WAI Working Group Pages
Goals
- Make it easier to keep info up-to-date (and not dependent on one W3C staff person)
- Better support users tasks
Context
Scope and terminology: This applies to WAI Working Group (WG) pages and Task Force (TF) pages. On this page those are called "WAI group home pages" and "sub-pages". And "WG" is used as shorthand for both WG and TF.
Background and current situation:
- W3C now provides Groups pages that pull from a database. (note that in addition to the tabs at the top, there are participation buttons and info at the bottom of the first tab page) On this page, those are called "new W3C group pages".
- With the 2017 WAI site design, we defined the primary audience for the WG pages as WG participants.
- Now some groups use wiki and GitHub more. An advantage is Chairs, Facilitators, and others can update info more easily. Whereas, updating a WAI site page requires W3C Team.
- Some WAI site group pages are not being used at all by active WG participants. E.g., all EOWG participant info is in wiki.
Straw Proposal
- For most information for active participants (e.g., telecon logistics, current work assignments): use wiki (or GitHub)
- For people wanting W3C-level info: use the W3C Groups page
- Leave existing WAI group pages as skeletons pointing to info elsewhere
Questions
1. Is there anything that ought to be in a WAI page? Or can all of it be moved to wiki or GitHub?
- Decision Policies — We previously mentioned Decision Policies as something not to have in an easily-edit-able wiki. Would GitHub work for Decision Policies?
2. What do we want on the skeleton home pages?
- Option A: redirect them to the W3C groups page?rough draft example of content (ignore side navigation)
3. In the wiki, how about having left nav links in wiki to agreed-upon stuff, e.g., teleconferences. (example of wiki left nav links)
W3C Group Page Revisions
4. What things might we want to ask of the W3C group pages?
- Prominent link to wherever the group stores their current info that is updated by the group leadership {added by JSp)
- News and Announcements - if editable by group leaders, otherwise it needs to link to where the leaders post news (added by JSp)
- Tools - @@
- Editor's Drafts , nonTR docs, ... @@
- Participation information customization
- team-edited free-form tab
Analysis
Purpose
[This has changed and needs to be agreed on. See Audience below.]
Propose: This is a landing page from search with fixed information that directs people to the fixed information they need or to the page with current information for the group or topic.
Users/Audiences
Primary audience:
- [OPEN] active Working Group participants — is this still true? Or now do we use wikis? (for EOWG, it's wiki -- they rarely if ever go to the EOWG home page on the WAI website)
- @@ People interested in a topic that stumble across it from search
- @@ WG members who are new or have never bookmarked the wiki and search for the group
Secondary audience:
- people wanting to know about the Working Group generally, such as:
- W3C staff
- W3C advisory committee members
- people interested in joining the Working Group
- people looking for group news, timelines, or ways to contact leadership for other purposes
Not an intended audience:
- People who are looking for deliverables/resources (guidelines, techniques, notes, and supporting material) are not an audience of the Working Group home pages. We have fairly successfully designed the WAI website so they find those other ways.
- @@ We still need to give a way for the people who accidentally land on a group page looking for deliverables to get to what they need.
User Tasks
- New participant needs conference call information
- Person wants to join
- Journalist wants an update on document status
- Member needs to give an update for a report
- Member of another group wants to coordinate with the group or get the status on an issue
- WG members don't have a bookmark for the main group site with current information and are looking for it
- WG leadership want to find the charter or list of participants
- ...
Other Info
Archived Info
Options
For all of these options, the wiki (or GitHub) would be the place for WG and TF participants to get info on teleconferences, current work, etc.
Please add your input below, including pros, cons, considerations.
Option A: Replace old WAI group home pages with new W3C group pages, wiki, other
Put information for participants in the wiki or GitHub.
Don't have separate WAI group home pages, redirect the old ones to the W3C group page.
- Pro: It gives one place to look for all groups
- Con: It has a lot of information that is WG-specific that makes it hard for a non-W3C insider to find what they want.
- Con: Hard for a newbie to find the link to the conference call or homework [wouldn't newbies use the wiki page and not this page?]
- Con: Not editable outside the database
- Con: Inconsistent UI for some scenarios, e.g., someone comes to the WAI website, is interested in some of the work and wants to participate, gets to the WG page -- are they then lost in W3C space or can they find their way back to WAI?
Option B: Keep old pages as pointers to info elsewhere
Put information for participants in the wiki or GitHub.
Minimize info on the old home pages. Rough draft example of content (ignore side navigation): https://deploy-preview-79--wai-about-wai.netlify.app/about/groups/eowg/
- Pro: Useful one-stop reference. Needs a prominent link to the leader-editable page where the real group information is
- Con: Hard to find without knowing the correct search terms
- Con: Hard for a newbie to find the link to the conference call or homework
Option C: Keep for now, replace later
Do B for now and go to A later (e.g., when the W3C site redesign is rolled out in a few months).
Option D: Code WAI pages to use the same data
Keep the WAI pages and populate them with the data from the API.
- Con: Combines the worst of the problems, IMO. It can't be edited by the leaders and it can't be edited by team.
Note: No resources available?