This is a vocabulary collection utilized by W3C documents to define assertions or other requirements. It is based upon [RFC2119].
W3C specifications rely upon RFC2119 for the definition of imperatives.
This document defines those imperatives as a collection of vocabular
items structured using RDFa. They can be readily referenced via RDF
using the URI prefix SOME-NEVER-CHANGING-URI#term.
RFC2119 defines the following terms.
MUST. This word, or the terms "REQUIRED" or "SHALL", mean that the definition is an absolute requirement of the specification.
See MUST.
See MUST.
MUSTNOT. This phrase, or the phrase "SHALL NOT", mean that the definition is an absolute prohibition of the specification.
See MUST NOT.
SHOULD. This word, or the adjective "RECOMMENDED", mean that there may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to ignore a particular item, but the full implications must be understood and carefully weighed before choosing a different course.
See SHOULD.
SHOULD NOT. This phrase, or the phrase "NOT RECOMMENDED" mean that there may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances when the particular behavior is acceptable or even useful, but the full implications should be understood and the case carefully weighed before implementing any behavior described with this label.
See SHOULD NOT.
MAY. This word, or the adjective "OPTIONAL", mean that an item is truly optional. One vendor may choose to include the item because a particular marketplace requires it or because the vendor feels that it enhances the product while another vendor may omit the same item. An implementation which does not include a particular option MUST be prepared to interoperate with another implementation which does include the option, though perhaps with reduced functionality. In the same vein an implementation which does include a particular option MUST be prepared to interoperate with another implementation which does not include the option (except, of course, for the feature the option provides.)
See MAY.