This document lists the different classes of specifications published at W3C and explain their differences, and what the several stages of maturity imply on the Web Standards track.

1.Summary

2.Pre-standardization, proposals, notes

2.1W3C Community Group Report or W3C Business Group Report

AW3C Community or Business Group Report is a document produced by a W3C Community or Business Group.

Thesereports follow theW3C Community and Business Group Process, designed to allow an easy way for innovation by individuals, outside the formalW3C standards process. These reports have not received formal review and are not endorsed by W3C.

These reportsMUST NOT be cited asW3C standards. They may or may not be brought to theW3C standardization track.

SoftwareMAY implement these reports at their own risk. Implementation is neither discouraged nor encouraged but can contribute to proposals for further action on the document.

These reports may be in Draft or Final form:

• A Draft Report received patent licensing commitments from the participants for their contributions under theW3C Community Licensing Agreement.
• A Final Report receiving patent licensing commitments for the entire specification from the organizations who committed to theW3C Community Final Specification Agreement.

AW3C Community or Business Group reportMAY get picked up by a standards organization, includingW3C, to incorporate into a future Standard.

2.2W3C Member Submission

AW3C Member Submission is a document produced by one or moreW3C Members.

A submission is a document allowingW3C Members to propose technology or other ideas for consideration. These submissions have not received formal review and are not endorsedW3C.

These submissionsMUST NOT be cited asW3C standards and may or may not becomeW3C standards.

SoftwareMAY implement these reports at their own risk. Implementation is neither discouraged nor encouraged but can contribute to proposals for further action on a specification.

The Member Submission process affordsW3C Members a record of their contribution and gives them a mechanism for disclosures (including IPR claims).

A Member SubmissionMAY get picked up by a standards organization, includingW3C, to incorporate into a future Standard.

2.3Editor's draft

An Editor's draft is a document produced by aW3C Group.

An editor's draft is a document allowing the Group to iterate internally on its content for consideration. Editor's Drafts are works in progress inside aW3C Group and are not required to have the consensus of the Group participants. These drafts have not received formal review and are not endorsedW3C.

These draftsMUST NOT be cited asW3C standards and may or may not becomeW3C standards.

SoftwareMAY implement these drafts at their own risk. Implementation is neither discouraged nor encouraged but can contribute to proposals for further action on a specification.

There are no patent protection covering the implementations of editor's drafts.

An Editor's Draft is a document thatW3C has not yet published and the group responsible for the draft may publish eventually.

2.4Other documents

The document listed in this section have noW3C standing, endorsement, or patent commitments. Those documents are not part ofW3C Group.

Unofficial Draft

This type of documents are authored by individuals in the community.

2.5W3C Note track

W3C Notes and W3C Statements are published to either to document information other than technical specifications, such as use cases motivating a specification and best practices for its use.

2.5.1Draft Note

AW3C Draft Note is a document produced by aW3C Working Group, aW3C Interest Group, the Advisory Board (AB), or theW3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG). AW3C Draft Note is aW3CTechnical Report.

Some Group Notes are developed through successive Draft Notes, with an expectation that they will become Group Notes eventually.

These draft notes have not received formal review and are not endorsedW3C.

These draft notesMUST NOT be cited asW3C standards and may or may not becomeW3C Group Notes.

SoftwareMAY implement these reports at their own risk. Implementation is neither discouraged nor encouraged but can contribute to proposals for further action on a specification.

There are no patent protection covering the implementations of a Draft Note.

2.5.2Group Note

AW3C Group Note is a document produced by aW3C Working Group, aW3C Interest Group, the Advisory Board (AB), or theW3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG). AW3C Group Note is aW3CTechnical Report.

A Group Note is to provide a stable reference for a document that is not intended to be a formal standard. These notes have not received formal review and are not endorsedW3C.

These notesMUST NOT be cited asW3C standards and may or may not becomeW3C Statements.

SoftwareMAY implement these reports at their own risk. Implementation is neither discouraged nor encouraged but can contribute to proposals for further action on a specification.

There are no patent protection covering the implementations of the Group Note.

2.5.3Statements

AW3C Statement is a document produced by aW3C Working Group, aW3C Interest Group, the Advisory Board (AB), or theW3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG). AW3C Statement is aW3CTechnical Report.

A Statement is to provide a stable reference for a document that is not intended to be a formal standard. These statements have been formally reviewed and are endorsedW3C.

These statementsMAY be cited asW3C statements.

W3C Statements should not contain implementable technology.

There are no patent protection covering the implementations of theW3C Statement.

3.W3C Registry Track

Registries are published to document collections of values or other data.

3.1Draft Registry

AW3C Draft Registry is a document produced by aW3C Working Group. AW3C Draft Registry is aW3CTechnical Report.

Some Registries are developed through successive Draft Registries, with an expectation that they will become Candidate Registries eventually.

These draft registries have not received formal review and are not endorsedW3C.

These draft registriesMUST NOT be cited asW3C Registries and may or may not becomeW3C Registries.

W3C Draft Registries should not contain implementable technology.

There are no patent protection covering the implementations of a Draft Registry.

3.2Candidate Registry

3.2.1Candidate Registry Draft

AW3C Candidate Registry Draft is a document produced by aW3C Working Group. AW3C Candidate Registry Draft is aW3CTechnical Report.

A Candidate Registry Draft integrates changes from a previous Candidate Registry (Draft or Snapshot) to allow for review and for ease of reference to the integrated specification.

These changes have not received formal review.

These documentsMUST NOT be cited asW3C Registries andMAY never becomeW3C Registries.

There are no patent protection covering the implementations of a Candidate Registry Draft.

3.2.2Candidate Registry Snapshot

AW3C Candidate Registry Snapshot is a document produced by aW3C Working Group. AW3C Candidate Registry Snapshot is aW3CTechnical Report.

A Candidate Registry Snapshot is published for a final review before endorsement byW3C.

These documentsMUST NOT be cited asW3C Registries and may or may not becomeW3C Registries.

W3C Candidate Registries should not contain implementable technology.

There are no patent protection covering the implementations of a Candidate Registry Snapshot.

3.3Registry

A Registry is to provide a stable reference for a document whose purpose can include non-collision, non-duplication, information, submission, and consensus. Each such specificationSHOULD document its own process for future registry definition updates.

AW3C Registry is a document produced by a W3C Working Group. A W3C Registry is a W3CTechnical Report.

These registries have been formally reviewed and are endorsed W3C.

These documentsMAY be cited as W3C Registries.

W3C Registries should not contain implementable technology.

There are no patent protection covering the implementations of the W3C Registry.

4.W3C Standardization track

The classes of specifications listed in this section have received different stages of review by W3C Members, by software developers, and by otherW3C Groups and interested parties according to W3C Process. These specifications are intended to eventually receive endorsement by W3C.

Technical reports on the W3C Recommendation Track are developed in order to ultimately produce normative specifications or guidelines as standards for the Web.

4.1Working Draft

A Working Draft is a document that W3C has published for review and for simple historical reference. A Working Draft is a work in progress and the content is not required to have full consensus of the Group participants, though the Group must have consensus to publish the draft. Per the W3C Patent Policy of September 2020, the first publication of the specification as a Working Draft marks the commencement of formal IPR licensing commitments.

A W3C Working Draft is a document produced by a W3C Working Group. A W3C Working Draft is a W3CTechnical Report.

W3C standard-track documents are developed through successive Working Drafts, with an expectation that they will become Candidate Recommendations eventually.

These working drafts have not received formal review and are not endorsed W3C.

These draft notesMUST NOT be cited as W3C standards and may or may not become W3C standards.

SoftwareMAY implement these specifications at their own risk but implementation feedback is encouraged.

There are no patent protection covering the implementations of a W3C Working Draft.

4.1.1First Public Working Draft

A First Public Working Draft is a document that W3C has published for review and for simple historical reference. It is the first publication of aWorking Draft.

4.2Candidate Recommendation

4.2.1Candidate Recommendation Draft

A W3C Candidate Recommendation Draft is a document produced by a W3C Working Group. A W3C Candidate Recommendation Draft is a W3CTechnical Report.

A Candidate Recommendation Draft integrates changes from a previous Candidate Recommendation (Draft or Snapshot) to allow for review and for ease of reference to the integrated specification.

These changes have not received formal review.

These documentsMUST NOT be cited asW3C standards and may or may not become W3C standards.

SoftwareMAY implement these specifications at their own risk but implementation feedback is encouraged.

There are no patent protection covering the implementations of a Candidate Recommendation Draft.

4.2.2Candidate Recommendation Snapshot

A W3C Candidate Recommendation Snapshot is a document produced by a W3C Working Group. A W3C Candidate Recommendation Snapshot is a W3CTechnical Report.

A Candidate Recommendation Snapshot is a document that satisfies the technical requirements established in the Group charter or in subsequent requirements documents, has consensus of the Group participants, has gotten public review, and has received formal review from other W3C Groups. Such specification is intended to gather final feedback from implementers.

A Candidate Recommendation Snapshot has been reviewed by W3C Groups and interested parties.

These documentsMUST NOT be cited as W3C standards and may or may not become W3C standards.

SoftwareMAY implement these specifications and implementation feedback is encouraged.

A Candidate Recommendation Snapshot has commitments from Working Group members toroyalty-free licensing for implementations.

4.3Proposed Recommendation

A Proposed Recommendation is a specification that has been accepted by W3C as of sufficient quality to become a Standard. Such specification has been reviewed by software developers, as well as byW3C Groups and other interested parties. It is published for a final review by W3C Members before advancing to W3C Recommendation.

4.4Discontinued Draft

A Discontinued Draft is a specification that is no longer intended to advance or to be maintained. It was never and will not be a Recommendation.

5.Standard

The classes of specifications listed in this section have been formally reviewed by W3C Members, by software developers, and by W3C groups and interested parties. These specifications are endorsed by W3C and its Members (except if Rescinded).

5.1Recommendation

A W3C Recommendation is a specification or set of guidelines or requirements that, after extensive consensus-building, has received the endorsement of W3C. A W3C Recommendation is a W3CTechnical Report.

W3C Recommendations have been formally reviewed by W3C Members, by software developers, and by W3C groups and interested parties.

W3C recommends the wide deployment of a Recommendation as a standard for the Web. These documentsMAY be cited as W3C standards.

Some W3C RecommendationMAY be continuously revised while others are maintained by creating a new version. Upcoming changes are listed as candidate and proposed amendments in W3C Recommendations. Feedback on those amendments is encouraged.

SoftwareSHOULD implement these specifications.

A W3C Recommendation has commitments from Working Group members toroyalty-free licensing for implementations.

5.1.1Amended Recommendation

An Amended Recommendation is a specification that updates a previous Recommendation to include substantive changes that do not add new features. An Amended Recommendation is produced by the W3C Staff to update a Recommendation (e.g. to incorporate errata) when no W3C Working Group has a charter with a scope that covers the content of the Recommendation.

These documentsMAY be cited as W3C standards.

5.2Superseded Recommendation

A Superseded Recommendation is a specification that has been replaced by a newer version that W3C recommends for new adoption.

SoftwareSHOULD implement the newer versions.

5.3Obsolete Recommendation

An Obsolete Recommendation is a specification that W3C has determined lacks sufficient market relevance to continue recommending it for implementation.

SoftwareMAY have implemented these specifications.

5.4Rescinded Recommendation

A Rescinded Recommendation is an entire Recommendation that W3C no longer endorses, and believes there is no reasonable prospect of it being restored to Recommendation status.

SoftwareSHOULD NOT implement these specifications.

6.References

[PROCESS]

World Wide Web Consortium Process Document. URL:https://www.w3.org/policies/process/

[PATENT-POLICY]

W3C Patent Policy. URL:https://www.w3.org/policies/patent-policy/

[BCG-PROCESS]

Community and Business Group Process. URL:https://www.w3.org/community/about/process/