Member Submissions

Status of this Document

This document explains how W3C Members send Member Submission requests to the W3C Team, or withdraw them. The Member Submission process allows Members to propose technology or other ideas for consideration by the Team. The formal process affords Members a record of their contribution and gives them a mechanism for disclosing the details of the transaction with the Team.

Scope of Submission requests

When a technology overlaps in scope with the work of a chartered Working Group, Members are expected to participate in the Working Group and contribute the technology to the group’s process rather than seek publication through the Member Submission process. The Working Group may incorporate the contributed technology into its deliverables. If the Working Group does not incorporate the technology, it should not publish the contributed documents as Working Group Notes since Working Group Notes represent group output, not input to the group.

On the other hand, when W3C is in the early stages of developing a charter, Members can use the Submission process to build consensus around concrete proposals for new work.

Materials covering topics well outside the scope of W3C’s mission are not appropriate for Member Submissions.

Information Required in a Submission Request

Per Section 9, Member Submissions:

The Submitter(s) must include the following information:

  • The list of all submitting Members.
  • Position statements from all submitting Members (gathered by the Submitter). All position statements must appear in a separate document.
  • Complete electronic copies of any documents submitted for consideration (e.g., a technical specification, a position paper, etc.) If the Submission request is acknowledged, these documents will be made available by W3C and therefore must satisfy the Team’s Publication Rules. Submitters may hold the copyright for the material contained in these documents, but when acknowledged and made available by W3C, these documents must be subject to the provisions of the W3C Document License.

The request must also answer the following questions.

  • What proprietary technology is required to implement the areas addressed by the request, and what terms are associated with its use? Many answers are possible, but the specific answer will affect the Team’s Decision.
  • What resources, if any, does the Submitter intend to make available if W3C acknowledges the Submission request and takes action on it?
  • What action would the Submitter like W3C to take if the Submission request is acknowledged?
  • What mechanisms are there to make changes to the specification being submitted? This includes, but is not limited to, stating where change control will reside if the request is acknowledged.

Preparing the Submission request

Members are encouraged to prepare a Submission request by following the Submission template.

Sending the Submission request

Per Section 9, Member Submissions:

One of the Submitters, copying the Advisory Committee representatives of the other Submitters (if any), sends a request to the Team to acknowledge the Submission request. The Team and Submitter(s) communicate to ensure that the Member Submission is complete.

The Submitter (one or more Member organizations represented by one AC Representative) sends the Submission request to submissions@w3.org.

When more than one Member jointly participates in a Submission request, only one Member formally sends in the request. That Member must copy each of the Advisory Committee representatives of the other participating Members, and each of those Advisory Committee representatives must confirm (by email to the Team) their participation in the Submission request.

In separate email to submissions@w3.org, Advisory Committee representatives from all participating organizations must** confirm their support of the Submission request. This email should not contain the original Submission package.

Team handling of the request

The Team notifies the Submitter promptly that the Submission package has been received. If, for any reason, the Submission request is deemed incomplete or incorrect by the Team (e.g., the Submission package lacks information, confirmations of position statements have not been received, Member agreements from participating companies have not been signed, etc.), the Team and Submitter work together until all information that is required has been provided.

The Team sends a validation notice to the Submitter(s) once the Team has reviewed a Submission request and judged it complete and correct. The Submitter(s) can typically expect an announcement between four to six weeks after the validation notice.

Prior to acknowledgment, the Submitter(s) must not, under any circumstances, refer to a document as “submitted to the World Wide Web Consortium” or “under consideration by W3C” or any similar phrase either in public or Member communication, nor should there be any implication that W3C is working on the submitted documents with the submission authors. The Submitter(s) must not imply in public or Member communication that W3C is working (with the Submitter(s)) on the material in the Member Submission. The Submitter(s) may release the documents in the Member Submission to the public prior to acknowledgment (without reference to the Submission request).

Prior to a decision to acknowledge or reject the request, the request is Team-only, and the Team will hold it in the strictest confidentiality. In particular, the Team will not comment to the media about the Submission request.

The Webmaster must not publish the document until the W3C Director of Marketing & Communications approves publication.

Withdrawing a Submission request

At any time prior to acknowledgment, any Submitter can withdraw support for a Submission request by sending a request to withdraw to submissions@w3.org. The request must include the name of the Submitting organization and the subject of the Submission request. The request may include rationale for the withdrawal, but this is not required.

A Submission request is “withdrawn” when no Submitter(s) support it.

The Team must not make statements about withdrawn Submission requests.

Acknowledgment of a Submission Request

Per Section 9, Member Submissions:

The Team acknowledges a Submission request by sending an announcement to the Advisory Committee. Though the announcement may be made at any time, the Submitter(s) can expect an announcement between four to six weeks after the validation notice. The Team must keep the Submitter(s) informed of when an announcement is likely to be made.

The Team must make the Team comments about the Submission request available at the W3C website.

If the Submitter(s) wishes to modify a document made available as the result of acknowledgment, the Submitter(s) must start the Submission process from the beginning, even just to correct editorial changes.

After acknowledgment, the Submitter(s) must not, under any circumstances, imply W3C investment in the Member Submission until, and unless, the material has been adopted as a deliverable of a W3C Working Group.

Rejection of a Submission Request, and Submission Appeals

Per Section 9, Member Submissions:

If rejected, the Team must inform the Advisory Committee representative(s) of the Submitter(s), and must provide rationale if requested by the Submitter(s). The Submitter(s) may initiate a Submission Appeal.

The Advisory Committee representative(s) of the Submitters(s) may initiate a Submission Appeal. The procedure for handling Submission Appeals is the same as for Formal Objections, except that an AC Appeal is not possible and both the Formal Objection and the Council Report are confidential to the Team, TAG, and AB.

The Team may reject a Submission request for a variety of reasons, including any of the following:

  • The ideas expressed in the request overlap in scope with the work of a chartered Working Group, and acknowledgment might jeopardize the progress of the group.
  • The IPR statement made by the Submitter(s) is inconsistent with W3C’s Patent Policy and in particular the “Licensing Commitments in W3C Submissions”, Document License, or other IPR policies.
  • The ideas expressed in the request are, in the Team’s view, poor, might harm the Web, or run counter to W3C’s mission.
  • The ideas expressed in the request lie well outside the scope of W3C’s mission.

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Member Submissions

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