W3C Policy

This is the Guild's official policy regarding our membership in the World Wide Web Consortium:

1. Advisory Committee Representative

One member of the Guild shall be designated as the HWG representative to the W3C Advisory Committee. This position shall be filled by Presidential appointment. The AC rep will serve for a period of one year, from time of appointment, and may be reappointed. The AC rep may resign at any time, or be removed by the Guild President or a majority vote of the Governing Board.

The Advisory Committee Representative reports to the Governing Board via the President, and must keep the Board informed of important issues within the W3C. The AC rep must represent the Guild at all required W3C functions, whether in-person or virtual; expenses incurred while doing so will be reimbursed by the HWG. The AC rep is responsible for coordinating HWG access to the W3C "members only" website, in accordance with established Guild policies (see below). The AC rep will supervise the Guild's participation in W3C groups/projects (see below).

2. Guild Access to W3C Member Resources

The Guild's membership in the Consortium grants the HWG access to certain "members only" materials via email and the W3C website that are not for public release. Access to such materials is limited to the following people within the HWG:

• The Advisory Committee Representative
• The Governing Board
• HWG Representatives on W3C Groups/Projects (see below)
• Guild staff, on a case-by-case basis as necessary to fulfill their duties within the HWG, as approved by the President and AC rep

Official W3C communications to the HWG may not be shared outside of the group named above without explicit permission from the President and Advisory Committee Representative.

3. HWG-Plus-W3C Mailing List

The Guild will operate a mailing list for the discussion of W3C-related issues. The AC rep will serve as "list facilitator" for this mailing list, which will be open only to "plus" (paid) members of the HTML Writers Guild. The AC rep and others on the list are restricted from discussing W3C issues that are not yet released beyond the W3C internally.

The charter for hwg-plus-w3c consists of:

This list is designed to provide two-way communication between the Guild membership and the HWG's rep- resentative to the World Wide Web Consortium's Advisory Committee. Topics of discussion include the Guild's participation in W3C activities, news and announcements from the W3C, and other issues related to the Guild's membership in the W3C. This list is only open to Guild members at the "Full" membership level.

4. HWG Representatives to W3C Groups/Projects

The W3C maintains a number of working groups, interest groups, and project groups. As a member of the Consortium, the Guild may send representatives to participate in these groups. HWG representatives must: (a) be "plus" (paid) members of the HTML Writers Guild, (b) meet the requirements for participation in Consortium groups/projects, as established by the W3C, and (c) be approved by the Guild President and the AC rep.

HWG Representatives are supervised by the AC rep, and must provide regular reports of their activity to the AC rep, who will then summarize the Guild's involvement in W3C projects in regular reports to the Board.

HWG Representatives are appointed to a project or group indefinitely, until (a) the group or project is dissolved by the W3C, or (b) removed by the HWG President or AC rep, or (c) the representative is no longer a "plus" member of the Guild.

Representatives are expected to participate fully in the projects/groups they are assigned to, including attendance at all required meetings, in-person or virtual. The Guild may reimburse expenses incurred for travel if prior permission is obtained from the Board.