mobileOK Basic is, in retrospect, definitely in no sense "too easy"

jo: not sure quite how to address this

dom can you give periodic updates on these statistics?

dom: can't promise, but can probably get them again at some point

jo: will probably need to proceed with 1.0 as is

Kai: I do keep getting feedback on things that can't be fulfilled because of marketing, etc. requirements

yes, DTD validation is not sufficient

<srowen:> think the question is whether it is necessary, not sufficient

Kai: the tables issue keeps coming up

hard to not use tables

<Kai> Validation is a good thing, just not a statement that you are looking at good markup

srowen: the issue on DTDs is whether the XHTML Basic spec is specifying too much trivial stuff -- clearly it is useful to require validitiy

<jo> [thanks Sean for scribing]

Summary of Action Items

[NEW] ACTION: Archer to summarise discussion on Pro subjectivity and to get ball rolling for a PROPOSED RESOLUTION on the subject [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2008/03/13-bpwg-minutes.html#action05]
[NEW] ACTION: Jo to draft review of MMA Advertising [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2008/03/13-bpwg-minutes.html#action03]
[NEW] ACTION: jo to point out to Korean members the time frames remaining on checker [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2008/03/13-bpwg-minutes.html#action04]
[NEW] ACTION: Owen to review the AJAX contribution or ask Adam to do so [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2008/03/13-bpwg-minutes.html#action02]
[NEW] ACTION: yeliz to review ARIA to see what could be relevant to BP2 [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2008/03/13-bpwg-minutes.html#action01]
 
[End of minutes]

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