i18n Horizontal Review ideas

In an ideal world, i18n folks would be assigned to work on each WG throughout the whole spec development process. We don’t have the bandwidth for that, so we're thinking along the following lines as a more practical alternative.

• WGs do self-reviews, starting at FPWD but also at other points during the spec development process, and HR groups review these, checking for areas where the WG will need to give thought. They also work on improving the review checklists and explanations used for self-reviews.
• WGs appoint HR champions to ensure that contacts with HR groups happen at appropriate points (ie. they're not experts, but they know who to contact and when, and they look out for possible HR related issues).
• WGs ask HR groups to take a detailed look at their work before CR with plenty of time to make changes: they should not wait for the spec to be ‘finalised’, but should not be too early either - the ideal is typically to engage HR no less than 3 months before CR.
• After the main review, WGs communicate with HR groups about any significant changes they make to the spec that were not tracked already as a result of the review. (Think of this more as a period of collaboration, rather than a quality control check at the end of the process.)
• WGs can also ask advice of HR group at any time if they know there are likely to be HR implications to aspects of their spec.
• Before proceeding to CR, WGs must indicate resolutions to HR issues raised and whether the HR group is satisfied, and the Director checks those issues.

If a WG is unable to predict the point which is 3 months before the transition to CR, they will need to engage with the HR group for a major review at some point which they judge effective (based on the state of the spec), and then ask for attention at various points on the remainder of the journey towards CR in a way that doesn't overburden the HR group. It seems to us that for most WGs this doesn't apply, since they have end dates in mind, be it to meet charter end dates, to transition before the summer vacation, or for other reasons.

Note, btw, that the 3 month window is beneficial for focusing the schedule and minds of the HR group also – if a WG doesn't have a target date in mind, there is a likelihood that in a busy period groups with a target date will receive priority.