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EditorialTF

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Editorial Task Force Home

Mission

Ensure the documents published by the W3C eGov Interest Group (eGovIG) can be easily understood by non-technical readers, to bridge the gap between technology and policy.

Purpose

Review and edit documents created by eGovIG members before formal publication, to ensure they are written in Plain Language, organized efficiently, and understandable by the general public. This will increase value to our stakeholders, and promote support for the work of the eGov IG.

Background

See the related Plain Language Use Case

Operating Procedures

  • Coordination: Rachel Flagg will coordinate the work of the ETF with eGovIG chairs.
  • Membership: eGov IG Membership is required to participate in this TF. If you are not a Member yet, please see the separate page on participation.
  • Meetings: As needed, the staff contact can set up conference call for the group. Minutes should be taken at all meetings, so we will need volunteers to scribe whenever we meet. Instructions for scribes
  • Assigning work to team members: Projects will be sent to the ETF group via eGovIG Chairs. Contact information for the authors will be provided. Team members should select projects that interest them, and that they have time to complete before deadline.
  • Timeframes: Deliverables documents should be submitted to ETF at least two weeks before final deadline, to give ETF time to review and (if needed) edit. News items will be submitted to ETF, and if members are available, we will turn these around as quickly as possible.

Expectations

  1. All team members must be familiar with the basic principles of Plain Language writing.
  2. All team members will follow established writing conventions.
  3. Projects will be completed on time.

Training

Review the "related initiatives" documented in the Plain Language Use Case

Specifically, review and become familiar with all elements listed on this Plain Language checklist.

Writing Conventions

When developing anything for publication by the eGovIG, clearly define the purpose of the document before you start writing.

Establish why, who, what, where, when:

  • Why are we writing/publishing this document?
  • Who is the intended audience for this document?
  • What is the most important thing the audience needs to know about this topic?
  • Where is this document going to be used, posted, presented?
  • When is the final document due?

Follow the W3C Style Manual, to ensure consistency in all documents published by our Group.

Become familiar with the W3C Editor's Guidebook to ensure compliance with W3C publication rules.

Current Task

Deliverable1: Year 2 Charter

  • Draft comments due: June 28
  • Assigned to: All

Future Tasks

Deliverable2: White Paper

  • Description: A short (3-4 page) document to present and explain our work to the outside world. Executive Summary could serve as first draft for this. Requested by W3C Communications.
  • Status: Draft coming from Kevin shortly
  • Assigned to:
  • Due:


Deliverable3: Group Note

  • Description: Edit, reorganize Group Note to increase readability


Possible future deliverables: Update “homepage” for w3c group; gather feedback from egov community