W3C Glossary

1. Introduction

A lot of uncommon terminology is in use within W3C. Moreover, many seemingly ordinary words are given specialized meaning. Most of the time, such terms are given a definition some W3C document, but discovering where this definition lies may be challenging.

This document provides an index of many such terms, starting with those defined in central documents like the W3C Process Document and W3C Patent Policy, and continuing with a selection of noteworthy terms defined in other documents; finally, it provides a definition for terms commonly used but lacking a (known) formal definition in other documents.

This document does not attempt to provide exhaustive coverage of all specialized technical terms in use in every W3C specification. Many are only in use within very limited contexts, and an exhaustive list would become too long to be practically usable. The focus here is on terms that may reasonably be encountered in many or most W3C groups.

Nevertheless, the last section of this document links to more specialized glossaries maintained by other groups, as well as to earlier attempts at W3C-wide glossaries.

2. Process Terms

The following terms are defined in the W3C Process Document:

3. Patent Policy Terms

The following terms are defined in the W3C Patent Policy:

4. General W3C Jargon

4.1. Miscellaneous Terms

The following is a selection of noteworthy terms commonly used in W3C and defined in other documents:

• user agent
• …

4.2. Terms Lacking a Known Definition Elsewhere

The following is a selection of noteworthy terms commonly used in W3C lacking an identified definition in other actively maintained documents:

a11y

abbr. Accessibility. The form [first letter][number][last letter] has come into common usage as a way of abbreviating single long words. Such words begin with the [first letter] have [number] of letters in the middle, and end with the [last letter]. See also i18n.

bikeshed

A piece of software used to generate fully formatted specifications from a textual input file with specialized markup. See the bikeshed documentation.

i18n

abbr. Internationalization. The form [first letter][number][last letter] has come into common usage as a way of abbreviating single long words. Such words begin with the [first letter] have [number] of letters in the middle, and end with the [last letter]. See also a11y.

Living Standard

A continuously developped and maintained standard, typically without versioning. This term was introduced by the WHATWG, but is occasionally used to descibe specifications maintained in a similar way in other standards bodies, including W3C. See the WHATWG definition.

scribe

n. A person designated to record and publish the proceedings of a meeting.

v. To record and publish the proceedings of a meeting.

WPT

Web Platform Tests. A project to develop a cross-browser test suite for the Web-platform stack.

zakim

An IRC bot which assists with meeting management. See the Zakim documentation.

5. Other Relevant Resources

Readers of this document may also be interested in the following resources:

• The Internationalization Glossary

• The glossary section of the Positive Work Environment at W3C: Code of Conduct

Earlier discontinued attempts at maintaining a glossary:

• Glossary of W3C Jargon

• W3C Glossary and Dictionary