Jen Simmons

Did you know the W3C published Ethical Principles for how the web should work?

https://www.w3.org/TR/ethical-web-principles/

I find them so inspiring. And they guide what developers should be doing, too.

“The web should empower an equitable, informed and interconnected society. It has been, and should continue to be, designed to enable communication and knowledge-sharing for everyone… we need to consider the ethical implications of our work when we build web technologies, applications, and sites.”

Ethical Web Principles

The web should be a platform that helps people and provides a positive social benefit. As we continue to evolve the web platform, we must therefore consider the consequences of our work. The following document sets out ethical principles that will drive W3C's continuing work in this direction.

Jan 9, 2024 at 8:47pmWeb
Show threadJen SimmonsJan 9, 2024

2.1 There is one web

When we are adding new web technologies and platforms, we will build them to cross regional and national boundaries. People in one location should be able to view web pages from anywhere that is connected to the web.

Show threadJen SimmonsJan 9, 2024

2.2 The web should not cause harm to society

When we are adding a feature or technology to the web, we will consider what harm it could do to society or groups, especially to vulnerable people. We will prioritize potential benefits for web users over potential benefits to web developers, content providers, user agents, advertisers or others in the ecosystem.

Show threadJen SimmonsJan 9, 2024

2.3 The web must support healthy community and debate

We are building technologies and platforms for distributing ideas, for virtual interaction, and for mass collaboration on any topic… they can also be used for spreading misinformation, revealing private personal information (doxing), harassment, and persecution. We will consider these risks in the work we do, and will build web technologies and platforms that respect individuals' rights and provide features to empower them against dangers

Show threadJen SimmonsJan 9, 2024

2.4 The web is for all people

People should not need a high level of technical literacy to use the web. Web platform technologies should behave consistently and intuitively. We will build internationalization and localization capabilities into our specifications and websites. We will accommodate people on low bandwidth networks and with low specification equipment.

Show threadOleg Shanyuk 🇺🇦Jan 9, 2024

@jensimmons interesting thing: there is one web 🤔

And the last point as well: people can render whatever they want

Show threadAlessio MaffeisJan 9, 2024
@gelosi @jensimmons inconsistency is the biggest of strengths!
Show threadcountJan 10, 2024
@maffeis @gelosi @jensimmons I don’t see how these are inconsistent?
Show threadOleg Shanyuk 🇺🇦Jan 10, 2024
@counteractor @maffeis @jensimmons well, bible starts with “there’s one God” …
Show threadcountJan 10, 2024
@gelosi @maffeis @jensimmons lol this is going way over my head. Guess you were joking then.
Show threadChristopher GiffardJan 9, 2024
@jensimmons Thank you! I shared this with my team.
Show threadABJan 9, 2024
@jensimmons the web is egalitarian, in the full meaning of that word.
Show threadtrdebunkedJan 9, 2024

@jensimmons its all just words after eme though.

2.2 especially.

if i claimed to believe in those principles and worked for the w3c when eme was approved, i would have resigned.

its lovely to have principles. its rarer for a group to demonstrate their commitment to them.

Show threadRobin NealJan 10, 2024
@jensimmons gosh these are so succinct and just wonderful principles. I wish more places I've worked believed in these ideals!